Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir joined MI and KKR in the IPL 2011 auction
Photo : PTI
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rohit Sharma signed for Mumbai Indians in 2011
- The 2025 campaign will be Rohit's 15th season at MI
- Rohit captained MI to five titles
The 2011 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction took place exactly 14 years ago (8th-9th January 2011) and is still regarded as the biggest in the history of the league. Several top players like Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders), AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), and Yuvraj Singh (Pune Warriors) were sold; the biggest signing of the day was Rohit Sharma.
For those unversed, 2011 was the first time a mega auction was held after the first three-year cycle in the league's history (2008-2010) ended. Several top players were not retained by the franchises, and two new teams entered the league, leading to a major overhaul of all squads.
While Gambhir's impact at KKR is unprecedented and de Villiers joined RCB and became one of the greatest overseas players in the league's history, Rohit joined MI and changed the league forever and ended up having a massive impact on the future of Indian cricket too.
KKR Mock MI's Rohit Sharma Buy
After narrowly missing out on the signing of Yuvraj Singh, who was sold to Pune for $1.8 (Rs. 8.28 crore approx), MI broke the bank to sign Rohit for a stunning value of $2 million (Rs. 9.2 crore approx) after a intense bidding war that saw several teams compete against the Mumbai-based franchise for the star Indian batter's signature.
In a social media post at the time of the auction, KKR appeared to mock MI's decision to spend big on Rohit."Woah! That's a surprisingly high price! @mipaltan buy Rohit Sharma for 2 million dollars!," wrote KKR.
Rohit was the fourth most expensive player sold in the auction after Gautam Gambhir ($2.4 million/Rs. 11.4 crore) and Yusuf Pathan/Robin Uthappa ($2.1 million/Rs. 9.66 crore).
Rohit has been an integral part of the franchise since then and still continues to play for them. Ahead of the 2025 IPL Mega Auction, Rohit was retained by the five-time champions for a salary of Rs. 16.30 crore.
Rohit led MI for a decade from 2013 to 2023 and captained them to each of their five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020 as well as the 2013 Champions League. The Indian Test and ODI captain is also the highest run-getter of the Men in Blue and Gold with 5731 runs in 221 matches at an average of 29.69 and with two centuries to his name.
Rohit is the joint most successful captain in IPL's history alongside MS Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to five captains. Rohit was named India's ODI and T20I captain in 2021 and has been leading the Test team since 2022 to.
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