IPL Auction 2020: 5 most surprising bids by franchises this year including Piyush Chawla

The Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction 2020 was completed on Thursday, December 19 in Kolkata. The IPL is famous for producing some striking talent not just for India but for several countries. However, it all depends on the franchises, who lavishly spend their money on the players that they want on their side. Whether they follow a fixed criteria or pattern while picking a player in the auction, is unpredictable and adds to the fun. Every year, surprising picks are seen which prove cricket pundits and fans wrong time and again. Here are the ones this year:

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1. Piyush Chawla: ₹6.75 crore - Chennai Super Kings

Chawla has been completely out of form and is struggling to find a spot in his state team of Gujarat. But he is a great turner of the ball and on several occasions, the leg-spinner has helped his IPL franchises in winning crucial games. He has experience of playing in 237 T20s, in which he successfully managed to grab 251 wickets. There was some speculation that he would go unsold this time. However, contrary to popular belief, the 3-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings bought him after paying a whopping amount of Rs. 6.75 cr.

2. Varun Chakravarthy: ₹4 crore - Kolkata Knight Riders

Chakravarthy getting sold for such a hefty amount was unexpected for many. The Tamil Nadu leg-spinner, who was bought for a mind-boggling Rs. 8.4 crore by Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019, just played one IPL game. He failed to perform as he went for 35 runs in three overs and grabbed just one wicket. Later, he injured his shoulder and has not figured in competitive cricket since. Under the circumstances, it came as quite a surprise when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought him for Rs. 4 crore, winning a bidding duel with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), it came as a bolt from the blue.

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3. Nathan Coulter Nile: ₹8 crore - Mumbai Indians

Coulter Nile's bid was one of the biggest surprises that popped up in the IPL 2020 Auction, which was won eventually by Mumbai Indians for a huge amount of Rs. 8 crore. The Aussie pacer has not played a single T20 match in the last 10 months. It was a surprising decision taken by the think tank of MI because they already have a long list of some brilliant fast bowlers in their ranks. Coulter Nile has so far played 108 T20 games and grabbed 130 wickets.

4. Mitchell Marsh: ₹2 crore - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Mitchell Marsh was one among the marquee players who put his base price at Rs. 2 crore for the IPL 2020 Auction. His chances of getting picked up by any franchise were slender due to his high base price. But to everyone's surprise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were otherwise quite inactive in the IPL Auction 2020, successfully bagged the Aussie all-rounder. Marsh has had the experience of playing for the Australian national side in the T20 format. He has grabbed 43 wickets and scored 1519 runs in his 75 T20 appearances. Currently, he is playing for Perth Scorchers in the ongoing Big Bash League 2019-20.

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5. Josh Hazlewood: ₹2 crore - Chennai Super Kings

Josh Hazelwood was another unusual pick made by Chennai Super Kings at a base price of Rs. 2 crore. He is arguably one of the best Test match bowlers across the globe. But, when it comes to T20s, he is not as lethal. Hazelwood struggles a lot with his line and length because of which opposition batsmen find it easy to score runs against him. The decision comes as a surprise because the young Aussie pacer played his last T20 game in 2016.

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