Mystery Indian spinner stuns at IPL auction

JAIPUR, India: Little-known Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy hit the jackpot at the Indian Premier League auction Tuesday after he was snared for $1.2 million by Kings XI Punjab.

The price tag surprised pundits gathered at Jaipur for the 2019 Twenty20 tournament auction, where the 27-year-old only had a base price of two million rupees ($28,400).After a fierce bidding war, the bowler emerged as the most expensive player in this year’s sell-off along with Indian left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, bagged by Rajasthan Royals for the same price.

More than 350 players went under the hammer Tuesday, including 120 international cricketers, in what is the world’s wealthiest cricket league.West Indies players proved to be the top draw among the foreigners, with big-hitter Carlos Brathwaite going for $707,150 to the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Another West Indies heavy hitter Shimron Hetmyer was lapped up for $594,195 by Royal Challengers Bangalore. England’s rising star Sam Curran was sold for one million dollars to Kings XI Punjab. His base price was $283,460.

Fellow Brit Jonny Bairstow won his first IPL contract, picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $311,982. The wicketkeeper-batsman had gone unsold in last year’s auction. There were no takers though for New Zealand stars Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill as well as Chris Woakes of England in the first round.