IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma Recounted the First-Ever IPL Auction

Current Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper and ex-Deccan Chargers player Rohit Sharma recalled the time of the inaugural auction of the Indian Premier League when he fetched a huge deal, saying that he was thinking about which car to buy after he was bought for a record sum by Deccan Chargers. Rohit’s remark came ahead of the start of the IPL 2023 season.

In 2008, a 20-year-old young and talented Rohit Sharma was signed by the now-defunct Deccan Chargers for a whopping sum of INR 4.80 Crore ($750,000). Rohit was a part of the T20 World Cup winning squad in 2007 and he left quite an impression on everyone and that’s why he earned such a big deal in the auction. The emerging batter repaid the faith of the Hyderabad-based franchise by scoring 404 runs at an average of 36.72 and a brilliant strike rate of 147.98, which included four fifties, in the inaugural edition. He was retained for the next year’s IPL.

Although he couldn’t replicate the performance of 2008, the Mumbai-based batter still managed to contribute to his team’s success in 2009 as Adam Gilchrist led the Chargers to their maiden IPL title win. In 2010, Rohit had another fantastic year, where he plundered 404 runs at 28.35 with the help of three fifties. All in all, Rohit played three seasons for the Chargers before MI roped him in for INR 13 Crore in 2011.

IPL 2023: Rohit Was First Picked by the Deccan Chargers in 2008 Auction

Going back in time, Rohit recalled the instance when he heard that he has been picked for a big price tag of USD 750,000. One of the legends of the IPL, Rohit said he was really happy after being sold for a great deal of money and was thinking about which car he should buy with that much amount of money.

“Firstly, I didn’t even know how much USD 750,000 is. A thing like the auction had never happened for us before and nobody even heard of it. My number came very late in the auction, probably after one and half hour. After I was sold, I was told that I was getting USD 750,000, I think it was 3 to 3.5 crore. But I was really happy and thought about which car should I buy. That was the planning I was doing! I was only 20 years old at that time,” Rohit Sharma told Star Sports.

Mumbai Indians’ decision to bank on Rohit and his skills gave them five trophies in return; the most in the history of the league.  There is no doubt that Rohit was always a special talent. The dynamic right-handed batter has continued to evolve as a player and as a captain. The MI skipper will be eyeing his sixth IPL title in the 16th edition of the tournament after a couple of underwhelming seasons for the five-time winners.