IPL 2022 Mega Auction: Shreyas Iyer became the first player to be sold for over Rs 10 crore on the first day of the auction as Kolkata Knight Riders face a fierce bidding war to buy the India batsman for Rs 12.25 crore.
IPL 2022 auction: KKR spent a lot of money, bought Shreyas Iyer for Rs 12.25 crore (AFP photo)
Shreyas Iyer, as expected, started a bidding war at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru on Saturday, as he became the first player to cross the Rs 10 crore mark on the first day. Kolkata Knight Riders bought the India batsman for Rs 12.25 crore after facing competition from their former franchise Delhi Capitals and two new franchises in Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.
IPL 2022 Auction: Live Updates
Shreyas Iyer was sold for 5 times more than his base price of Rs 2 crores. Kolkata Knight Riders pulled out of the bidding war several times only to bid a winning bid of Rs 12.25 crore.
Iyer is likely to lead Kolkata Knight Riders who have so far retained Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine and Venkatesh Iyer.
Sample that for a quote – @ShreyasIyer15 is a knight @KKRiders #TATAIPLAuction @tata companies pic.twitter.com/19nIII9ihD
– Indian Premier League (@IPL) 12 February 2022
The India batsman raised his bets by scoring a match-winning 80 on the eve of the auction in the third ODI against West Indies.
Shreyas Iyer was retained by Delhi Capitals in both 2018 and 2021. They were acquired by the franchise in 2015 for Rs 2.6 crore. However, ever since the shares of this Mumbai batsman have risen.
Iyer led Delhi Capitals in their maiden final in IPL 2020. He was not able to lead Delhi in the first half of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury and had to step away from the captaincy as Rishabh Pant was backed by the Delhi management.
Iyer has scored 2375 runs in 87 matches in IPL. Between 2018 and 2022, Iyer scored at least 400 runs in a season, his best performance in 2020, in which he scored 519 runs.
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