After breaking all-time records to sign capped starts, teams showed a similar spirit to spend big on uncapped youngsters during the Indian Premier League 2024 auction in Dubai. Teams shattered banks to sign Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins for a sensational combined bid of INR 45.25 crore but a few unknown uncapped players emerged in the IPL 2024 auction to steal the limelight.
Young Indian Kumar Kushagra joined other uncapped cricketers Sameer Rizvi (to CSK) and Shubham Dubey (to RR) as teams clearly showed their plans for the future. Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans to sign Kushagra for INR 7.20 crore, making him the most expensive uncapped player after Rizvi in IPL auction 2024.
Starting at a base price of INR 20 lakh, MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings opened a bidding for Kushagra. But Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans forced out CSK in a bidding war for the youngster with the former finally winning with a sensational bid of INR 7.20 crore, DC's most expensive buy of the day.
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Who is Kumar Kushagra?
The 19-year-old wicketkeeper batter from Haryana with plenty of experience in domestic cricket.
Kushagra has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket since making his debut for Haryana in February 2021 in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Madhya Prades. Since then, Kushagra has appeared in 13 First Class, 23 List A and 11 T20 matches with impressive records.
However, Kushagra is yet to make the mark in the shortest format of the game with 140 runs in 11 T20 matches at a strike rate of 117.64. But he has already smashed a century in first-class cricket and has seven fifties in List A format. He has scored 700 runs in 19 List A innings at an amazing average of 46.66 and a strike rate of 89.05.
