Assessing Relationship between Auction Price and Performance of Players in Indian Premier League

Abstract

This study examines whether a player’s on field performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is connected to his auction price. Data on 49 bowlers and 27 batsmen were collected from the official IPL website for the 2022 to 2024 seasons. Variables for bowlers included country, retained or auctioned status, price, matches played, runs conceded, wickets, economy, and strike rate. For batsmen, data included country, retained or auctioned status, price, matches played, runs scored, highest score, batting average, and strike rate. Using descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, independent samples t tests, ANOVA, and Tukey HSD post hoc tests, the findings for bowlers suggest a moderate link between higher wickets taken and higher auction price, but no significant relationship for economy or bowling strike rate. For batsmen, there was no strong or statistically significant connection between auction price and performance indicators. These results point to wicket taking ability as a key factor influencing a bowler’s value.