Avesh Khan - IPL 2022 auction price
Avesh Khan's accurate bowling and death-ball consistency made him a much sought-after home-based talent.
Avesh Khan rolled in money a week before making his international debut as Lucknow Super Giants paid a hefty sum of Rs 10 crore in the 2022 Indian Premier League auction to make him the costliest uncapped Indian cricketer in tournament history at that time.
The right arm seamer couldn't have even dreamt of it after making his debut in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017 for a base price of Rs 10 lakh.
In his debut season, Khan played a match and took a wicket, which was enough for Delhi Capitals to pay Rs 70 lakh per season for the next three seasons.
In 2018, Khan claimed four wickets in six matches for his new team and appeared in one game each in the next two editions. It was in 2021, when Delhi again spent Rs 70 lakh for him that he came into his own with 24 wickets at an average of 18.75.
His accurate bowling and death-ball consistency made him a much sought-after home-based talent when he was released by Delhi before the 2022 auction and LSG betted big on those qualities, agreeing to pay Rs 10 crore.
'Special moment'
"I was on the flight at that time and I had expected I would get at least 7 crore. But since I was on the flight and couldn’t watch the auction live, I was feeling a bit nervous thinking which team would pick me and for how much," he said.
"Upon landing when I got to know that Lucknow bought me for 10 crore, I froze for five seconds. But then things became normal, I was like okay.
"Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Siraj were pulling my leg throughout the flight journey – they were just speculating how much I would go for, which all teams would be interested in me, and all that,"he added.
"Once we landed, the network on my phone was spotty, but then Venkatesh Iyer broke the news to me. Everyone clapped for me on the flight, that was a very special moment. As soon as my network became available, I continuously started receiving calls, WhatsApp messages."
Khan picked up 18 wickets in 13 games in the 2022 edition at an average of 23.22 and took eight wickets in nine outings at an average of 35.38.
By now, he has established himself as a front liner performer and LSG traded him with Rajasthan Royals for Devdutt Padikkal. For his new team Rajasthan, Khan was equally impressive with 19 dismissals in 16 games at 27.68.
Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, Khan will return to LSG after they won a bid for Rs 9.75 crore at the 2025 auction in Jeddah after being released by Rajasthan.
Set a base price of Rs 2 crore, LSG and Punjab Kings showed early interest when he was up for grabs in Jeddah.
At Rs 6.50 crore Rajasthan entered the race and remained in fray till Lucknow made the winning bid of Rs 9.75 crore.
"I'm overjoyed that Avesh has been picked by LSG, where he will have the opportunity to learn from players like Rishabh Pant and mentor Zaheer Khan," Avesh, who has claimed 74 wickets so far, said.