IPL 2018 auction LIVE: Here’s how the bidding war for the players has been panning out

The world’s biggest domestic T20 cricket league, IPL 2018, will be rolling out its 11th edition this year. With Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) set to make a comeback this year, the auction has been garnering a lot of interest from several quarters. A plethora of cricketers, from across the world, have made themselves available to participate in this year’s cricketing extravaganza. Here’s how the two-day auction, which started today, has been panning out.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes once again emerged as the prized-scalp as several franchises went out all guns blazing for him. The flamboyant cricketer was finally bought by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping Rs 12.5 Cr. Australian players Chris Lynn and Mitchell Starc have been bought by Kolkata Night Riders for Rs 9.60 Cr and Rs 9.40 Cr respectively. Star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell too struck gold as he went for a massive Rs 9 Cr to Delhi Daredevils.

The franchises, as expected, once again were highly interested in bagging the Indian players. Karnataka stars Manish Pandey and KL Rahul have been bought for a whopping Rs 11 Cr each by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab respectively.

While many players have already started making heft amounts at the auction, the biggest surprise turned out to be the fact that there were no takers for the likes of Chris Gayle and Joe Root. The unsold players will, however, made available once again later in the bid.

Here are the details of the players who went under the hammer today: