Haridev Pushparaj
Muscat, Feb 12
Indian cricket's shining young light Ishan Kishan fetched a whopping 15.25 crore INR (USD 2 million approx) on the opening day of the mega IPL 2022 auction in Bangalore on Saturday.
The five-time IPL champions brought back Ishan to their fold in a hotly contested battle on a day that witnessed high drama when IPL auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed.
Shreyas Iyer, who stood out with his match-winning 80 in India's 3-0 ODI whitewash of the West Indies on Friday, was won by Kolkata Knight Riders for $1.62m.
Kolkata secured a return for Australia's Pat Cummins, who went to the same team for a record $2.17m in 2019 but was released last year, for nearly $1m.
Cummins and Iyer remain Kolkata's options for the captaincy after they did not retain England's Eoin Morgan -- who led them to the runners-up spot last season.
Pace bowler Harshal Patel, who played just two T20 matches for India last year, went for $1.42 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also got Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga at the same price.
Kishan's fee fell short of the Indian record of $2.2m paid to Yuvraj Singh in the 2015 edition of the auction, which sets players' salaries for the tournament.
South Africa's Chris Morris is the most expensive IPL player ever, selling for $2.23 million last year.
The auction kicked off with Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian opener going to Punjab Kings for $1.09 million.
Punjab also got South African pace bowler Kagiso Rabada for $1.22 million.
New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult also crossed the million-dollar threshold with his $1.06 million signing by Rajasthan Royals, who also won the bidding for Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
South Africa's Faf du Plessis went to Royal Challengers Bangalore while Delhi Capitals got David Warner for $826,000.
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