After two days of rigorous bidding activities, a total of 204 players were bought by 10 IPL teams for a whopping sum of over Rs 551 crore.

The top three most expensive players were all Indians. Mumbai Indians broke the bank and spent Rs 15.25 Cr to re-sign wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, making him the most expensive Indian in the IPL auction history.

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The second most expensive purchase in the auction was done by defending champions Chennai Super Kings who brought home their star fast bowler Deepak Chahar for a staggering sum of Rs 14 Cr.

The next most expensive player was Shreyas Iyer who was bought by two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 12.25 Cr.

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These three capped Indian players went for a crazy amount of money but there was hardly anyone who had any complaints with their acquisition. In fact, many described Iyer’s acquisition as a steal.

That’s precisely because before the auction began, most experts had predicted three players to attract huge interest from most teams due to their specific skill sets. All of them are proven match-winners and that’s why team owners didn’t hesitate before going all out to sign them.

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While their huge paychecks were on the expected lines, there were several other players who managed to attract huge bids despite performing poorly over the years in the league.

These were the cricketers whose signings proved that no matter how much time team owners spend preparing for the auctions, most of them get swayed by emotions while sitting on the auction table and end up paying too much for a player.

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Here we take a look at five such players whose signings proved that the auction was dictated by emotions and not cricketing logic:

Abhishek Sharma View this post on Instagram

The young all-rounder who had a base price of Rs 20 lakh was signed by his old franchise SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 6.50 Crore. There were several other terrific Indian batters who went for much less in the auction but the franchise went all out to sign him.

Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag departs after a well-made 43 off 29 deliveries. pic.twitter.com/rqpsUqYsbR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2019

The Assamese all-rounder Riyan Parag became a part of the league in 2019. Since then he has featured in 30 matches and managed only 339 runs at an average of 16.95. He has been equally poor with the ball as well, with only three wickets under his belt. He was re-signed by RR for Rs 3.80 Cr.

Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan misses out on a maiden 50 by three runs as he is caught at deep midwicket for 47 off 36 balls. A fine knock comes to an end.

https://t.co/P8VzT4XXbb #PBKSvCSK #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/LihKIumMPV

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2021

The Chennai pinch-hitter played 11 matches for Punjab Kings last season but failed to leave any mark. He scored only 153 runs at a dismal average of 21.85. He was a complete flop last season but still his old franchise splashed Rs 9 Cr to bring him back to their setup.

Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia strikes! Picks up the BIG wicket of Mayank Agarwal, who departs for 67.

Live - https://t.co/odSnFtwBAF #PBKSvRR #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/WCItQVYr3s

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 21, 2021

Barring that Sharjah knock where he smashed five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell to guide RR home, Tewatia’s IPL career has been pretty ordinary. He has been part of the IPL since 2014 but has only scored 521 runs thus far in 48 matches, with just one fifty to his name. He is known for his power-hitting but his bowling has been more noteworthy than his batting. Despite all that, he still managed a bid of Rs 9 Cr from Gujarat Titans.

Wanindu Hasaranga View this post on Instagram

The Sri Lankan all-rounder was a part of RCB squad last year but only featured in two matches as the franchise preferred other overseas players to him. Still, Virat Kohli’s side took a massive punt on him and made him the most expensive Sri Lankan in the IPL history by splurging Rs 10.75 Cr on him.

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