Banglore, January 09: After creating new records and 15 new millionaires on the first day, the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction entered its final day where 71 players will be up for grab, including 18 Indians.
With only cumulative salary cap of $ 19.5 million left in the purse, owners will look to settle their teams by buying bits-and-pieces players on Sunday.
The remaining money could be used to buy uncapped Indian players during and after the auction. Franchises still have the possibility to choose among 53 overseas players.
The Indian opener Gautam Gambhir turned out to be the hot pick of the day, which saw 72 top players going under the hammer for a total of $ 52.8 mn and 16 remained unsold. The former Delhi Daredevils player was sold to a record-breaking $ 2.4 mn to Kolkata Knight Riders.
He was followed by Robin Uthappa, who was snatched by Pune Warriors for $ 2.1 mn and Yusuf Pathan was successfully bid by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned side for the same amount. Rohit Sharma, too, was able to draw an amount of $ 2.1 mn by Mumbai Indians.
Shockingly there were no takers for Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Brian Lara, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs.
The first round on Saturday saw nine players going under the hammer, with Gambhir, who wasn’t retained by his former employer Delhi Daredevils, taking home the maximum sum offered by KKR. The other Indians who took home a handsome amount were speedster Zaheer Khan, who was bid successfully for USD 900,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore; the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, who went to Kolkata Knight Riders for USD 2.1 million; and Yuvraj Singh, won over by Pune Warriors for USD 1.8 million.
The other players to go under the hammer in round one were Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, sold to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 650,000, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor, bagged by Rajasthan Royals for USD 1 million; England’s Kevin Pietersen, bought by Deccan Chargers for 650,000; Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene, who went for USD 1.5 million to Kochi; and finally South African AB de Villiers, who went for USD 1.1 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Round two began with what could remain the biggest surprise, if we may call it that, of the auction. Sourav Ganguly, India’s most successful opening batsman and skipper, was brought onto the auction table for a reserve price of USD 400,000. But jaws dropped when not even a single bidder came forward to open his bid. The icon remained unsold!
Similarly round two saw 15 players go under the hammer with Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma drawing the big bucks. Other notable players, who were bidded successfuly were Jacques Kallis ($ 1.1 mn, KKR); Cameron White (USD 1.1 million, Deccan Chargers) and Andrew Symonds (350,000, Mumbai Indians).
And 48 players were sold in rounds after lunch and tea break later in the evening.
–Agencies