Source: Statista

In the 2019 season of The Indian Premier League the Mumbai Indians emerged victorious. While there are many aspects that can influence a team’s performance up until the finals, how much money is spent on players is a factor considered crucial for success.

But this is not always true, as a new report shows. As far as spending on new players goes, Kings XI Punjab were on top of the league last season with 325 million rupees (US$4.6 million) in 2019 auction spending, according to consultancy firm Duff and Phelps. The Mumbai Indians spent “only” INR76 million (US$1.1 million) and still were the more successful team. The Chennai Super Kings, who finished second, spent even less. Their expenditure was INR52 million (US$734,000).

Bowlers Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy fetched the highest sums for an individual player at the 2019 auction. The Rajasthan Royals nabbed Unadkat for INR8.4 crore/84 million (US$1.2 million), while Chakravarthy was bought by Kings XI Punjab for the same price.