IPL 2020 Auction: 5 Most Expensive Overseas signings in the T20 League’s History
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5 Most Expensive Overseas signings in the T20 League’s History

IPL 2020 Auction: 5 Most Expensive Overseas signings in the T20 League’s History

IPL 2020 is on the anvil and the auctions for the same are slated to take place on the 19th of December, 2019, in Kolkata for the very first time. There is growing excitement amongst IPL enthusiasts and fans of the 8 franchises with regard to the star players that are going to feature in the premier T20 league this time. While every IPL team will look to optimally utilize their available funds for buying players, there will naturally be teams that will spend big on marquee overseas players at the auction. There are some foreign players who are expected to garner hefty bids at the IPL 2020 auctions as well.

5 Costliest overseas signings in IPL History

  • AB De Villiers- Rs. 11 crore

AB De Villiers initially played in the first few IPL seasons for Delhi Daredevils as the franchise was called back then. However, RCB bought him for a staggering amount of Rs. 11 crore in the IPL 2011 auction and he has been the mainstay of the team’s batting lineup ever since with skipper Virat Kohli. RCB have already retained De Villiers for his salary of Rs. 11 crore prior to the next auction. De Villiers has performed consistently in the IPL, amassing 513 runs in 16 matches in IPL 2015 with a 175.08 strike rate and hundred versus Mumbai Indians. He had 687 runs to his name in IPL 2016 with a 168.79 strike rate, hitting 129 versus the Gujarat Lions. RCB came last in the table for IPL 2019 although De Villiers hit 442 runs in 13 matches with 5 fifty-plus scores.

  • Sunil Narine- Rs. 12.5 crore

West Indian spinner Narine joined KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) in IPL 2012 and there was no looking back ever since! He has been retained prior to the IPL 2020 auction for Rs. 12.5 crore by KKR as well. In IPL 2012, 2013 and 2014, Narine had 24, 22 and 21 wickets to his name. He has been taking lesser wickets over the last few years with the hoopla around his bowling action and style although he has transformed into a consummate batsman as well. From IPL 2017, he has been opening the innings for KKR, scoring 224 runs in IPL 2017 and 357 runs in IPL 2018 with excellent strike rates. In IPL 2019, however, Narine had just 143 runs in 12 games and 10 wickets to his name.

  • Steve Smith- Rs. 12.5 crore

Prior to the IPL 2020 auction, Steve Smith has been retained for his salary of Rs. 12.5 crore by Rajasthan Royals. He did not play in IPL 2018 owing to his ban for ball-tampering and came back in 2019, replacing Ajinkya Rahane as the skipper midway through the tournament. He scored 319 runs in 12 matches with a strike rate of 116 in the last season. Smith is in excellent form and in IPL 2017, he made 472 runs in 15 matches for Rising Pune Supergiant.

  • David Warner- Rs. 12.5 crore

David Warner has the same salary as Steve Smith and also was banned for the same ball-tampering controversy. He has been retained for this amount by Sunrisers Hyderabad and is one of the most successful global stars of the IP, leading SRH to their sole IPL crown in 2016, scoring 848 runs in 17 matches. From IPL 2014, when he joined SRH, Warner has surpassed 500 runs in every IPL season. He hit 641 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2017 and 692 runs in 15 matches in IPL 2019.

  • Ben Stokes- Rs. 14.5 crore

The costliest overseas player in the history of the IPL, Ben Stokes was bought for this huge amount by Rising Pune Supergiant for IPL 2017. Stokes scored 316 runs in 12 games with a 142.98 strike rate and also took 12 wickets at a strike rate of 22 and 7.18 economy rate. He had best figures of 3/18 in the season too. Stokes performed amazingly in the 2019 ICC World Cup as well for his team. He shifted to Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018 for Rs. 12.5 crore. In the last couple of seasons, he has not performed as well as expected, scoring less than 200 runs overall and picking fewer than 10 wickets on an average.  However, after his World Cup heroics, Stokes has returned to form and the Royals retained him likewise for IPL 2020.

These are the 5 costliest overseas IPL signings in history and almost all of these players have repaid the faith put in them by their franchises over the years.

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