A total of 332 cricketers went under the hammer in the auction ahead of the upcoming season or the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), conducted on the 19th of December. However, only 62 of them found bids across eight franchises and the rest of them received a pass. This particular trend follows almost every year where certain marquee names go unsold, leaving only a handful of them to secure the bids.

There existed a lot of buzz around several overseas stars, a few domestic stars, and the new and upcoming talents, who received the backing to cause bidding wars in the auction. Some local players drew bids; however, it was the international stars who ruled the proceedings, mainly athletes from Australia.

The franchises have shelled out enormous bucks on players, primarily due to their ingenious performances for their national teams as well as the domestic leagues they have been part of. The owners would not only be hoping that they keep performing the way they have over the past few years, but also uphold the reason why millions have been splurged by producing excellent displays in the forthcoming season.

Here we take a look at top five costly recruits and their performances post the auction:

1. Nathan Coulter-Nile

Defending champions Mumbai Indians arrived in the auction having almost all their bases covered. Yet, they engaged in a fierce battle with their rival franchise Chennai Super Kings over the Australian quick Nathan Coulter-Nile. As a result of intense bidding wars, his price skyrocketed to a staggering INR 8 crores from a base price of INR 1 crore.

It is where Chennai Super Kings decided to back down and Coulter-Nile went to the reigning champions. It caused a lot of stir since the 32-year old last played in IPL in 2017. Even for the national team, he has been inconsistent and injury-prone as well.

Currently, Coulter-Nile is featuring for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League edition of 2019-20. He has six wickets from six games at an average of 25.83. Mumbai Indians have already got a wealth of pacers in their squad that Coulter-Nile may not get too many games. However, in case of any injury, the camp would be hoping he justifies his price tag.

2. Sheldon Cottrell

The left-arm speedster has emerged as one of the potent white-ball quicks over the past year. Sheldon Cottrell has established himself as the premier new-ball bowler for West Indies and has found a knack of picking wickets through his cunning variations.

Among all the wise picks by Kings XI Punjab, the Jamaican fast bowler was one of them, who was secured for a whopping sum of INR 8.5 crores from INR 50 lakhs as the base price. The bidding wars over Cottrell caused due to his performances in the Caribbean Premier League and the 2019 World Cup in which he took 12 wickets in both of them.

At the time of IPL auction, the 30-year old was featuring for his national side in the ODI series against India in India. He took five wickets in three games against the men in blue. Sheldon Cottrell is presently a part of the Windies’ squad which is battling Ireland. He picked up five scalps in two matches as his side defeated the Irishmen by 3-0 in ODIs.

3. Chris Morris

South African bowling all-rounder Chris Morris was one of the many players surprisingly released ahead of the auction. But none expected Morris to bag a deal as high as a sum of INR 10 crores from a base price of INR 1.5 crores. It was the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who spent that high an amount for the Proteas’ all-rounder.

The 32-year old is capable of bowling well and bowling fast during any part of the innings. Apart from this, Morris is more than a handy batsman down the order, having an ability to tonk a few out of the park. Bangalore would be dearly hoping that the South African would help them in solving their bowling woes.

The speedster is part of Sydney Thunder in the current edition of the Big Bash League. The team is oscillating in the middle; however, Morris has picked up ten wickets in seven games at a reasonably good average of 21.90. Chris Morris could also find a spot in the national team’s squad for the limited-overs series against England next month.

4. Glenn Maxwell

At the time of the auction, Glenn Maxwell had just announced his return to competitive cricket after a short break due to mental health reasons. Regardless of his inconsistent displays in the past few seasons, the Victorian was always in the radar of multiple franchises because of his all-round abilities.

And it happened exactly that. With a base price of INR 2 crores, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals went after the Australian straight away. When the bidding price reached an amount of INR 10.75 crores, Delhi bowed out which meant Punjab had bagged his deal. The franchise would be hoping that the 31-year old replicates his form of the 2014 season in which he amassed 552 runs in 16 games.

The swashbuckling all-rounder is currently captaining the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League. The Stars are presently the leaders of the points table, having won eight out of nine games so far. Maxwell’s own form with the bat has been terrific too, mustering 316 runs at an average of 79. However, he was left out of the ODI squad to face India due to a poor World Cup campaign.

5. Pat Cummins

This IPL auction emerged as the one ruled by overseas stars, especially by Australians. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Chris Lynn received hefty bids. Among all of them, Pat Cummins stood out, bagging a deal of INR 15.50 crores, the second-highest amount in the IPL auction history.

The number one Test bowler is effective not only in the longest format but also in limited-overs cricket. Coming into the auction, all eyes were on him. He was one of the chief architects of Australia’s ODI series win in India in 2019. Cummins also performed well in the World Cup, picking up 14 scalps in ten games. And Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils indulged themselves in a fierce battle to seal his deal. In the end, Kolkata Knight Riders swooped in out of nowhere to put their stamp on Cummins.

Post the auction; the 26-year old took five wickets in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. He picked up another four wickets in the New Year’s Test in Sydney as Australia whitewashed New Zealand to retain the Trans-Tasman Trophy. The Sydney-born speedster is presently in India preparing for the three-game ODI series, where he will spearhead the pace attack along with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.