Bengaluru, Feb 13 (IANS): Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Nicholas Pooran, Shardul Thakur and others earned big bucks in an intense and long opening day of the IPL 2022 mega auction, here on Saturday.

The auction started with a marquee set of players and India batter Shreyas Iyer earned the highest bid among all after Kolkata Knight Riders picked him for a whopping INR 12.25 crore. Kolkata also brought back Australia Test captain Pat Cummins, shaking off a battle from new franchises Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans to buy him for Rs 7.25 crore.

Shikhar Dhawan was the first player to go under the hammer and Punjab took him for INR 8.25 crore while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5 crore. Joining Ashwin in the Rajasthan fold was Trent Boult, who was bought for 8 crore.

South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada had a lot of interest shown from his former team Delhi and newbie Gujarat. However, eventually, Punjab got Rabada for INR 9.25 crore. On the other hand, Gujarat picked veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for INR 6.25 crores.

Faf du Plessis, the second-highest run-getter in the 2021 edition for Chennai Super Kings, had his former team showing initial interest. But Bangalore managed to get him for Rs 7 crore. South Africa keeper-batter Quinton de Kock went to Lucknow for INR 6.75 crore.

Meanwhile, Delhi had a steal deal in David Warner, who was bought by the franchise for Rs 6.25 crore. Coincidentally, Warner began his IPL journey in 2009 with Delhi when they were Daredevils.

India pacer Harshal Patel, who was IPL 2021's leading wicket-taker, was brought back by his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping INR 10.75 crore. For West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer, his former side Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals engaged in an intense bidding war before the Jaipur-based franchise took him in for a hefty Rs 8.5 crore.

India batter Robin Uthappa was brought back by Chennai Super Kings at his base price of INR 2 crore. Coincidentally, Chennai was the only team that bid for Uthappa. England opener Jason Roy was a bargain buy for Gujarat Titans at a base price of Rs 2 crore.

For India left-handed opener Devdutt Padikkal, his former team Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai were engaged in a three-way battle but Rajasthan took him for Rs 7.75 crore. On the other hand, former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was brought back by CSK for Rs 4.4 crore, brushing off competition from Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai got into a battle with Lucknow and Kolkata to buy Nitish Rana. But Kolkata won the bid to buy back Rana for INR 8 crore. For West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, who recently took four wickets in four balls against England, Lucknow stood solid and clinched the deal at Rs 8.75 crore.

All-rounder Deepak Hooda, whose base accelerated from INR 40L to 75L due to his debut in ODIs against the West Indies, saw interest from Rajasthan, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. But it was Lucknow who succeeded in picking him for INR 5.57 crore.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan became the second-most expensive Indian player in the history of IPL after being picked by his former team Mumbai Indians for a whopping INR 15.25 crore. As expected in the case of keeper-batters, there was a frenetic bid for Kishan, a keeper who bats left-handed. His former team Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans were engaged in a tug of war before SRH made a late entry. Mumbai persisted hard to buy back left-handed Kishan for a gigantic amount.

Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 10.75 crore. The move meant Hasaranga was reunited with the team he represented in IPL 2021. Chennai and Hyderabad were in a battle to buy Pooran before Kolkata made a surprise entry. But Hyderabad battled hard to buy Pooran, who averaged just 7.72 in the 2021 edition, for INR 10.75 crore.

Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya also earned big. Hyderabad bought Sundar for INR 8.75 crore while Pandya was picked by Lucknow for 8.75 crore. On the other hand, Hyderabad and Gujarat were the initial bidders for Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh but Delhi joined in and eventually got him for INR 6.75 crore.

Punjab and Hyderabad were engaged in a battle for Jonny Bairstow with Delhi. But Punjab stayed their ground to pick Bairstow for INR 6.75 crore. Ambati Rayudu generated interest from Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. But Chennai won the race to buy Rayudu for INR 6.75 crore. Chennai were then engaged in an engrossing battle with Bangalore to pick Dinesh Karthik. Eventually, Bangalore snapped him for INR 5.5 crore, marking their reunion with Karthik after the 2015 edition.

Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar were the major highlights from the fourth round on Day 1. While Chahar's services were acquired by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping INR 14 crore, Thakur was picked by Delhi Capitals for INR 10.75 crore.

Delhi also got Bangladesh's left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, at his base price of INR 2 crore. Prasidh Krishna, who was Player of the Series in the recently-concluded ODI series against West Indies, was snapped up by Rajasthan for INR 10 crore.

Left-arm quick T Natarajan was brought by his former team Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 4 crore, edging Gujarat Titans. Joining Natarajan in the Hyderabad camp was pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for INR 4.2 crore, beating competition from Mumbai, Lucknow and Rajasthan.

Overseas pacers attracted huge attention in the fourth round as New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson was bought by Ahmedabad for INR 10 crore while Josh Hazlewood was signed by Lucknow for INR 7.5 crore.

In spinners, Kuldeep Yadav was snapped by Delhi in a steal buy of INR 2 crore while leg-spinner Rahul Chahar was picked for INR 5.25 crore. Yuzvendra Chahal attracted attention from Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad but Rajasthan sealed the deal with him at INR 6.50 crore.

Meanwhile, in the first round of the uncapped players' category of the mega auction, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia and Rahul Tripathi earned big paychecks as franchises shelled out huge amounts of money.

The big-hitting finisher Shahrukh was bought by Punjab for Rs 9 crore. There was a massive jump for Tewatia too as Gujarat Giants picked him for INR 9 crore from a base price of INR 40 lakh while Tripathi was picked by Hyderabad Sunrisers for INR 8.50 crore.

Ex-India U19 representatives also made good money at the auction. Assam's off-spin all-rounder Riyan Parag was bought by Rajasthan, who won the bid for him at INR 3.8 crore. Abhishek Sharma, Parag's team-mate from the victorious 2018 U19 World Cup campaign rejoined Hyderabad for INR 6.5 crore.

Shivam Mavi attracted bids from Bangalore, Punjab, Gujarat and Kolkata. Mavi's price rose ten times from his base price of 40L and eventually, Kolkata won him back at INR 7.25 crore after some fierce Dewald Brevis, nicknamed 'Baby AB', who was the top run-scorer in the U19 World Cup this year with 506 runs, got bids from Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings before Mumbai Indians picked him for INR 3 crore.

Uncapped India pacer Avesh Khan joined the ten-crore club in the ongoing IPL auction on Saturday. Khan, who was phenomenal for Delhi in the 2021 season, got bids from many teams by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 10 crore. The move meant Khan became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of IPL auctions, overtaking Krishnappa Gowtham who was paid INR 9.25 crore by Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Tamil Nadu's left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore joined Hyderabad for INR 3 crore while Delhi Capitals bought KS Bharat for INR 2.20 crore. Anuj Rawat, part of Rajasthan Royals last year was picked by Bangalore for INR 3.40 crore.

Kartik Tyagi, the India U19 2020 batch member, attracted bids from Delhi, Chennai and later Hyderabad. Mumbai also came into contention but Hyderabad bagged his bid for INR 4 crore.