Stylish left-handed opener Devdutt Padikkal had a base price of Rs 2 crore and was eventually picked up by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.75 crore.
RCB and CSK were the two sides who started off the bidding for Padikkal and then Mumbai and Rajasthan joined in at Rs 4.6 and Rs 4.8 crore respectively.
Finally, the Royals had the last laugh at Rs 7.75 crore.
The stylish left-hander was previously an important part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore top order, scoring plenty of runs in his two seasons with the team. In 2020, Padikkal took the IPL by storm with some stylish stroke making at the top of the order, scoring 473 runs from 15 games with 5 half-centuries to his name. He also won the Emerging Player of the Year award in IPL 2020.
The Karnataka man, who also scored a lot of runs in domestic cricket, continued his rich vein of form in IPL 2021, scoring 411 runs in 14 games with a century and one fifty to go. He made his India debut on the Sri Lanka tour in July in 2021 in the T20 series.