India's international stars KL Rahul and Manish Pandey pocketed a whopping Rs. 11 crore each as the gavel came down on the opening day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Rahul was bought by Kings XI Punjab while Manish Pandey's bid was secured by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their former employers Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders decided against using the Right to Match (RTM) cards to retain them.
Rahul had a base price of Rs 2 crore and bid for Pandey began at Rs. 1 crore.
Another capped Indian batsman Karun Nair, who has a triple century to his name in Test cricket, took home the big bucks when he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 5.6 crore.
The Kolkata franchise continued to show its interest in foreigners in the opening rounds of the auction as they shelled out Rs. 9.6 crore for Australia's Chris Lynn after buying Mitchell Starc for Rs. 9.4 crore.
England allrounder Chris Woakes also was among the big money-makers as he fetched Rs. 7.4 crore from Bangalore franchise.
