Indian Premier League 2016 Auction: Chris Morris Pulls Off a Seven-Star Stunner

Chris Morris pulled off a major surprise as he was bagged by Delhi Daredevils'>Delhi Daredevils for a whopping amount of Rs 7 crore in the Indian Premier League 2016 auction. (IPL Auction 2016: Shane Watson Costliest Player, Yuvraj Singh Costliest Indian)

Morris started this auction with a base price of Rs 50 lakh. Pune Supergiants, the franchise captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mumbai Indians'>Mumbai Indians, the two-time Indian Premier League champions, jumped into the bid at the start. (List of Players Sold and Unsold In IPL Auction)

As the bids increased, Kolkata Knight Riders suddenly appeared in the fray and increased the bidding, forcing Mumbai Indians out. However, Kolkata Knight Riders' joy was short lived as Delhi Daredevils, the team with the highest auction purse of Rs 37.16 crore, suddenly emerged as the new player and snapped Morris for Rs 7 crore.

This made him the second most expensive player in the 2016 IPL auction along with Yuvraj Singh, after Shane Watson was snapped up for a massive Rs 9.5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The tall South African bowling all-rounder, who has played for the now-suspended Chennai Super Kings in 2013 and Rajasthan Royals'>Rajasthan Royals in 2015, has had decent success in this tournament. In 2013, he picked up 15 wickets in 16 games while for Rajasthan Royals, he picked up 13 wickets in 11 games with a best of 4/23.

Morris made his Test debut against England in Cape Town in January 2015 and he enjoyed success with the bat, thumping 69 at number eight. Although, he went for runs, he bowled with pace and in the IPL, he has often been known to bowl good yorkers at the death.

This seven-crore price tag has put Morris in the top bracket of stars in the IPL. It will be interesting to see how he manages to fare with the Delhi Daredevils, who have languished close to the bottom of the table during the past couple of seasons.