Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has tipped Rishabh Pant to become the most expensive player in the IPL history. Australia’s gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc is currently the most expensive player in the IPL as he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping amount of INR 24.75 crore in the IPL 2024 mini-auction.
Meanwhile, Pant has been released by Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction, which will take place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25 as 1574 players (1,165 Indian and 409 overseas) have registered.
DC has decided to retain Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Pant has been in terrific form and top-scored in the three-Test match series against New Zealand with 261 runs at an average of 43.50. Pant returned with scores of 60 and 64 in the Mumbai Test, which India lost by 25 runs.
The left-hander is known to turn the match on its head with his blistering batting and has scored 3284 runs in 111 IPL matches at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93.
“The big thing is who all have kept themselves in the ₹2 crore bracket. A lot of Indian players, which includes KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant could be the most expensive player in IPL history. He can go above 25-26 crores,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra reckons the teams with higher purse value – PBKS and RCB – will be willing to spend a huge amount to get their desired players.
“I can see at least three teams going absolutely hammer and tongs. One (PBKS) has 110 crores and another (RCB) has 83 crores. I feel a lot of money will be spent when they fight amongst themselves,” he observed.
The renowned commentator feels players putting up their respective base price makes sense.
“You think what is right or wrong. Let’s discuss why the base price is important. You can see it from two angles. One is that my bidding should start from two crores only, or else what is the point because I am worth a lot more, which is actually okay,” he said.
However, Chopra feels players like Devdutt Padikkal and Umesh Yadav might have put their base price of INR 2 crore on a high side.
“If you see the list, quite a few of them have been sold for double digits. So those people keep their names in the ₹2 crore list. However, there are some players, for example Devdutt Padikkal, I am just taking a name, I am not sure that would happen, there is a possibility that when his name comes for the first time, he goes unsold,” Chopra explained.
“This possibility is very bright because people are slightly wary while putting ₹2 crore. They say they would see later as they can pick him afterwards as well. It could be Umesh Yadav as well. However, if they keep it 50 lakhs, the bidding would start. Once it starts and others are interested, your money starts touching the sky,” he elaborated.
