Yuvraj Singh continues to be the leading draw at IPL auctions. After commanding a hefty Rs.14 crore from Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, the all-rounder again emerged numero uno at the player auction held at the ITC Gardenia Hotel here on Monday.
Delhi Daredevils, with deep pockets thanks to an initial purse of Rs.39,75,00,000, aggressively pursued the southpaw and edged his former team to secure him at a whopping Rs.16 crore, which turned out to be the day’s highest bid.
RCB, which released Yuvraj in a bid to expand its purse, strangely bid for him up to Rs.15.50 crore before backing off. Once Daredevils drew him into its fold, Yuvraj tweeted: “Namaste Delhi! @DelhiDaredevils enjoyed playing for Rcb but now look forward to play under a very special man called gaza! @Gary_Kirsten.”
While Yuvraj was happy to link-up with his former India coach, Daredevils continued to be a big-spender, snapping up Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews at Rs.7.50 crore.
Much later, Daredevils triggered some reverse-swing too as Zaheer Khan, who at a base price of Rs.one crore, was overlooked in the first round, was brought back into the accelerated bidding process, and picked at Rs.four crore, thwarting Mumbai Indians’ attempt at retaining him.
RCB, meanwhile, acquired Dinesh Karthik at Rs.10.50 crore, and the other expensive purchases were New Zealand’s left-arm seamer Trent Boult (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs.3.80 crore) and Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra (Daredevils, Rs.3.50 crore).
Sunrisers Hyderabad also picked England’s Kevin Pietersen and current skipper Eoin Morgan at their base prices of Rs.2 crore and Rs.1.5 crore.
Coach Tom Moody was quick to deflect any controversy over picking the two together, saying: “My understanding is that they are very best mates. Pietersen’s position with England has nothing to do with Morgan, and it has everything to do with the English cricket board.”
If big bucks ruled the roost, attention was also riveted on the lack of interest in marquee players like Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, to name a few, who went unsold.
Uncapped Indian players also caused a stir as Shreyas Iyer, the 20-year-old Mumbai batsman, was picked by Daredevils at Rs.2.60 crore after a bidding war with Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders escalated his value from the base price of 10 lakh.
The biggest flutter was caused by K.C. Cariappa, a 20-year old mystery off-spinner, who has played age-group cricket in Karnataka.
Coming in at the reserve price of Rs.10 lakh, Cariappa evoked interest from Kolkata Knight Riders and Daredevils, and the former won him at 2.40 crore.
“Every auction throws up something unusual, credit to our team for spotting him. He bowled in our nets during the Champions League. We took a punt, and we hope it works out,” reasoned Venky Mysore, Knight Rider’s CEO.
The varying strategies of the team-owners apart, the auction also showed that age is no bar, as a 44-year old left-arm chinaman bowler Brad Hogg and a 17-year old Mumbai all-rounder Sarfraz Naushad Khan found buyers in Knight Riders and RCB, respectively.
Among the other teams, Chennai Super Kings reiterated its “sense of continuity” by recalling Michael Hussey; Rajasthan Royals astutely spent its money with its biggest spend being South African seamer Christopher Morris; Kings XI Punjab showed its faith in M. Vijay as a top-rated T20 player by investing Rs.three crore; and Mumbai Indians ranged between Australia’s Aaron Finch (Rs.3.20 crore) and a profitable-buy-back in left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (Rs.50 lakh).
Overall, 67 players were sold at a total expenditure of Rs.87.6 crore and with their remaining money franchises have a trading window of two weeks, starting next Monday, to pick a few other cricketers.
The list of players sold at the IPL auction at noon:
The teams: Chennai Super Kings: Michael Hussey (Aus), Rs. 1.50 crore; Rahul Sharma, 30 lakh; Kyle Abbott (SA), 30 lakh.
Delhi Daredevils: Yuvraj Singh, 16 crore; Angelo Mathews (SL), 7.50 crore; Amit Mishra, 3.50 crore; Gurinder Sandhu (Aus), 1.70 crore; Jaydev Unadkat, 1.10 crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders: James Neesham (NZ), 50 lakh; Brad Hogg (Aus), 50 lakh.
Kings XI Punjab: Murali Vijay, 3 crore.
Mumbai Indians: Aaron Finch (Aus), 3.20 crore; Pragyan Ojha, 50 lakh; Mitchell McClenaghan (NZ), 30 lakh.
Rajasthan Royals: Christopher Morris (SA), 1.40 crore.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Dinesh Karthik, 10.50 crore; Darren Sammy (WI), 2.80 crore; David Wiese (SA), 2.80 crore; Sean Abbott (Aus), 1 crore; Adam Milne (NZ), 70 lakh; S. Badrinath, 30 lakh.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Trent Boult (NZ), 3.80 crore; Praveen Kumar, 2.20 crore; Kevin Pietersen (Eng), 2 crore; Eoin Morgan (Eng), 1.50 crore; Ravi Bopara (Eng), 1 crore; Kane Williamson (NZ), 60 lakh; Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 30 lakh.
