IPL 2018 Mega Auction

Chennai and Rajasthan return, Rajasthan buy big, and Chennai's old squad wins anyway.

169

Players sold

of 215 lots

Unsold

₹431.70 cr

Total spend

₹12.50 cr

Top price

Ben Stokes

42%

Overseas share

56 overseas buys

₹80 cr

Purse per team

By Vishal Jaiswal · Published 18 September 2026 · Sources

The 2018 mega auction rebuilt the league around the return of Chennai and Rajasthan. Rajasthan made the two biggest purchases, Punjab found an opener who made 659 runs, and Chennai, mocked for an ageing squad, won the title.

A league put back together

With Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back after their suspensions, every squad was broken up again. Franchises could keep a handful of players, with Right to Match cards letting them win back some of the others at the auction price. Rajasthan made the two biggest purchases, Ben Stokes for ₹12.5 crore and Jaydev Unadkat for ₹11.5 crore, the most paid for an Indian player that year.

Rahul and the uncapped

Kings XI Punjab, the biggest spenders, bought KL Rahul for ₹11 crore and got 659 runs. Kolkata paid ₹9.4 crore for Mitchell Starc, who was injured and did not play. The auction also paid seriously for uncapped players for the first time: Krunal Pandya, Jofra Archer, Ishan Kishan and Krishnappa Gowtham all went for more than ₹6 crore before any of them had played international cricket.

Chennai proves a point

Chennai spent the least of the eight franchises, built a squad many thought too old, and won their third title in their first season back. It is the clearest case in this archive of a franchise trusting players it knew over the market. The Chennai Super Kings page lists who they kept before this auction.

Reading the numbers

More than ₹430 crore changed hands, more than any previous auction, and overseas players took just over two fifths of it, the usual share for a mega auction. Punjab, Rajasthan and Kolkata spent the most. Chennai spent the least of the eight and won the title.

The capped players left unsold included Hashim Amla, Eoin Morgan and Jason Holder. Several of the auction's most expensive players, Stokes, Unadkat and Starc among them, were in the archive again within a few years, a sign of how rarely a big price at a mega auction secured a long stay.

What each franchise spent

Auction spend by franchise, IPL 2018

Spend
2018 champion

Money spent at this auction only; retained and directly signed players are not included. Source: auction list.

The ten most expensive buys

Matches, runs and wickets are for the IPL 2018 season with the buying franchise. A dash means the player did not appear for them that season. ✈ marks an overseas player.
#	Player	Role	Bought by	Price	Matches	Runs	Wickets
1	Ben Stokes ✈	All-rounder	Rajasthan Royals	₹12.50 cr	13	196	8
2	Jaydev Unadkat	Bowler	Rajasthan Royals	₹11.50 cr	15	49	11
3	KL Rahul	Wicket-keeper	Kings XI Punjab	₹11 cr	14	659	0
4	Manish Pandey	Batter	Sunrisers Hyderabad	₹11 cr	15	284	0
5	Chris Lynn ✈	Batter	Kolkata Knight Riders	₹9.60 cr	16	491	0
6	Mitchell Starc ✈	Bowler	Kolkata Knight Riders	₹9.40 cr	-	-	-
7	Glenn Maxwell ✈	All-rounder	Delhi Daredevils	₹9 cr	12	169	5
8	Rashid Khan ✈	Bowler	Sunrisers Hyderabad	₹9 cr	17	59	21
9	Krunal Pandya	All-rounder	Mumbai Indians	₹8.80 cr	14	228	12
10	Sanju Samson	Wicket-keeper	Rajasthan Royals	₹8 cr	15	441	0

Records of the auction

Most expensive by role

Batter: ₹11 cr · Manish Pandey
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Wicket-keeper: ₹11 cr · KL Rahul
Kings XI Punjab
All-rounder: ₹12.50 cr · Ben Stokes
Rajasthan Royals
Bowler: ₹11.50 cr · Jaydev Unadkat
Rajasthan Royals

Most expensive uncapped

Mumbai Indians: ₹8.80 cr · Krunal Pandya
Rajasthan Royals: ₹7.20 cr · Jofra Archer
Mumbai Indians: ₹6.20 cr · Ishan Kishan
Rajasthan Royals: ₹6.20 cr · Krishnappa Gowtham

Value for money

Rashid Khan: 2.3 wkts per cr
59 runs, 21 wickets for ₹9 cr
Krunal Pandya: 1.4 wkts per cr
228 runs, 12 wickets for ₹8.80 cr
KL Rahul: 60 runs per cr
659 runs, 0 wickets for ₹11 cr
Sanju Samson: 55 runs per cr
441 runs, 0 wickets for ₹8 cr

Value for money compares the season's output with the price among the ten most expensive buys only, so it rewards the big signings that delivered rather than cheap squad players.

Capped players who went unsold

The capped players with the highest base prices who drew no bid. Some were signed later as replacements.
Player	Role	Base price
Colin Ingram	Batter	₹2 cr
Corey Anderson	All-rounder	₹2 cr
Eoin Morgan	Batter	₹2 cr
James Faulkner	All-rounder	₹2 cr
Hashim Amla	Batter	₹1.50 cr
Jason Holder	All-rounder	₹1.50 cr
Joe Root	Batter	₹1.50 cr
Jonny Bairstow	Wicket-keeper	₹1.50 cr