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Top 10 Most Expensive Players in IPL History

While it might not appeal to the purists, no one can deny that the Indian Premier League isn’t the biggest thing going on in cricket today. As such, those who play in the IPL receive truly impressive financial awards.

Now that the 2017 IPL season is in full swing, special attention is being paid to Durham and England all-rounder Ben Stokes (above) who went for $2.16m at auction. By contrast, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were snapped up for a ‘mere’ $1.55m and so miss out on the following. Likewise, there’s no place for Aussie all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, whose 2013 salary earned him the nickname ‘The Million Dollar Man’.

But where does the Pune Supergiants’ latest overseas signing appear on the list of the 10 most expensive players in the history of the Indian Premier League? Read on…

10 – Saurabh Tiwary ($1.6m, Royal Challenger Bangalore, 2011)
A good honest pro, Tiwary was described as a left-handed version of MS Dhoni. In truth, he wasn’t that good – he’d never play T20 cricket internationally – but he’d carve out a decent IPL career, all the same.

9 – Irfan Pathan ($1.9m, Delhi Daredevils, 2011)
Another player who spent his career being compared to an Indian great, Pathan was heralded as a modern-equivalent of Kapil Dev. Besides his IPL success, he would represent his country at all three versions of international cricket.

7= – Ravindra Jadeja ($2m, Chennai SuperKings, 2012)
Like Pathan, it was Jadeja’s all-round talent that made him so valuable to the SuperKings. And he’s also been a good servant to India, playing his part in the late winter savaging of Alastair Cook’s England.

7= – Rohit Sharma ($2m, Mumbai Indians, 2011)
Much though he has achieved in the Indian Premier League, Sharma’s destined to be remembered for the 264 he made against the West Indies in 2014, by almost 30 runs the highest individual score in One Day International cricket.

6 – Dinesh Karthik ($2.08m, Delhi Daredevils, 2014)
Karthik has attracted some sizeable IPL dosh since turning his back on the international game. Indeed, the year after Delhi forked out over $2 million for his services, Royal Challenger Bangalore picked him up for a not-to-be-sniffed at $1.6m.

4= – Robin Uthappa ($2.1m, Pune Warriors, 2011)
While 2011 turned out to be a below-average year for the Warriors, none of the blame could be saddled upon Uthappa who top scored for his team; a feat he’d repeat in 2012 during another undistinguished Warriors campaign.

4= – Yusuf Pathan ($2.1m, Kolkata Knight Riders, 2011)
Alas, the Knight Riders didn’t really get the best of Pathan. That occurred a year earlier when he scored a century off 37 balls for the Rajasthan Royals, an innings championed by no less a cricketing great than Shane Warne.

3 – Ben Stokes ($2.16m, Pune Supergiants, 2017)
There were those who thought the flame-haired England all-rounder might break all records when he put himself up for auction in 2017. As it is, Stokes will have to settle for being the most expensive overseas talent in IPL history.

2 – Gautam Gambhir ($2.4m, Kolkata Knight Riders, 2011)
It’s easy to see why Gambhir’s talent was prized so highly: instrumental in helping India win the 2007 World Twenty20 and the 2011 World Cup. A batsman of rare class, he was also named ICC Test Player of the Year in 2011.

1 – Yuvraj Singh ($2.67m, Delhi Daredevils, 2015)
The jewel in the crown; batting all-rounder Yuvraj’s 2015 price-tag was a direct result of his sparkling 2014 season with Royal Challenger Bangalore who had purchased his talents for the relatively modest sum of $2.33m!