IPL Auction 2021 Highlights: Chris Morris gains most, Arjun Tendulkar joins Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh

Chris Morris became the most expensive player in the history of the lucrative T20 league after the South Africa all-rounder was bought by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore. Meanwhile, Arjun Tendulkar was picked for his base price by Mumbai Indians.

IPL 2021 auctions will get under in Chennai on Thursday (February 18). (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

IPL Auction 2021 Highlights: Chris Morris on Thursday etched history as the South African all-rounder became the most-expensive cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 33-year-old's bid saw an enthralling bidding war among the franchises with Rajasthan Royals' Rs 16.25 crore emerging as the winner. Morris was followed by New Zealand's tall all-rounder Kyle Jamieson, who became the second most expensive buy on Thursday after he was roped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping amount of Rs 15 crore. 

Meanwhile, Arjun Tendulkar was picked by Mumbai Indians for his base price of Rs 20 lakh. All eyes were on the youngster after his recent exploits in Mumbai's 73rd Police Invitation Shield cricket tournament. Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla also managed to find a new franchise with Mumbai picking him up for Rs 2.4 crore.

Catch the highlights of IPL 2021 auction below:

18 February 2021

20:15 IST

Arjun Tendulkar has been roped in by Mumbai Indians for his base price Rs 20 lakh. This will be Arjun's first appearance in the lucrative T20 league and it will be interesting to see if the 21-year-old gets a chance to make an appearance in the star-studded Mumbai unit. 

19:58 IST

Latest additions!

Mumbai Indians: Marco Jansen (20 lakhs) 

Punjab Kings: Saurabh Kumar (20 lakhs) 

Chennai Super Kings: K Bhagath Varma (20 lakhs), C Hari Nishanth (20 lakhs),  

Delhi Capitals: Sam Billings (2 crores) 

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1.5 crores) 

Kolkata Knight Riders: Karun Nair (50 lakhs), Ben Cutting (75 lakhs)  

19:52 IST

Kedar Jadhav joins SRH, KKR rope in Harbhajan Singh 

After being released by Chennai Super Kings following a dismal outing in UAE last year, India batsman Kedar Jadhav will be seen in the Sunrisers camp for the upcoming season. The Indian cricketer who can also contribute with the ball was bought by SRH for Rs 2 crore. 

Meanwhile, after being unsold in the first-round, Kolkata Knight Riders ropes in veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for his base price of Rs 2 crore. 

19:44 IST

Latest addition! 

# Suyash Prabhudessai and K S Bharat sold to Bangalore for Rs 20 lakh each. 

# M Harisankar Reddy sold to CSK for Rs 20 lakh

# Kuldip Yadav roped in by Rajasthan for Rs 20 lakh 

# James Neesham and Yudhvir Charak join Mumbai for Rs 50 and 20 lakh each  

19:26 IST

Daniel Christain draws Rs 4.8 crores

The Kolkata Knight Riders have purchased West Indies seamer, Fabien Allen, for Rs 75 lakh to Punjab Kings. Meanwhile, Australia cricketer Daniel Christain was roped in for Rs 4.80 crores by Royal Challengers Bangalore after engaging in a bidding war against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

19:22 IST

Punjab Kings have roped in Jalaj Saxena for Rs 30 lakh. This is Punjab's sixth purchase in the mini-auction. 

Jalaj Saxena joins @PunjabKingsIPL for INR 30 Lac. @Vivo_India #IPLAuction

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 18, 2021

19:07 IST

Preity Zinta's on the mini-auction 

"We are very happy with how things have gone so far!" - @realpreityzinta #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #IPLAuction2021

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021

19:02 IST

Rajasthan Royals are leaving no stones unturned in the Indian Premier League mini-auction on Thursday. The franchise have roped in Chris Morris, for a record Rs 16.25 crore, and Bangladesh speedster Mustafizur Rahman in the auction. Apart from these two notable additions, India all-rounder Shivam Dube, Chetan Sakariya, and K C Cariappa have also been purchased by the franchise so far in the auction. [Rajasthan Royals Full Squad]

18:56 IST

The mini-auction on Thursday has been ruled by foreign cricketers as some of the unexpected names were seen pulling off a bidding war among the franchise. While South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris became the most-expensive cricketer in the history of the tournament, another all-rounder from New Zealand bagged a whopping Rs 15 crore. 

In Pics | Players who bagged whopping amount in IPL 2021 auction

18:49 IST

Sunrisers Hyderabad keep things light

Sunrisers Hyderabad have kept things quiet in the auction so far and have just roped bowling all-rounder Jagadeesha Suchith for Rs 30 lakh. [SRH full squad] 

18:17 IST

Moises Henriques heads to Punjab Kings

Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques was sold to Punjab Kings, up from his base price of Rs 1 crore

18:15 IST

Marnus Labuschagne UNSOLD

Prolific Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne went unsold at his base price of Rs 1 crore

18:11 IST

Tom Curran goes to Delhi Capitals

English paceman Tom Curran was sold to Delhi Capitals franchise for Rs 5.25 crore 

18:02 IST

Kyle Jamieson goes past Maxwell

New Zealand pace bowling all-rounder Kyle Jamieson becomes second most expensive buy with final bid going to RCB for Rs 15 crore

17:59 IST

Cheteshwar Pujara sold to CSK

Test match specialist Cheteshwar Pujara was bought at his base price of Rs 50 lakh by MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings

17:57 IST

Piyush Chawla is a World Cup-winner: MI

Zaheer Khan on Piyush Chawla: He’s a good cricketer, a World Cup winner who brings a lot of experience. Spinners have a lot of pressure in this format and he can bowl with the new ball. 

17:54 IST

Riley Meredith earns big bucks

Uncapped Australian paceman Riley Meredith broke the bank in IPL 2021 auctions

Welcome to the den, Riley Me-RED-ith! #SaddaPunjab #IPLAuction2021 #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/Oc7oQKtGpo

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021

The Tasmanian paceman was bought for Rs 8 crore by Punjab Kings

17:48 IST

Millionaire Glenn Maxwell joins Virat Kohli

Glenn Maxwell was bought for a whopping Rs 14.25 crore by RCB

Looking forward to joining @RCBTweets for this years @IPL
Can’t wait to put everything I have in to helping us lift the trophy!

— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) February 18, 2021

Maxwell will join forces with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers

17:46 IST

Dawid Malan joins Punjab Kings

World No. 1 T20 batsman Dawid Malan will head to Punjab Kings

So happy to be joining this awesome team @PunjabKingsIPL https://t.co/KA4HEK2cTh

— Dawid Malan (@dmalan29) February 18, 2021

Malan was bought at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore by Preity Zinta co-owned franchise

17:42 IST

Mystery spinner Cariappa to RR

Karnataka mystery spinner KC Cariappa was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 20 lakh, his base price

17:40 IST

J Suchith to SRH for Rs 30 lakh

Karnataka tweaker J Suchith, who was formerly with Mumbai Indians, was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakh

17:37 IST

M Siddharth to DC for Rs 20 lakh

Mannimaran Siddharth, the left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu and man-of-the-match in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy final, was sold to Delhi Capitals at his base price of Rs 20 lakh

17:31 IST

Riley Meredith bought for Rs 8 crore

Australian and Hobart Hurricanes speedster Riley Meredith went to Punjab Kings for a whopping Rs 8 crore after furious bidding with Delhi Capitals

17:28 IST

Chetan Sakariya sold for Rs 1.2 crore

Saurashtra left-arm paceman Chetan Sakariya was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.2 crore, keeping RCB at bay

17:26 IST

Lukman Meriwala bought for Rs 20 lakh

Baroda left-arm paceman Lukman Meriwala was snapped up by Delhi Capitals for Rs 20 lakh

17:24 IST

Sheldon Jackson bought by KKR

Puducherry's Sheldon Jackson will rejoin his former team Kolkata Knight Riders after being bought by Rs 20 lakh

17:23 IST

Mohammed Azharuddeen goes to RCB

Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen, who scored a century in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy, was bought by RCB for Rs 20 lakh

17:19 IST

Vishnu Vinod heads to Delhi

Kerala's Vishnu Vinod was picked up by Delhi Capitals for Rs 20 lakh

17:13 IST

K Gowtham goes for Rs 9.25 crore

Karnataka off-spinning all-rounder K Gowtham went to CSK for Rs 9.25 crore outbidding KKR and SRH

17:08 IST

Shah Rukh Khan bought for Rs 5.25 crore

Big hitting Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan broke the bank as he was picked up by Priety Zinta co-owned Punjab Kings for Rs 5.25 crore. Shahrukh was named after Bollywood star and KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan 

17:05 IST

Ripal Patel bought by DC

Gujarat cricketer Ripal Patel was bought by Delhi Capitals by Rs 20 lakh

17:04 IST

Rajat Patidar to RCB

Madhya Pradesh's Rajat Patidar was sold to RCB for Rs 20 lakh

16:59 IST

Sachin Baby back to RCB

Kerala's Sachin Baby returned to RCB, bought for his base price of Rs 20 lakh

16:49 IST

Piyush Chawla sold to Mumbai Indians

Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2.4 crore after bidding furiously with Delhi Capitals 

16:47 IST

Harbhajan goes UNSOLD

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh goes UNSOLD at base price of Rs 2 crore

16:46 IST

Umesh Yadav returns to Delhi

Indian paceman Umesh Yadav was picked up at his base price of Rs 1 crore by Delhi Capital, completing his return back to Delhi

16:44 IST

Another Australian millionaire

Jhye Richardson has become second Australian millionaire of IPL 2020 after Glenn Maxwell.

Jhye Richardson is an IPL millionaire! @PunjabKingsIPL have just purchased him for almost $2.5million AUD! #IPLAuction2021 live: https://t.co/uiXv7T3T8T pic.twitter.com/f0JgFfvO2M

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 18, 2021

16:41 IST

Coulter-Nile bought for Rs 5 crore

Australian pace bowling all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 5 crore, up from his base price of Rs 1.5 crore

16:40 IST

Jhye Richardson goes for Rs 14 crore

Young Jhye Richardson was bought by newly rechristened Punjab Kings for Rs 14 crore, outbidding RCB

16:33 IST

Jhye Richardson bid past Rs 13 crore

Australian paceman Jhye Richardson has kicked off the next bidding frenzy. The bid is already up to Rs 13 crore between Punjab Kings and RCB

16:32 IST

Mustafizur goes to RR

Bangladesh left-arm paceman Mustrafizur Rahman was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1 crore

16:28 IST

Adam Milne goes to MI

New Zealand paceman Adam Milne was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.2 crore, up from his base price of Rs 50 lakh 

16:19 IST

Sam Billings unsold

England batsman Sam Billings has gone unsold at his base price of Rs 2 crore

16:04 IST

RR welcome back Chris Morris

Rajasthan Royals have welcomed back Chris Morris in style!

“I’m back”.  #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPLAuction | #IPL2021 | @Tipo_Morris pic.twitter.com/xLQYKoLzaw

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 18, 2021

Apart from shelling out Rs 16.25 crore, making him the most EXPENSIVE overseas player in IPL history.

16:03 IST

Malan goes to Punjab Kings

World No. 1 T20 batsman Dawid Malan goes to Punjab Kings at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore.

16:02 IST

Morris goes to RR

Chris Morris becomes most expensive player in IPL history at Rs 16.25 crore to Rajasthan Royals. 

15:49 IST

Chris Morris is most expensive in IPL history

Bid for South African all-rounder Chris Morris has already crossed Rs 16.25 crore, the highest in IPL history ahead of Yuvraj Singh in Rs 16 crore by Delhi Daredevils 

15:44 IST

Shivam Dube sold to Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube goes to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 4.4 crore with DC backing out towards the end of the bid

15:38 IST

Moeen Ali goes to CSK for Rs 7 crore

Moeen Ali is the first English player to draw interest as Punjab Kings and CSK increase the bid to Rs. 4.6 crore. Ali was finally picked by CSK for Rs 7 crore after being released by RCB this year.

15:35 IST

Shakib al Hasan goes to KKR for Rs 3.2 crore

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has drawn interest from both Punjab Kings and his former team KKR. He is finally sold to KKR for Rs 3.2 crore up from his opening bid of Rs 2 crore.

15:27 IST

Maxwell become MILLIONAIRE again

Maxwell is already 4th most EXPENSIVE player in IPL history with bid of Rs 14.25 to RCB 

15:23 IST

Bid crosses Rs 10 crore for Maxwell

Dhoni's CSK and RCB raised the bid to Rs 11 crore for Glenn Maxwell, who was released by Punjab Kings this season. Maxwell just managed 108 runs in 13 games in IPL 2020!

15:21 IST

CSK and RCB gun for Maxwell

Things have steamed up already with bid up to Rs 7 crore for Glenn Maxwell. It is between MS Dhoni's CSK and Virat Kohli's RCB now

15:19 IST

Bidding WAR for Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell already up to Rs 4.4 crore between RCB and KKR. RCB have a big purse of Rs 35.4 crore

15:16 IST

Not much demand in Set 1

Hanuma Vihari, Evin Lewis, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales and Karun Nair go unsold from Set 1

15:13 IST

Steve Smith to DELHI CAPITALS

RCB makes opening bid for Steve Smith at Rs 2 crore, DC raise the bid to Rs 2.2 crore. Former Australian skipper Smith goes for a bargain price of Rs 2.2 crore to the IPL 2020 runners-up Delhi Capitals

15:11 IST

Alex Hales going unsold

English opener Alex Hales comes up for Rs 1.5 crore but goes unsold at first offer 

15:06 IST

Karun Nair is first player introduced in auction

Karnataka and former Punjab Kings batsman Karun Nair comes up first but goes unsold!

14:58 IST

Title sponsors are back

Vivo is back as title sponsors of IPL 2021 after skipping 2020, IPL Governing Council member Brijesh Patel announces in introductory address. 

14:54 IST

Will Royal Challengers Bangalore gun for Glenn Maxwell?

After deciding not to retain top players Moeen Ali and Umesh Yadav, the RCB team management including skipper Virat Kohli might be tempted to aggressively bid for Australian big-hitter like Glenn Maxwell. Former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir also believes that Maxwell might be one of the players that RCB might target in the IPL mini-auction. “They (RCB) would need some quality players because they have let go of some quality players – Moeen Ali and Umesh Yadav for example. There are not many fast bowlers going around in the Indian circuit at the moment,” Gambhir said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’. 

14:41 IST

Set 1 to feature Steve Smith

We are just moments away from the auction and the Set 1 will feature the likes of Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Evin Lewis, etc. Who will be the most expensive buy?

Who all will bid for former Australia and Rajasthan Royals for Steve Smith?

14:38 IST

Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore are ready

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are ready for IPL 2021 auction to get underway!

The stage is set in Chennai.
We’re ready to #BidForBold at the #IPLAuction!

Excited, 12th Man Army? #PlayBold #ClassOf2021 pic.twitter.com/i6G38bPbvJ

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 18, 2021

Who all will RCB target with a purse of Rs 35.4 crore at their disposal! 

14:31 IST

We are just minutes away from the mini-auction as the eight franchise aim to grab their best picks out of the 298 players. In the latest development, England's Mark Wood has taken his name from the auction list. Some of the big stars that were not retained by their respective franchises include Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, among others. What to expect in upcoming IPL 2021 auctions

13:41 IST

Punjab Kings Director of Operations Anil Kumble has set his plans for IPL 2021 auction.

Jumbo jet has his plans set!

Who do you think the head coach is after? #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #IPLAuction2021 @anilkumble1074 pic.twitter.com/xiSwfwi2X6

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021

Find out Jumbo's plans.

13:16 IST

Auction list swells to 298

Brisbane Heat's Xavier Bartlett, Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, Puducherry's D Rohit, Kerala's Maxwell KK Jiyas, Virender Sehwag's nephew Mayank Dagar, Ashok Menaria from Rajasthan and UP left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar have all been added to the auction shortlist. A total of 298 names are set to go under the hammer now with only 61 slots to be filled.

13:12 IST

IPL 2021 auction rules

Player cap, purse limit, Right-to-Match card and other rules: All eight franchises have certain rules to follow while pursuing players and assembling a squad for the 14th edition of the league.  

12:33 IST

Punjab Kings out to shine with new name

The Punjab-based IPL franchise rechristened to Punjab Kings and the team management would hope for a change in fortune after the revamp.  Along with the skipper KL Rahul and his opening Mayank Agarwal, Punjab Kings possess a lot of quality in their batting, but the bowling department will require fixing in the mini-auction on Thursday.  

12:29 IST

First time champions

The inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals are already dreaming about a repeat of their triumph in 2021.

Eyes on 2021. 
Thinking about 2008. #HallaBol | #IPLAuction2021 pic.twitter.com/K86v5p0Wq9

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 18, 2021

Can you remember who was the captain when Rajasthan Royals won the crown back in 2008?

12:18 IST

The IPL 2021 auction will get underway at 3pm onwards in Chennai. Read where you watch the auction Live.

12:03 IST

Wood back out

England paceman Mark Wood is the only cricketer to pull out of the IPL 2021 auction so far. Wood, who arrived in India with Jonny Bairstow, will be part of the England squad for the third and fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad.

11:58 IST

Hello and Welcome to IPL 2021 auction day! A total of 291 cricketers will be up for grabs for the 8 IPL franchises to fill 61 vacant slots for the 14th edition of the T20 league.