IPL 2019 Player Auction: Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dubey, Varun Chakaravarthy Become First Time IPL Crorepati

IPL 2019 Player Auction: The Indian Premier again showed why it is the biggest league in the world when uncapped Indians became first-time crorepati's.

IPL 2019 Player Auction: The Indian Premier again showed why it is the biggest league in the world when uncapped Indians became first-time crorepati’s. Surely, no other league changes fortunes like this league. Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dubey and Varun Chakravarthy became first-time crorepatis. Some were unknown quantities, but it seemed like the franchises had done their homework on them and were more than happy to shell the mollah for them.

Here are the first-time crorepatis:

Hanuma Vihari: At a base price of Rs 50 lakhs, Vihari fetched a whopping Rs 2 Cr as Mumbai Indians roped him in. Vihari is the captain of Andhra Pradesh and has been performing consistently well and hence he has got this opportunity. Vihari is recently a part of the Indian cricket team and is a solid batsman, which may have gone in his favour. Mumbai Indians were looking for solidity in the middle order and Hanuma will surely provide them with that.

Shivam Dubey: The 25-year-old batsman smashed five sixes in over just 24 hours ahead of the auctions and surely he could not have timed it better. The Mumbai-born southpaw was at a base price of Rs 20 Cr and was taken by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 5 Cr. He can also bowl which is an add-on.

Varun Chakaravarthy: He is a mystery spinner and that is what has caught the eye of the franchises who were not holding back when it came to shelling the moolah for the Tamil Nadu-born spinner. “I don’t know, I just built up so much pressure inside me and it blasted… I just quit. I walked in and right away said I want to stop working and I came back,” he narrates his journey to Cricketnext. “I told my parents that my mind was not there, I just wasn’t able to do it. They understood and supported me, although I didn’t know what I was going to do next. I dusted off my old kit bag which I hadn’t used for six years. I didn’t know anything else. I had to take up cricket again.” Varun was at a base price of Rs 20 lakhs and was bought by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 8.4 Cr, he is one of biggest gainers of the auctions so far.