If Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) didn't exist, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) would have been the most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.
Co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and businessman Jay Mehta, the 'Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo' troops won the IPL in 2012 and 2014, under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, who is making his return to the franchise as a mentor ahead of IPL 2024.
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KKR are known to have bought some of the most exciting white-ball cricketers over the years, such as Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Yusuf Pathan, and Andre Russell to name a few.
In this article, The Sporting News takes a look at KKR's most expensive buys at the auctions.
MORE: Mumbai Indians' costliest IPL auction buys
Kolkata Knight Riders' costliest IPL buys: Pat Cummins heads the list
During the IPL 2020 auctions, KKR shelled out an outrageous amount to acquire the services of the current Australian captain Pat Cummins, acquiring the-then 26-year-old for INR 15.5 crore.
Cummins played just three seasons (2020-2022) for KKR, playing 26 games and picking up 28 wickets for the West Bengal-based outfit.
While he didn't justify his price tag, he did show his talent in flashes. He scored a 14-ball fifty to equal IPL's record of the fastest half-century, which was broken in IPL 2023 by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who took 13 balls.
The second-most expensive player in KKR's history is arguably their greatest player ever and their most successful captain of all-time, Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir spent the first three seasons of IPL (2008-2010) with his hometown franchise Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). However, he was released by them ahead of the 2011 auctions and bought by KKR, who didn't make it to the playoffs in their first three seasons. Gambhir's acquisition helped them qualify for the playoffs thrice in four seasons (2011, 2012, 2014), winning the trophy twice.
Here are KKR's five most expensive picks at the auctions:
| Player | Purchased for (INR) | Year |
| Pat Cummins | 15.5 crore | 2020 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 11.04 crore | 2011 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 9.66 crore | 2011 |
| Chris Lynn | 9.6 crore | 2018 |
| Mitchell Starc | 9.4 crore | 2018 |
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