The IPL Mega Auction 2022 has kicked off in the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore. A total of 600 Indian and foreign players are set to go under the hammer. This mega event is scheduled to take place from 12 February to 13 February 2022. This year’s edition of the Indian Premier League is going to be a 10 team affair, owing to the addition of two new franchises, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT). The auction has kick-started with the Indian stalwart Shikhar Dhawan going under the hammer for a base price of Rs. 2 crores and was sold to the Punjab Kings for a price of Rs. 8.25 crores.
Shreyas Iyer has been the top pick of the morning session, with KKR bagging him for a whopping Rs. 12.25 crores. The Kolkata based franchise was seen to be on a spending spree as they successfully retained Aussie star pacer Pat Cummins for a price of Rs. 7.25 crores. In a shocking turn of events, South African veteran Faf Du Plessis was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore, after having a highly successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for six long years. The explosive southpaw from Down Under, David Warner, had been bought by the Delhi Capitals, marking his return to the Delhi franchise after 9 years.
Some of the other top picks of the first session were South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, Indian stars Mohammad Shami and Ravi Ashwin. Rabada was picked by the Punjab Kings for a heavy amount of Rs. 9.25 crores, while Ashwin was sold to the Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 5 crores. The newly formed Lucknow based franchise has bought South African wicketkeeper, Quinton De Kock, for Rs. 6.75 crores, as their first purchase at the IPL Mega Auction 2022. He was previously a part of the Mumbai team for four years. New Zealand spearhead, Trent Boult, was one of the two purchases made by RR during the first session, buying him for Rs. 8 crores.
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