Kolkata Knight Riders biggest spenders on day one

Actor Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders outspent rival teams in the players' auction for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday, splurging a total of Rs51.4 crore on ten players at the end of the first day in Bengaluru.

IPL's eight franchisees spent Rs321.1 crore for 78 players, including 29 from outside India, in this auction. Kolkata Knight Riders made an ambitious bet on Australian batsman Chris Lynn and fast bowler Mitchell Starc for Rs9.6 crore and Rs9.4 crore respectively. The team's most expensive India player is wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik at Rs7.4 crore followed by Robin Uthappa at Rs6.4 crore

Runners up last season, KKR picked up four uncapped Indian players after an intense bidding war in the evening session on Saturday. The team spent Rs3.4 crore and Rs3.2 crore respectively on all rounders Nitish Rana and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Both were at a base price of Rs20 lakh. Their team had earlier, retained West Indies bowler Sunil Narine and West Indies allrounder Andre Russell.

Other big spenders at the end of the first day of the auction included Sun Risers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals at Rs51.05 crore, Rs45.6 crore and Rs44 crore respectively.

Rajasthan Royals which will make a comeback in the IPL after two seasons made the top purchase of the auction for English all-rounder Ben Stokes at Rs12.5 crore, drastically higher than his base price of Rs2 crore. Last year, Stokes was bought by Sanjiv Goenka's Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs14.5 crore. He is the most expensive foreign player for the second year in a row.

The Royals also spent generously on India players , the team purchased wicket keeper Sanju Samson for Rs8 crore and Indian batsman Ajinkay Rahane for Rs4 crore.