James Coles fetched the highest price in the first round of bidding in the men's Hundred auction as London Spirit paid £390,000 for the 21-year-old Sussex all-rounder.
Welsh Fire secured England's Joe Root (£240,000) and last year's tournament MVP Jordan Cox (£300,000) as they spent over half their budget on the batting duo.
Plus, Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed went to Sunrisers Leeds - a franchise entirely controlled by the owners of IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad - for £190,000, ending fears that Pakistani players would be ignored by Indian-run teams.
Unconventional Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq also earned a £140,000 deal with Birmingham Phoenix - a side not affiliated with an IPL team.
Before the auction, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was compelled to issue formal denials of an effective 'shadow ban' on Pakistan players being employed by some of the sides who have taken Indian investment.
The country's only female representatives - Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal - went unsold in
England's leading white-ball spinner Adil Rashid collected £250,000 from Southern Brave, James Vince switched to MI London for £190,000 and Jonny Bairstow fetched £160,000 as London Spirit's first new arrival.
Sunrisers, the rebranded successors to Northern Superchargers, did not get a deal over the line in the first set of marquee players, surprisingly allowing all three hometown favourites in Root, Rashid and Bairstow to go elsewhere.
Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara on James Coles' £390k deal
"As a young man with that price tag on his head, there will naturally be some pressure on him to perform. Hopefully he's young - and naïve enough - not to feel the pressure of the price tag.
"I had the pleasure of playing with him at Sussex - he's a very promising cricketer. He has plenty of time when he bats and contributes with the ball as well. He's done well in franchise cricket around the world, so it's a great opportunity."
Your Site Cricket's Eoin Morgan added of Coles:
"His ceiling is huge. He has foundations in the shortest format of the game but he also has a strong base with eight first‑class hundreds.
"He had impressed with the England Lions, he can bat in the top five and he offers a huge amount with the ball in the powerplay or the middle overs. All-rounders are the most sought‑after players, so no surprise with Coles at all."
Overseas players in bold
The tournament runs from Tuesday July 21 to Sunday August 16, with Sunrisers Leeds Women and MI London Men starting their title defences on day one, at The Kia Oval.
Every match from the men's and women's competitions will be live on Your Site, including the eliminators on Friday August 14 and finals two days later, with every day seeing a women's game precede a men's fixture at the same venue.
Teams play eight group games, meeting six sides once and their local rivals twice.
MI London face London Spirit on two occasions, with the other home and away fixtures Sunrisers Leeds vs Manchester Super Giants, Trent Rockets vs Birmingham Phoenix, and Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire.
The men's and women's sides that top the league phase will qualify directly for the finals, with the sides ending second and third meeting in the eliminator to decide the table-toppers' opponents.
