It was an action-packed first day at the IPL Auction 2018. There was plenty of anticipation about who will emerge as the costliest player this time. Just like last year, English all-rounder Ben Stokes has once again proved to be the player sold with the highest bid. Rajasthan Royals has bagged Stokes for a whopping bid of INR 12.5 crores.
As soon as his name was up for the auction, the franchises had a tussle to add him to their camps. Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders bid for him for a long time but at the end, Rajasthan Royals ran away with the winning bid. Stokes’s performance last year for Rising Pune Supergiant was outstanding and it comes as no surprise that he was the top player this time around.
India’s batsman KL Rahul was the other big gainer as he bagged an amount of INR 11 crores from Kings XI. Manish Pandey also went for the same amount and Sunrisers Hyderabad went all the way to buy him. These 2 were the top picks amongst the Indian players that went under the hammer.
As expected, Australia’s big-hitting batsman Chris Lynn attracted a lot of attention and he was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 9.6 crores. Joining him in the KKR camp will be his countryman Mitchell Starc who also claimed a huge bid of INR 9.4 crores.
Afghanistan’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan was sold to Kings XI for INR 9 crores but Sunrisers opted to use the RTM card for him. Krunal Pandya was also a hot candidate in the auction as he bagged a bid of INR 8.8 crores from Royal Challengers Bangalore but Mumbai Indians did the smart work by using the RTM card.
A big surprise occurred when Chris Gayle did not find any buyers on day 1 but KXIP did manage to get him on day 2 when he was recalled for the auction for the 3rd time. Joe Root and Hashim Amla were amongst the others who went unsold.
On day 2, the franchises looked to plug the gaps in their teams and completed the required number of players. Jaydev Unadkat made the headlines as he was picked up for INR 11.5 crores by Rajasthan Royals. Andrew Tye and Krishnappa Gowtham were the other big gainers on the second day. Sandeep Lamichhane became the first player from Nepal to be picked in the IPL and he will play for DD.
Here is the list of players sold in the IPL Auction 2018
| Player | Country | Sold for | Bought by |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | INR 5.2 crores | SRH |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | INR 7.6 crores | KXIP |
| Kieron Pollard | Windies | INR 5.4 crores | MI |
| Chris Gayle | Windies | INR 2 crores | KXIP |
| Ben Stokes | England | INR 12.5 crores | RR |
| Faf du Plessis | South Africa | INR 1.6 crores | CSK |
| Ajinkya Rahane | India | INR 4 crores | RR |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | INR 9.4 crores | KKR |
| Harbhajan Singh | India | INR 2 crores | CSK |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | INR 2 crores | SRH |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | INR 9 crores | DD |
| Gautam Gambhir | India | INR 2.8 crores | DD |
| Dwayne Bravo | India | INR 6.4 crores | CSK |
| Kane Williamson | New Zealand | INR 3 crores | SRH |
| Yuvraj Singh | India | INR 2 crores | KXIP |
| Karun Nair | India | INR 5.6 crores | KXIP |
| KL Rahul | India | INR 11 crores | KXIP |
| Murali Vijay | India | INR 2 crores | CSK |
| David Miller | South Africa | INR 3 crores | KXIP |
| Aaron Finch | Australia | INR 6.2 crores | KXIP |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | INR 3.6 crores | RCB |
| Jason Roy | England | INR 1.5 crores | DD |
| Chris Lynn | Australia | INR 9.6 crores | KKR |
| Manish Pandey | India | INR 11 crores | SRH |
| Chris Woakes | England | INR 7.4 crores | RCB |
| Carlos Brathwaite | Windies | INR 2 crores | SRH |
| Shane Watson | Australia | INR 4 crores | CSK |
| Kedar Jadhav | India | INR 7.8 crores | CSK |
| Colin de Grandhomme | New Zealand | INR 2.2 crores | RCB |
| Yusuf Pathan | India | INR 1.9 crores | SRH |
| Colin Munro | New Zealand | INR 1.9 crores | DD |
| Stuart Binny | India | INR 50 Lakhs | RR |
| Marcus Stoinis | Australia | INR 6.2 crores | KXIP |
| Moeen Ali | England | INR 1.7 crores | RCB |
| Parthiv Patel | India | INR 1.7 crores | RCB |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | INR 2.8 crores | RCB |
| Wriddhiman Saha | India | INR 5 crores | SRH |
| Dinesh Karthik | India | INR 7.4 crores | KKR |
| Naman Ojha | India | INR 1.4 crores | DD |
| Robin Uthappa | India | INR 6.4 crores | KKR |
| Sanju Samson | India | INR 8 crores | RR |
| Ambati Rayudu | India | INR 2.2 crores | CSK |
| Sam Billings | England | INR 1 crore | CSK |
| Jos Buttler | England | INR 4.4 crores | RR |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | INR 2.2 crores | MI |
| Mitchell Johnson | Australia | INR 2 crores | KKR |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | INR 5.4 crores | MI |
| Umesh Yadav | India | INR 4.2 crores | RCB |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | RCB | |
| Mohammed Shami | India | INR 3 crores | DD |
| Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | INR 4.2 crores | DD |
| Piyush Chawla | India | INR 4.2 crores | KKR |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa | INR 1 crore | CSK |
| Karn Sharma | India | INR 5 crores | CSK |
| Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | INR 9 crores | SRH |
| Amit Mishra | India | INR 4 crores | DD |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | India | INR 6 crores | RCB |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India | INR 5.8 crores | KKR |
| Surya Kumar Yadav | India | INR 3.2 crores | MI |
| Shubman Gill | India | INR 1.8 crores | KKR |
| Ishank Jaggi | India | INR 20 Lakhs | KKR |
| Ricky Bhui | India | INR 20 Lakhs | SRH |
| Mayank Agarwal | India | INR 1 crore | KXIP |
| Rahul Tripathi | India | INR 3.4 crores | RR |
| Manan Vohra | India | INR 1.1 crores | RCB |
| Siddhesh Lad | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Prithvi Shaw | India | INR 1.2 crores | DD |
| Rahul Tewatia | India | INR 3 crores | DD |
| Deepak Hooda | India | INR 3.6 crores | SRH |
| Vijay Shankar | India | INR 3.2 crores | DD |
| Harshal Patel | India | INR 20 Lakhs | DD |
| Kamlesh Nagarkoti | India | INR 3.2 crores | KKR |
| Krunal Pandya | India | INR 8.8 crores | MI |
| Nitish Rana | India | INR 3.4 crores | KKR |
| Darcy Short | Australia | INR 4 crores | RR |
| Jofra Archer | Windies | INR 7.2 crores | RR |
| Ishan Kishan | India | INR 6.2 crores | MI |
| Aditya Tare | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Prashant Chopra | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Kulwant Khejroliya | India | INR 85 Lakhs | RCB |
| Siddharth Kaul | India | INR 3.8 crores | SRH |
| T Natarajan | India | INR 40 Lakhs | SRH |
| Basil Thampi | India | INR 95 Lakhs | SRH |
| Aniket Choudhary | India | INR 30 Lakhs | RCB |
| Syed Khaleel Ahmed | India | INR 3 crores | SRH |
| Navdeep Saini | India | INR 3 crores | RCB |
| Avesh Khan | India | INR 70 Lakhs | DD |
| Ankit Singh Rajpoot | India | INR 3 crores | KXIP |
| Rahul Chahar | India | INR 1.9 crores | MI |
| Shahbaz Nadeem | India | INR 3.2 crores | DD |
| Krishappa Gowtham | India | INR 6.2 crores | RR |
| Murugan Ashwin | India | INR 2.2 crores | RCB |
| Evin Lewis | Windies | INR 3.8 crores | MI |
| Saurabh Tiwary | India | INR 80 Lakhs | MI |
| Mandeep Singh | India | INR 1.4 crores | RCB |
| Manoj Tiwary | India | INR 1 crore | KXIP |
| Washington Sundar | India | INR 3.2 crores | RCB |
| Pawan Negi | India | INR 1 crore | RCB |
| Daniel Christian | Australia | INR 1.5 crores | DD |
| Jayant Yadav | India | INR 50 Lakhs | DD |
| Gurkeerat Singh | India | INR 75 Lakhs | DD |
| Ben Cutting | Australia | INR 2.2 crores | MI |
| Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan | INR 1 crore | SRH |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | India | INR 75 Lakhs | RR |
| Mohit Sharma | India | INR 2.4 crores | KXIP |
| Sandeep Sharma | India | INR 3 crores | SRH |
| Vinay Kumar | India | INR 1 crore | KKR |
| Mohammed Siraj | India | INR 2.6 crores | RCB |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | Australia | INR 2.2 crores | RCB |
| Jaydev Unadkat | India | INR 11.5 crores | RR |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | INR 2.2 crores | DD |
| Shardul Thakur | India | INR 2.6 crores | CSK |
| Mujeeb Zadran | Afghanistan | INR 4 crores | KXIP |
| Apoorv Wankhede | India | INR 20 Lakhs | KKR |
| Rinku Singh | India | INR 80 Lakhs | KKR |
| Sachin Baby | India | INR 20 Lakhs | SRH |
| Manjot Kalra | India | INR 20 Lakhs | DD |
| Ankit Sharma | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Shivam Mavi | India | INR 3 crores | KKR |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | INR 55 Lakhs | DD |
| Bipul Sharma | India | INR 20 Lakhs | SRH |
| Sayan Ghosh | India | INR 20 Lakhs | DD |
| Pradeep Sangwan | India | INR 1.5 crores | MI |
| Anureet Singh | India | INR 30 Lakhs | RR |
| Jagadeesan Narayan | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Mayank Markande | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Zahir Khan Pakteen | Afghanistan | INR 60 Lakhs | RR |
| JP Duminy | South Africa | INR 1 crore | MI |
| Chris Jordan | England | INR 1 crore | SRH |
| Mitchell Santner | New Zealand | INR 50 Lakhs | CSK |
| Jason Behrendorff | Australia | INR 1.5 crores | MI |
| Ben Laughlin | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs | RR |
| Barinder Sran | India | INR 2.2 crores | KXIP |
| Billy Stanlake | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs | SRH |
| Andrew Tye | Australia | INR 7.2 crore | KXIP |
| Tanmay Agarwal | India | INR 20 Lakhs | SRH |
| Deepak Chahar | India | INR 80 Lakhs | CSK |
| Cameron Delport | South Africa | INR 30 Lakhs | KKR |
| Tajinder Dhillon | India | INR 55 Lakhs | MI |
| Shreyas Gopal | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Akshdeep Nath | India | INR 1 crore | KXIP |
| Shreevats Goswami | India | INR 1 crore | SRH |
| Ben Dwarshuis | Australia | INR 1.4 crores | KXIP |
| Asif K | India | INR 40 Lakhs | CSK |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | Nepal | INR 20 Lakhs | DD |
| Lungisani Ngidi | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs | CSK |
| Sharad Lumba | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Mayank Dagar | India | INR 20 Lakhs | KXIP |
| Anukul Roy | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Kanishk Seth | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Dhruv Shorey | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Mark Wood | England | INR 1.5 crores | CSK |
| Dushmanta Chameera | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs | RR |
| Mehdi Hasan | Bangladesh | INR 20 Lakhs | SRH |
| Kshitiz Sharma | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Monu Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Anirudha Joshi | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RCB |
| Midhun S | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Aryaman Vikam Birla | India | INR 30 Lakhs | RR |
| Akila Dananjaya | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs | MI |
| Pardeep Sahu | India | INR 20 Lakhs | KXIP |
| Mahipal Lomror | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Mohsin Khan | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Nidheesh M | India | INR 20 Lakhs | MI |
| Chaitanya Bishnoi | India | INR 20 Lakhs | CSK |
| Jatin Saxena | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RR |
| Pavan Deshpande | India | INR 20 Lakhs | RCB |
| Manzoor Dar | India | INR 20 Lakhs | KXIP |
| Javon Searless | Windies | INR 30 Lakhs | KKR |
Here is the list of players unsold in the IPL Auction 2018
| Player | Country | Base Price |
| Joe Root | England | INR 1.5 crores |
| Hashim Amla | South Africa | INR 1.5 crores |
| Martin Guptill | New Zealand | INR 75 Lakhs |
| James Faulkner | Australia | INR 2 crores |
| Jonny Bairstow | England | INR 1.5 crores |
| Josh Hazlewood | Australia | INR 2 crores |
| Ishant Sharma | India | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Mitchell McClenaghan | New Zealand | INR 1 crore |
| Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka | INR 1 crore |
| Ish Sodhi | New Zealand | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Samuel Badree | Windies | INR 1 crore |
| Adam Zampa | Australia | INR 1 crore |
| Himanshu Rana | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Shivam Sube | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Jitesh Sharma | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Nikhil Naik | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Ben McDermott | Australia | INR 30 Lakhs |
| Ankush Bains | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Vishnu Vinod | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Sheldon Jackson | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Rajneesh Gurbani | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| KC Cariappa | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Sai Kishore | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Tejas Baroka | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Jagadeesha Suchith | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Iqbal Abdullah | India | INR 30 Lakhs |
| Shivil Kaushik | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Alex Hales | England | INR 1 crore |
| Eoin Morgan | England | INR 2 crores |
| Shaun Marsh | Australia | INR 1.5 crores |
| Lendl Simmons | Windies | INR 1.5 crores |
| Travis Head | Australia | INR 1.5 crores |
| Colin Ingram | South Africa | INR 2 crores |
| Corey Anderson | New Zealand | INR 2 crores |
| Moises Henriques | Australia | INR 1.5 crores |
| Rishi Dhawan | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Dale Steyn | South Africa | INR 1 crore |
| Nathan Lyon | Australia | INR 1.5 crores |
| Fawad Ahmed | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Pragyan Ojha | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Anmolpreet Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Pravin Dubey | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Swapnil Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Ishwar Pandey | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Nathu Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Johnson Charles | Windies | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Niroshan Dickwella | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Nicholas Pooran | Windies | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Kedar Devdhar | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| CM Gautam | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Mihir Hirwani | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Aiden Markram | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Ashton Agar | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Hilton Cartwright | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| John Hastings | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Rovman Powell | Windies | INR 50 Lakhs |
| David Willey | England | INR 2 crores |
| Tom Latham | New Zealand | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Kusal Perera | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Luke Ronchi | New Zealand | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Varun Aaron | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Sreenath Arvind | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Lockie Ferguson | New Zealand | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Tymal Mills | England | INR 1 crore |
| Adam Milne | New Zealand | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Harpreet Bhatia | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Unmukt Chand | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Amandeep Khare | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Virat Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Baba Aparajith | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Atit Sheth | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Shashank Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Smit Patel | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Mahesh Rawat | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Ishan Porel | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Vikas Tokas | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Abhishek Sakuja | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Andre Fletcher | Windies | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Jason Holder | Windies | INR 1.5 crores |
| Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs |
| JJ Smuts | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Sheldon Cotrell | Windies | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Marchant De Lange | South Africa | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Matt Henry | New Zealand | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Abhimanyu Mithun | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Morne Morkel | South Africa | INR 75 Lakhs |
| Joel Paris | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Jhye Richardson | Australia | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Vivek Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Lalit Yadav | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Amit Mishra | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Athisayaraj V | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Andile Phehlukwayo | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Dane Paterson | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Kesrick Willaims | Windies | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Chirag Gandhi | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Riyan Parag | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Himmat Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| David Wiese | South Africa | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Kyle Abbott | South Africa | INR 1.5 crores |
| Pratyush Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Thomas Helm | England | INR 40 Lakhs |
| Aaron Summers | Australia | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Ben Wheeler | New Zealand | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Rajat Bhatia | India | INR 40 Lakhs |
| Michael Neser | Australia | INR 40 Lakhs |
| Jack Wildermuth | Australia | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Fabid Ahmed | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Akhil Herwadkar | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Salman Nizar | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Sagar Trivedi | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Antony Dhas | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Shubham Ranjane | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Utkarsh Singh | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Yuvraj Chudasama | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| R Samarth | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Eklavya Dwivedi | India | INR 40 Lakhs |
| Harvik Desai | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Sadiq Kirmai | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Akash Bhandari | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Gulbadin Naib | Afghanistan | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Najibullah Zadran | Afghanistan | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Ashoke Dinda | India | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Umar Nazir Mir | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Indrajith Baba | India | INR 20 Lakhs |
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