| While the IPL 2010 auction only produced two bids in | | | | remain the most expensive IPL players. |
| excess of the player cap of US $750,000, the IPL | | | | Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka ($975,000), Irfan |
| franchises already had a bevy of expensive | | | | Pathan ($925,000), Brett Lee ($900,000) of Australia, |
| cricketers. West Indies all rounder Kieron Pollard and | | | | Jacques Kallis ($900,000)of South Africa and Ishant |
| New Zealand pace bowler Shane Bond were the only | | | | Sharma ($950,000) are the players in the $900,000 - |
| two additions to the list of well-paid players on the | | | | $1,000,000 bracket. Considering the profile of players |
| IPL books. The auctions for the previous editions | | | | like Kallis and Lee, the franchises got a bargain in the |
| fetched higher prices because no cap was | | | | process. Ishant Sharma might not be as celebrated a |
| implemented then. Therefore, we do not have a | | | | player as Kallis, but he fetched a higher amount from |
| good idea of how expensive Pollard and Bond really | | | | the bidding process. |
| are. However, we can still identify the most | | | | Other players who have substantial contracts in the |
| expensive players in the league. | | | | IPL are: |
| In the first two editions of the Indian Premier | | | | RP Singh ($875,000) |
| League, five players had icon status. This status | | | | Harbhajan Singh ($850,000) |
| allowed them to be compensated 15% more than | | | | Robin Uthappa ($800,000) |
| the highest played player in their team. Virender | | | | Chris Gayle, West Indies ($800,000) |
| Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid | | | | Kieron Pollard, West Indies ($750,000 + silent bid |
| and Sourav Ganguly were the five designated | | | | balance) |
| players. Although the icon concept would not be used | | | | Shane Bond, New Zealand ($750,000 + silent bid |
| in 2010, it is very safe to say that these players are | | | | balance) |
| among the most expensive in the league. | | | | Rohit Sharma (750,000) |
| Andrew Flintoff (England), Kevin Pietersen (England), | | | | Many other players earned contracts beyond their |
| Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Andrew Symonds | | | | initial or base price in their respective IPL auctions. |
| (Australia) are the millionaires in IPL 2010. In 2008, | | | | This article highlighted those with contracts worth a |
| Dhoni fetched a price of US $1,550,000.00, while | | | | minimum of $750,000.00. Rumour has it that Kieron |
| Symonds cost $1,350,000.00. In the 2009 auction, | | | | Pollard's contract cost Mumbai Indians in excess of |
| Flintoff and Pietersen became the most expensive | | | | US $1,000,000.00. Given that he had four franchises |
| IPL players, as they each fetched $1,550,000.00. | | | | bidding for his services in 2010, it is quite likely that |
| Given that the silent bids for Kieron Pollard and Shane | | | | the tall six-hitter is much closer to the top of the list |
| Bond in 2010 were unknown, Pietersen and Flintoff | | | | than his $750,000.00 suggests. |