For the second time running, Jaydev Unadkat, a Lohana Gujarati, has earned big in the IPL auction. The bowler was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping price of Rs 8.4 Crore. The Royals had earlier released him after buying him for Rs 11.5 Crore in the previous auction. Another Gujarati to be roped in at first call is bowler Axar Patel, who was bought by Delhi Capitals for a price of Rs 5 Crore. Patel was at a base price of Rs 1 cr, but fetched five times the amount, whereas Unadkat was at a base price of Rs 1,5 Cr and he fetched Rs 8.4 Cr, which is five times the amount of his base price.
Thee most expensive Indian in the last auction, Jaydev failed to live up to the expectation when he bowled at an economy of 9.65 in the season for the Rajasthan Royals. However, in 2017, Unadkat took 24 wickets in 12 matches and recorded an economy rate of 7.02. The fast bowler is expected to replicate this performance in the upcoming seasons.
Patel on the other hand, went on to become one of the costliest Indian players in the ongoing IPL Auction Live 2019. In an intense round of auction that saw Yuvraj Singh going unsold, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi were engaged in a bidding war for the left-arm spinner. Axar has played five seasons for Kings XI Punjab, featuring in 68 matches for them between 2014 and 2018. He also has scored 686 runs in the tournament at 19.05 with a highest score of 44. His best season with the ball came in 2014, when he picked up 17 wickets while in 2017.
Others with high bids include mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who got a shopping 42 times increase in his base price as Kings XI Punjab successfully added him to his roster for Rs 8.4 Crore. Sam Curran went to Kings for 7.2 Crore, and Colin Ingram was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 6.4 Crore.
