The IPL Auction is always a treat to watch. Franchises go all out on buying whichever player they want. From 20 lakhs to 16 Crores, teams don’t think much while bidding because each of their steps is preplanned and calculated. Over the years, it has been Punjab Kings that has spent the most money in the auction. Players like Yuvraj Singh have had such dominance that they have been one of the most expensive players on multiple occasions. One can never forget Chris Morris going for 16.25 Crores last time. The TATA IPL Auction is a game of demand and supply. Here is a look at the most expensive players in the TATA IPL Auction:
| Year | Player Name | Money |
| 2008 | MS Dhoni | 9.5 Crore |
| 2009 | Kevin Pietersen | 9.8 Crore |
| 2010 | Shane Bond, Kieron Pollard | 4.8 Crore |
| 2011 | Gautam Gambhir | 14.9 Crore |
| 2012 | Ravindra Jadeja | 12.8 Crore |
| 2013 | Glenn Maxwell | 6.3 Crore |
| 2014 | Yuvraj Singh | 14 Crore |
| 2015 | Yuvraj Singh | 16 Crore |
| 2016 | Shane Watson | 9.5 Crore |
| 2017 | Ben Stokes | 14.5 Crore |
| 2018 | Ben Stokes | 12.5 Crore |
| 2019 | Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Chakravarthy | 8.4 Crore |
| 2020 | Pat Cummins | 15.5 Crore |
| 2021 | Chris Morris | 16.25 Crore |
2008 MS Dhoni is the Most Expensive Player:
The first and the inaugural edition of the TATA IPL Auction saw every team bid for MS Dhoni. The legend had just captained India to the famous 2007 T20 World Cup Win. It was only in 2008, that every IPL team bid for a single player and that was for MS Dhoni. This was also the only time when MS Dhoni featured in the IPL Auction.
2009 Kevin Peitersen is the Most Expensive Player:
Kevin Pietersen the rockstar from England took a big paycheque home in the 2009 IPL Auction. He was picked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was an integral part of the team that went till the final of that season. The season was played in South Africa.
2010 Kieron Pollard and Shane Bond:
Kieron Pollard, the big Trinidadian came to the IPL for the first time in 2010. A true cricket fan remembers the tiebreaker that had to be organized between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians for determining where Polly goes. Since then, Mumbai has become the home for Kieron Pollard. Shane Bond, the express-paced Kiwi also bagged the same amount and played for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
2011 Gautam Gambhir:
2011 changed the trajectory of Gautam Gambhir’s career. Gautam was picked by the Knight Riders for a whopping 14.9 Crore. He also made sure that the price was worth it as KKR won the championship two times under his leadership. Gambhir executed every plan very well. When Gambhir left KKR in 2018 he left back a legacy and big shoes to fill.
2012 Ravindra Jadeja was the Most Expensive Player:
Ravindra Jadeja had received one year of ban for being in talks with a team back in 2010. From then on, Jadeja worked on his game. He took his game to a new level altogether. In 2012, Jadeja was picked by the Chennai Super Kings for a jaw-dropping 9.8 Crores.
2013 Glenn Maxwell:
The IPL Auction of 2013 gave Maxwell the name “Big Show”. The million-dollar boy played for Mumbai that season. He didn’t get a lot of game time in that season. But Maxwell was an integral part of the Mumbai Indians when they won the Champions League that year. His explosive batting has always been in the limelight.
2014 and 2015 Yuvraj Singh was Most Expensive Player:
Yuvraj Singh, the boy from Punjab is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball. The player who was born to rule the game earned a truckload of money in 2014 and 2015. He justified his worth by playing well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils.
2016 Shane Watson:
RCB spent 9.5 Crore on Shane Watson in 2016. This was the same iconic season where Kohli made 4 hundred. Shane Watson just played well in one or two games but remained ineffective in the others. It is often said that RCB didn’t make optimum use of Watson as he didn’t bat up the order.
2017 and 2018 Ben Stokes:
Ben Stokes also has had his fair share of earnings from the IPL Auctions. Stokes was picked by the Rising Pune SuperGiants in 2017 for 14.5 Crores and by the Rajasthan Royals for 12.5 Crores in 2018. Stokes did prove value for money as he smoked a hundred for RPSG and has been a part of RR since 2018. Ben has won many games for RR with his bowling as well as batting. He likes tougher oppositions like MI.
2019 Varun Chakravarthy and Jaydev Unadkat were Most Expensive Player:
Varun Chakravarthy dominated the TNPL in 2018 and made a big mark in the IPL Auction of 2019. With the hype around his name teams bid up to 8.4 Crores for him. Jaydev Unadkat on the other hand was in the prime of his form and had also made a national team appearance against Sri Lanka. He too bagged the same amount from RR.
2020 Pat Cummins:
Pat Cummins, the leader of Australia earned 15.5 Crores from KKR in 2020. This move had upset many cricket analysts. Gautam Gambhir went on air to say that if Hazlewood has gone for 2 Crores, Cummins at max should be at 5! But Cummins somehow justified his price. He bowled that season at an economy of 7.9.
2021 Chris Morris was the Most Expensive Player:
2021 IPL Auction gave us one of the best examples of the demand-supply game. Teams had a lot of money and due to national games, many players were unavailable. As Morris was available for all games teams fought for him like wolves for a piece of meat. Mumbai Indians were first interested but RR took the bid away at 16.25 Crores.
Check more details on the official website of IPL.