Chris Morris Becomes the Most Expensive Player in IPL Auction History as Rajasthan Royals Get Him For Rs 16.25 Crore
Chris Morris #ChrisMorris
Chris Morris created history at the IPL Auction as he became the most expensive overseas buy ever with Rs 16.25 Cr. Morris was expected to turn up the heat with the kind of player he is. It was a three-way war between RCB, KXIP, and RR. Eventually, after sweating it out at the table, RR managed to get him in.
At the last auction, he was roped in by RCB at a staggering Rs 10 crore last year. However, he was not retained by the franchise after making just nine appearances last season where he scored 34 runs and picked up 12 wickets.
Chris Morris – 16.25 crore in 2021 (Bought by RR)
Yuvraj Singh – 16.00 crore in 2015 (Bought by DC)
Pat Cummins – 15.50 crore in 2020 (Bought by KKR)
Ben Stokes – 14.50 crore in 2017 (Bought by RPS)
Yuvraj Singh – 14.00 crore in 2014 (Bought by RCB)
Morris has been a part of many IPL teams in the past like Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is a big-ticket player but he has not lived up to his potential.
At Royals, he would not be the only overseas all-rounder as Ben Stokes would be there and hence it becomes an interesting pick. He could be used in the finisher role with Stokes playing up the order in Steve Smith’s absence. Looking at it from that point of view, it surely provides them with the power in the middle and he could be their ‘X-factor’.
Meanwhile, Maxwell heated up the auction early as Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore bid for the Australia allrounder. Maxwell was finally picked up by RCB for Rs 14.25 cr which is more than seven times his base price.
List of players retained Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa.
List of players released- Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.