Indiantelevision.com Team

(6 February 2009 7:15 pm)

MUMBAI: It is raining millions for Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff!

The two biggest names in the auction for season II of the Indian Premier League (IPL) came out on top. Each went for $1.55 million to Bengaluru and Chennai respectively

The auction was held in a plush resort in Goa this morning with most of the team owners in attendance. Noted absentee was Shahrukh Khan who abstained from the auction.

This is more than the previous highest ever forked out in the past. Dhoni had gone for $1.5 million to Chennai in the first auction. Andrew Symonds had gone for $1.35 million to Hyderabad.

Billionaire spirits king Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangaluru team, is no doubt hoping that Pietersen's flamboyant style will help revserse his team's fortunes. He says that this is a very worthwhile investment and that he was ready to dish out a bigger sum to sign on Pietersen.

There were six rounds of bidding. 17 players were sold while 33 were not as fortunate. Mumbai Indians bought South African JP Duminy for $950,000. This was more than three times his base price of $300,000.

Australian pace bowler Shaun Tait went to the the defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000.

Fidel Edwards was sold to Deccan Chargers for his base price of $150,000. Among the unsold players were Chamara Kapugedera, Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin, Stuart Clark, Phil Jacques, Ashwell Prince and Andre Nel.

After a heated contest Owais Shah went to Delhi for $275,000. The franchise also bought Paul Collingwood for $275,000.

One of the big surprises though was Tyron Henderson. His base price was only $100,000 but he finally went for $650,000 to Rajasthan Royals who outbid Deccan Chargers. The other surprise was Bangladesh's Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who, starting from a base price of $50,000, was finally sold for $600,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders. The process to get him took nearly half an hour as Kings X1 Punjab was also interested. The tussle between the two went back and forth and there was generous applause after Kolkata got him.

Even Lalit Modi was happy and welcomed Mortaza into the IPL fold. Meanwhile England's Ravi Bopara also hit the mother lode (Kings XI Punjab) going for $450,000.

The auctioneer mistakenly brought the gavel down on Kiwi opener Jesse Ryder ($100,000) as unsold without realising that Bangaluru had put in a bid. Others joined the fray, but Bangaluru finally got him at $160,000.

At the end of the six rounds of bidding, only two teams Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab had a slot each for an overseas player. Each team can have a maximum of ten foreign players.

The two teams were then asked to submit the names of two or three players, whom they wish to buy so that they could be put up for sale again.

Kings XI Punjab asked for West Indies bowler Jerome Taylor and got him at his base price of $150,000. Mumbai Indians got Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful for $75,000.

All the players auctioned today will be on a contract for two years. Offering a franchisees view Kings X1 Pinjab co-owner Ness Wadia notes that while it all looks like fun and games there is a lot of planning and strategy that goes into an auction. "We look at availability as well as the fitness level of the player."

He went to add that Yuvraj Singh who is the franchise's icon player is very much involved in decisions taken. He says that the franchise is committed to giving domestic talent a platform to excel in which is why the franchise started the Kings X1 Cup. He also expressed satisfaction on the support that the franchise has been getting from the Punjab Cricket Association.

The following is the list of players that were sold.

Rajasthan Royals : Tyron Henderson ($650,000), Shaun Tait ($375,000),

Mumbai Indians : Jean-Paul Duminy ($950,000), Kyle Mills ($150,000), Mohammad Ashraful ($75,000)

Chennai Super Kings : Andrew Flintoff ($1.55 million), Thilan Thusara ($140,000), George Bailey ($50,000)

Bangalore Royal Challengers : Kevin Pietersen ($1.55 million), Jesse Ryder ($160,000).

Deccan Chargers : Fidel Edwards ($ 150,000), Dwayne Smith ($100,000)

Delhi Daredevils : Owais Shah ($275,000), Paul Collingwood ($275,000)

King's XI, Punjab : Ravi Bopara ($450,000), Jerome Taylor ($150,000)

Kolkata Knight Riders : Mashrafe Mortaza ($600,000)