Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian was snapped up by Deccan Chargers for a whopping $900,000 in the highest successful bid on the second and final day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction in Bangalore on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Christian, a bustling paceman and an aggressive lower middle-order batsman, is an Aboriginal.
Significantly, the legendary Brian Lara, former great Sourav Ganguly and the hard-hitting Chris Gayle remained unsold.
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The franchises were cautious about buying cricketers from the Caribbean since the West Indies team has international commitments during the IPL season. Though Gayle has not signed the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) central contract, there were fears that he could still be denied a mandatory ‘no objection' certificate by the WICB for figuring in the IPL. There were doubts, too, about the availability of cricketers from England.
In an important buy, India seamer Munaf Patel was won by Mumbai Indians for $700,000. Young paceman Umesh Yadav was signed up by Delhi Daredevils for $750,000, while the more experienced Lakshmipathy Balaji was claimed by Kolkata Knight Riders for $500,000.
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Chennai Super Kings, the holder, took Aussie swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus for $100,000. It also roped in New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris ($100,000), and the Sri Lankan duo of paceman Nuwan Kulasekara ($100,000) and off-spinner Suraj Randiv ($80,000).
Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who found no takers on Saturday, was picked up by Pune Warriors for $400,000.
This was an auction where the price for the highest paid specialist batsman Gautam Gambhir ($2.4 million) was way ahead of the successful bid for the top specialist bowler, Dale Steyn ($1.2 million).