JEDDAH: India batter Shreyas Iyer became the most expensive player in the history of IPL as Punjab Kings broke the bank to buy him for Rs 26.75 crore in the tournament's mega auction here on Sunday.
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.
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.
Delhi Capitals had the bid at Rs 26 crore for him but PBKS raised the amount to get the player.
Chennai Super Kings started with the first bid for Arshdeep, whose base price was also Rs two crore.
Eventually, after an intense bidding war, the seamer was bought back 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.