From Chris Morris to Kyle Jamieson: Here are the top 9 buys at the IPL 2021 Auction

With just months to go for the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the eight franchises locked horns off the pitch in Chennai today as they bid to acquire new players. Having shortlisted their players and potential targets, the franchises spent heavily to pack their squad with the right combinations. Nearly 292 cricketers, capped and uncapped, went under the hammer on Thursday as the franchises entered a bidding war for their targets. 

The teams had earlier submitted their lists of retained and released players to the BCCI. Each franchise had a purse amount of Rs 85 crores before entering the auction and was required to spend at least ₹63.75 crores on buying the players, as per the BCCI rules. After a day full off enthralling bidding wars, here are the top buys of the IPL 2021 Auction: 

1. Chris Morris 

South African all-rounder Chris Morris smashed all records on Thursday as he went under the hammer. The Proteas power-hitter, who played a T20 international back in 2019 and represented RCB in the IPL 2020, became the most expensive buy in the history of IPL as Rajasthan Royals acquired him for Rs 16.25 crore. His base price was set at Rs 75 lacs. Morris dethroned Yuvraj Singh and Australian quick Pat Cummins to become the most expensive purchase in the history of the tournament. 

2. Kyle Jamieson 

Having made his T20 debut for New Zealand only last year, 27-year-old Kyle Jamieson became the fourth-most expensive player in IPL history on Tuesday. The speedster has been bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 15 crores. The speed gun was targetted by RCB and Punjab Kings - both the franchises having endured the lack of a death bowler in the past - as they indulged in a bidding war. In 28 T20s, Jamieson has picked 54 wickets and scored 190 runs. The Kiwi speedster will now join the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini in Bangalore's pace department. 

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3. Glenn Maxwell 

After being released by Punjab Kings, several franchises had their eyes set on Australian power-hitter Glenn Maxwell. When the all-rounder went under the hammer on Thursday, it was no less than a war. It was RCB and KKR who locked horns over Maxwell, however, MS Dhoni's CSK gatecrashed only to increase the bidding amount by folds. Finally, it was Virat Kohli's RCB that acquired Glenn Maxwell's services for a whopping price of Rs 14.25 crores. The Australian power-hitter will be expected to strengthen the RCB middle-order and also chip in with some handy overs during their fielding. Here's what Maxwell had to say after he was bought by RCB: 

4. Jhye Richardson 

Another unexpected name that attracted heavy bids on Thursday was an Australian player - Jhye Richardson. The young speedster, who recently set the Big Bash League (BBL) on fire, has been bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 14 crores. Anil Kumble-led Punjab were involved in a tug of war with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The upcoming IPL 2021 season will also mark his first-ever outing in the tournament, having gone unsold at the last few auctions. Richardson will pair up with Mohammad Shami and Chris Jordan to form Punjab's formidable pace battery. 

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5. Krishnappa Gowtham 

Former Rajasthan Royals' all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham bagged a lucrative deal from Chennai Super Kings on Thursday as he became the most expensive uncapped Indian player in the IPL 2021 Auctions. Gowtham has been acquired by Dhoni & Co. for Rs 9.25 crores and will join the ranks of Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja. Caught in the auction war between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was the MS Dhoni-led side that roped him in by making a last-moment bid.

6. Cheteshwar Pujara 

After having helped India dominate in Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara will return to the shortest format of the game after nearly 7 years now. The Test stalwart was bought by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at his base price of just Rs 50 lacs. Pujara, who is a mainstay in Team India's Test squad, last played in the IPL back 2014 for Kings XI Punjab. During 2014 season, he had opened the innings for the Punjab franchise alongside Virender Sehwag and failed to make an impact as he scored only 125 runs off the first six matches. It now remains to be seen where will the franchise position him as they enjoy the services of various other top-order batsmen. 

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7. Dawid Malan 

Despite topping the ICC T20 Batting rankings, England's opener Dawid Malan failed to gather interests from franchises in the ongoing IPL 2021 Auction. The English batsman has been acquired by Punjab Kings at his base price of Rs 1.5 crores only. While Malan who stands tall in the ICC Test rankings failed to gather interest, Glenn Maxwell - who had a dismal IPL performance in 2020 - attracted a fierce bidding war between RCB and CSK, before the former acquired the Australian all-rounder. 

8. Steve Smith 

After captaining the Rajasthan Royals in the previous season, Steve Smith will now move to Delhi as the 2020 runners up acquired him on Thursday. The Australian talisman has been bought at a modest price of Rs 2.2 crores. It was the Royal Challengers Bangalore that started the bidding for Smith at his base price of ₹2 crores with none of the other franchises showing interest in the dynamic batsman. However, Delhi Capitals jumped in at the last moment and put in their only bid to steal Smith.

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9. Arjun Tendulkar 

The much-anticipated name at the 2021 IPL Auctions - Arjun Tendulkar - was the last player on Thursday to go under the hammer. Son of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun has been bought by the Mumbai Indians at his base price of Rs 20 lakhs. After having made his debut recently for Mumbai in the domestic circuit, Tendulkar's trade to Mumbai Indians will not be an unknown territory for him as the young all-rounder has spent years in the squad as a net bowler. It remains to be seen if he will get a game and make his IPL debut as well in 2021.