Australian pacer Pat Cummins made history in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) player auction. The Aussie bowler was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping Rs 15.50 crore. With this, he becomes the second-most expensive player in the history of Indian Premier League and the most expensive foreign player in the Indian franchise league. The 2019 IPL auction is taking place on Thursday with the franchises strategizing to make a strong squad for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league. A total of 332 players will go under the hammer on December 19 and all must be seeking to get big purchases. Team owners will also have certain players in radar whom they want to buy at any cost. Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn and Shimron Hetmyer are some players who can turn the match on its head and are expected to get huge bids this year's auction. Meanwhile, you can scroll down to check out the most expensive buys in IPL history. IPL 2020 Auction: Star Sports Announces Special Programming With Live Analysis.

IPL is one of the most prominent T20 leagues and many players around the world seek to feature in the gala tournament. On many previous occasions, team owners indulged in an auction war which saw pocket many players filling with an enormous amount. Good performances of players are awarded big money as the team owners are leaving no stones unturned to bag their services. Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik are some players who have received big bids in the auctions and below we'll look at the top five costliest buys.

Yuvraj Singh- 16 crores

The Punjab-born all-rounder is still the costliest buy in the history of Indian Premier League. It was Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), who left no stones unturned to get the services of the southpaw in IPL 2015. Unfortunately, the 2011-World Cup winner failed to put up a significant show in the tournament and was subsequently released the next year.

Pat Cummins - 15.5 crores

Pat Cummins of Australia is bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 15.50 crores. He becomes the most-expensive foreign player in the history of IPL. Cummins, who enjoyed a fruitful season in 2019 so far went to two-time champions KKR after a fierce bid between KKR, RCB and the Delhi Capitals.

Ben Stokes- 14.5 crores

The England all-rounder was in radar of multiple franchises during the 2017 IPL auction and thus, got the highest bit in that edition. Rising Pune Supergiant bought Stokes for a whopping amount and the cricketer didn't disappoint. He was magnificent with both bat and ball and played a vital role in guiding Pune to the finals.

Yuvraj Singh- 14 crores

2015 auction wasn't the only IPL where teams went all out to get Yuvraj Singh. In the 2014 auctions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru bought the maverick for a huge amount of 14 crores. Fans were quite excited to watch the trio of Yuvraj, Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers smashing the opposition bowlers together. However, the Challengers weren't up to the mark in the tournament and finished at the penultimate position.

Ben Stokes- 12.5 crores

Just like Yuvraj, Stokes also makes this list twice. The all-rounder enjoyed a sensational run in the previous edition of the tournament and his stakes were quite high during the 2018 IPL auction too. Rajasthan Royals was the side, who bagged the services of their southpaw for 12.5 crores. Well, Stokes wasn't able to replicate his heroics in the tournament as the Royals got knocked out in the eliminators.

Dinesh Karthik- 12.5 crores

Many eyebrows were raised when Delhi Daredevils bought the wicket-keeper batsman for this enormous amount during 2014 IPL auctions. Karthik was also appointed as the captain of the side but failed to rise up to the expectations. Delhi struggled throughout the tournament and finished at the last spot in the points table standings.

Apart from these players, Virat Kohli is the highest-paid cricketer in the tournament's history with 17 crores while Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni will get 15 crores in the upcoming edition of the mega tournament. Several Indian and oversea players will eye to join this list on December 19 and one can expect some more bidding wars.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2019 04:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).