India's Ishan Kishan fetches US$2 million in IPL auction

BANGALORE: India's rising star Ishan Kishan fetched a whopping US$2 million in the auction for the Indian Premier League - the world's most valuable cricket tournament - on Saturday.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians bought back the 23-year-old Kishan, a wicketkeeper-batsman, in a fierce bidding war on a dramatic first day in Bangalore that witnessed auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapse.

Ten teams, including two new additions in Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, started with a total purse of nearly US$75 million to spend across two days.

Uncapped pace bowler Avesh Khan hit the jackpot when he attracted a winning bid of US$1.32 million (1.16 million euros, £970,000) from Lucknow as his stock jumped from a base price of US$26,500.

Up-and-coming talent, including Shahrukh Khan, a hard-hitting batsman, and Rahul Tewatia, a bowling all-rounder, went to Punjab Kings and Gujarat as each jumped from a base price of US$53,000 to bag US$1.19 million each.

The left-handed Kishan made his international debut last year. His fee fell short of the Indian record of US$2.2 million paid to Yuvraj Singh in the 2015 auction, which sets players' salaries for the tournament.

South Africa's Chris Morris is the most expensive IPL player ever, selling for US$2.23 million last year.

The second most expensive player on Saturday was bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar, bought back by Chennai Super Kings for US$1.85 million.

Shreyas Iyer, who stood out with his match-winning 80 as India completed a 3-0 ODI whitewash of the West Indies on Friday, was won by Kolkata Knight Riders for US$1.62 million.

Kolkata secured a return for Australia's Pat Cummins, who went to the same team for a record US$2.17 million in 2019 but was released last year, for nearly