Young uncapped all-rounder Pawan Negi, who recently created flutter with his selection in the upcoming World T20 and Asia Cup, raised several eyebrows by attracting the highest bid for an Indian player as Delhi Daredevils bought him for a whopping Rs 8.50 crore on the opening day of the 2016 Indian Premier League auction here on Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who bowls quick left-arm spin and plays as a hard-hitting batsman, earned his call-up to the national squad on the back of his impressive run in the domestic season. He had previously played for now suspended Chennai Super Kings.
Karun Nair (Rs 4 crore to Delhi Daredevils), fast bowler Nathu Singh (Rs 3.2 crore to Mumbai Indians), Tamil Nadu spinner M Ashwin (Rs 4.5 crore to Rising Pune Super Giants), India under-19 player Rishabh Pant (Rs 1.9 crore to Delhi), all-rounder Deepak Hooda (Rs 4.2 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad) were among several other uncapped players who followed the suit by fetching excellent packages.
Meanwhile, Shane Watson attracted the highest bid as Royal Challengers Bangalore paid a staggering Rs. 9.50 crore to the veteran Australian all-rounder.
Flamboyant all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, however, failed to attract a bigger bid than what he had garnered last year (Rs 16 crore). He was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 7 crore.
South African all-rounder Chris Morris (Rs 7 crore) and his West Indies counterpart Carlos Brathwaite (Rs 4.2 crores) turned out to be the surprising draws among international players as the both of them were bought by Delhi.
However, retired cricketer Mahela Jayawardene, big-hitting Martin Guptill, Hashim Amla, in-form Usman Khwaja had to suffer the ignominy of going unsold.
