The auctions for the Indian Premier League’s 2018 season began with an intense bidding war for Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan that finally saw the Sunrisers Hyderabad retaining the player, using their Right-to-Match ticket after the bidding shot his price up to Rs 5.2 crore.
The auctions also saw surprises like the highest wicket-taker and the highest run-scorer namely, Lasith Malinga and Chris Gayle, going unsold on the first day of auction.
Indian left-hander and former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir was among one of the most sought-after picks for this year’s auctions. Gambhir was slated under the second marquee group for the auctions. At a base price of Rs 2 crore, Gautam Gambhir was picked by Delhi Daredevils, his club before he joined Kolkata Knight Riders after Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab both bid for the player.
Gambhir was finally sold for a price of Rs 2.8 crore after his former club, Kolkata refused to use their Right-to-Match to retain their skipper.
As Gambhir was bought by his home city Delhi, it was enough to get people tweeting about the batsman, including himself.
Some were happy to see Gambhir back in Delhi, while some have shown their disagreement at the KKR skipper not being retained.:
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