NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer bagged eye-watering $3 million-plus deals in Sunday's Indian Premier League (IPL) auction shattering the previous payment record in the world's richest T20 tournament.
When Punjab Kings secured middle-order batter Iyer's service for a staggering 267.5 million Indian rupees ($3.17 million) after a fierce bidding war, it eclipsed Mitchell Starc's nearly 3-million deal with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in last year's auction.
The bidding war in Jeddah further intensified for India wicketkeeper-batter Pant, who captained Delhi Capitals across three seasons but was released before this year's mega auction in Saudi Arabia.
It ended with Lucknow Super Giants splurging 270 million Indian rupees ($3.20 million) to sign Pant, who is likely to lead the franchise in next year's IPL.
Lucknow made the first move and fought off bids from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad as well as Delhi to rope in the 27-year-old celebrated for his six-hitting ability.
Starc was signed up by Delhi for 117.5 million rupees, a modest sum after the Australian's hefty payday last year.
Gujarat Titans signed up England white-ball captain Jos Buttler for 157.5 million rupees, while also picking up South African speedster Kagiso Rabada.
A total of 574 players have registered for the two-day auction ahead of next year's edition of the 10-team tournament.
($1 = 84.426 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Christian Radnedge)
