IPL auction 2018: Manish Pandey and KL Rahul headline manic splurging

NEW DELHI: Karnataka team-mates KL Rahul and Manish Pandey have emerged as the most profitable capped Indian cricketers so far on day one of the 2018 IPL auction in Bengaluru, fetching whopping price tags of Rs 11 crore each find new franchises in Kings XI Punjab [KXIP] and Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] respectively. This made the batting pair the second most valued players of the day behind England allrounder Ben Stokes who went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12.5 crore.
FOLLOW LIVE: IPL AUCTION 2018
Chris Lynn, the big-hitting but injury-prone Australian batsman, was another big earner on Saturday, going back to Kolkata Knight Riders [KKR] for Rs 9.60 crore from a base price of 2 crore.

Rahul surpassed KXIP's earlier acquisition of R Ashwin for Rs 7.6 crore to find a new IPL home in Mohali, having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore [RCB] before this. In 2016, he became the third Indian to score international centuries in all three formats and last year was India’s third-highest run-getter in T20Is with 279 at a strike-rate of 140.90, with three half-centuries. Rahul can open or bat at No 3 and 4, and given his ability as a wicketkeeper, this is a key purchase for KXIP, who had retained only Axar Patel ahead of the auction.
Pandey’s name immediately set paddles into motion, and from a base price of Rs 1 crore his value soared in quick time. Mumbai and KXIP engaged in a tussle until RCB entered the fray and upped the stake to Rs 6.50 crore and from there, as Pandey’s price escalated past 11 crore, KXIP bowed out. That left SRH to seal the deal at 11 crore - from a base price of 1 crore - and when Kolkata Knight Riders did not use an RTM card, the 28-year-old was theirs.
From a purse of Rs 67.5 crore, KXIP have already spent Rs 35.4 crore on six players. With the purchases of Rahul, R Ashwin [Rs 7.6 crore], Karun Nair [5.6 crore], Aaron Finch [6.2 crore] and Yuvraj Singh [for his base of 2 crore], and having re-purchased South African batsman David Miller for 3 crore with one of their Right-to-Match [RTM] cards, KXIP have so far laid the groundwork for a solid squad for the 11th season of the IPL which starts April 7.
Starting off the first set of capped batsmen, Nair found huge interest from KXIP and Rajasthan. At 5 crore, KXIP pulled out but re-entered the fray to seal the deal at Rs 5.60 crore. The 26-year-old Karnataka batsman has two hundreds in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and finished the T20 competition with 369 runs at a strike-rate of 173.85. This is his fourth IPL franchise after Rajasthan Royals, RCB and Delhi Daredevils [DD].
RCB made just one purchase, getting former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum for Rs 3.6 crore as a replacement opener for Chris Gayle who went unsold. DD got a steal deal in England opener Jason Roy for his base price of 1.5 crore. From the first set of capped batsmen, Murali Vijay [base price Rs 2 crore], Hashim Amla [base price of Rs 1.5 crore] and Martin Guptill [base price Rs 75 lakh] went unsold.