Morris becomes most expensive player in auction history
Chris Morris broke Yuvraj Singh's record for the highest bid at an IPL auction, earning a winning bid of INR 16.25 crore from the Rajasthan Royals, INR 25 lakh more than the bid Yuvraj got from Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) in 2015. The bid makes Morris IPL's second-highest earner after Virat Kohli, who Royal Challengers Bangalore retained for INR 17 crore in 2018.
Glenn Maxwell becomes second-highest earner at auctions
With his INR 14.25 crore fee this time, Maxwell has attracted bids totalling INR 45.30 crore in the five auctions he has been a part of - he got bids of INR 5.32 crore in 2013, INR 6 crore in 2014, INR 9 crore in 2018 and INR 10.75 crore in 2020. That puts him behind only Yuvraj in the list of players who have been spent most on at auctions. Yuvraj attracted bids totalling INR 48.10 crore over six auctions, Dinesh Karthik has earned INR 38.85 crore over six auctions, while Morris now has got bids totalling INR 37.96 crore over five auctions. This does not mean these players are the highest earners in IPLs, though, as players who have been retained at high prices would have earned more.
K Gowtham gets highest bid for uncapped player
Chennai Super Kings bought uncapped K Gowtham for INR 9.25 crore, going past the INR 8.8 crore Mumbai Indians shelled out for the then uncapped Krunal Pandya in 2018. In 2016, uncapped allrounder Pawan Negi caused a surprise bidding war that Delhi Capitals won for Rs 8.5 crore, while Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) splurged INR 8.4 crore on legspinner Varun Chakravarthy in 2019.
Riley Meredith becomes most expensive uncapped overseas player
A 24-year-old fast bowler from Australia, uncapped Meredith was bought for INR 8 crore by Punjab Kings, making him more expensive than Jofra Archer, whom Rajasthan Royals bid INR 7.2 crore for in 2018. At the time, Archer hadn't yet played for England.
Gowtham earns 46.25 times his base price
Gowtham had set his base price at the minimum, INR 20 lakh, which meant that when he went for INR 9.25 crore, it was the largest jump from base price for any player in an auction. Previously, legspinner M Ashwin held the record - he had earned INR 4.50 crore from an INR 10 lakh base price in 2016.
Four 14 crore+ players at one auction
There had never been more than one INR 14+ crore winning bid at previous auctions. This auction saw four, with Morris, Kyle Jamieson, Jhye Richardson and Maxwell all going past that mark. The limited supply of gun players juxtaposed with some big budgets caused a surge in spending. The only other INR 14+ crore bids in auctions previously had been for Pat Cummins in 2020, Ben Stokes in 2017, and Yuvraj twice, in 2015 and 2014.
RCB become franchise with most 14 crore+ players
No team had more than one INR 14+ crore winning bid in their auction history coming into this one. By making two INR 14+ crore winning bids, for Maxwell and then Jamieson, RCB took their number up to three - they had bought Yuvraj for INR 14 crore in 2014. The other teams with INR 14+ crore bids in auctions are Rajasthan Royals (Morris, 2021), Delhi Capitals (Yuvraj, 2015) Kolkata Knight Riders (Cummins, 2020), Rising Pune Supergiant (Stokes, 2017), and Punjab Kings (Richardson, 2021).
Kyle Jamieson shatters the New Zealand record
The winning bid of INR 15 crore for Jamieson was three times the INR 5 crore Kolkata Knight Riders bid for Trent Boult in 2017, making Jamieson easily the most expensive New Zealand player in IPL history.
Stats by Sampath Bandarupalli, statistician at ESPNcricinfo.