Rishabh Pant surpasses Iyer's Rs 26.75 crore deal, becomes most expensive IPL buy

Jeddah: At the tournament's major auction here on Sunday, the Lucknow Super Giants shelled out an incredible Rs 27 crore to purchase the flamboyant India keeper-batter, making Rishabh Pant the most expensive player in IPL history.

The amount LSG paid on Pant ensured that Shreyas Iyer's record as the tournament's most expensive player lasted only a few minutes, as Punjab Kings broke the bank to buy the India batter for Rs 26.75 crore.

Moments before Pant emerged as the most expensive player, Iyer surpassed the record held by Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore in the last auction.

Pant went to LSG after his former franchise Delhi Capitals did not use the Right to Match card to buy him back.

Starc got a much lower price this time and was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 11.75 crore, while England's Jos Buttler went to Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore.

Among others, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh's consistency earned him a massive bid of Rs 18 crore, also from Punjab Kings via the Right to Match card, while South African speedster Kagiso Rabada was bought for Rs 10.75 crore by Gujarat Titans.

Iyer, the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain, started with a base price of Rs two crore.

After an intense bidding war, the seamer was bought by Punjab, who exercised the right-to-match option to complete the deal, having released him earlier.

This is the second time an IPL auction is being held outside the country after last year's event in Dubai.