IPL Auction: Who Are The Highest Paid Players in Indian Premier League History?

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The Indian Premier League is dubbed as the cash rich league as there is a lot of money involved with players, the very finest and some relatively unknown, earning some big bucks either at the auction or via player retention and drafts.

Over the years, the auction has seen the owners or team officials get into a bidding war for the players they think will get them the best results. We have witnessed this on multiple occasions for multiple players and sometimes the same player in different seasons.

While some players like England's Sam Curran and Australia's Cameron Green had hit the jackpot in the auctions, some big name Indian players like Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have earned top dollar with franchises keen on retaining their star players.

Pat Cummins became the most expensive and highest paid player in IPL history during the IPL 2024 auction after Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore to the Australia captain's signing at the price of Rs 20.50 Crore.

However, that record lasted for less than an hour as his compatriot Mitchell Starc smashed the record for most expensive player in IPL auction history after Kolkata Knight Riders splashed a whopping Rs 24.75 Crore in the 2024 auction to bag the Aussie pace spearhead, beating off the bidding war with Gujarat Titans.

The first ever IPL auction was held in 2008, but the recent seasons have seen players become expensive buys or expensive retentions as franchises look to break the bank to build title-winning teams.

A few players like Ben Stokes and Cummins have fetched huge price at different auction, while some have been surprise names. Here is a list of the top 25 most expensive players in IPL History (including auction buys and pre-auction retentions).

Highest Paid Players in IPL History All Time

Top 10 Most Expensive Buys in IPL Auction History

Punjab Kings broke the bank to land England all-rounder and T20 World Cup 2022 player of the tournament Curran in the 2023 auction, when Mumbai Indians did the same to land Australia all-rounder Green, who was later traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.

In 2024, Cummins had broken the record for most expensive buy in IPL auction after Sunrisers Hyderabad beat off Royal Challengers Bangalore to land the Australia pacer for whopping Rs 20.50 Crore.

But that mark was breached an hour later when Kolkata Knight Riders broke the bank to land Cummins' compatriot and bowling partner Mitchell Starc for Rs 24.75 Crore.

Yuvraj Singh, who was bought by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) for Rs 16 Crore in 2015, is currently the most costliest Indian buy in IPL auction. Ishan Kishan is the second costliest Indian buy. Here is a look at the top 10 most expensive buys at the auction:

While that's the list for most expensive buys overall, there have been different players that received the most costliest player tag at every auction since the inception of the lucrative league, starting with MS Dhoni in 2008. Here is a look at the list:

Most Expensive Buy At Each IPL Auction

• 2008: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
• 2009: Andrew Flintoff (Chennai Super Kings) & Kevin Pietersen (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
• 2010: Shane Bond (Kolkata Knight Riders) & Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians)
• 2011: Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders)
• 2012: Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings)
• 2013: Glenn Maxwell (Mumbai Indians)
• 2014: Yuvraj Singh (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
• 2015: Yuvraj Singh (Delhi Daredevils)
• 2016: Shane Watson (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
• 2017: Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant)
• 2018: Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals)
• 2019: Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)
• 2020: Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders)
• 2021: Chris Morris (Rajasthan Royals)
• 2022: Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians)
• 2023: Sam Curran (Punjab Kings)
• 2024: Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders)