Indian
cricketers reigned supreme on the first day of the auction for the seventh
edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday, with Yuvraj Singh
going to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a staggering Rs. 14 crore.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik attracted a winning bid of Rs. 12.5 crore
from the Delhi Daredevils.
Five
players — Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Kevin Pietersen, Glen Maxwell and
Mitchell Johnson — bagged million-dollar contracts even as the eight franchise
teams pointedly ignored Sri Lankan and English cricketers.
Read:
Yuvraj isn't worth Rs. 14 crore, according to an online poll conducted by HT
Among
the leading stars who remained unsold on the opening day were Sri Lanka's
Mahela Jayawardene, and South Africans Vernon Philander and Wayne Parnell.
Former New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor also surprisingly found no buyers.
Others who remained unsold included Brett Lee and a host of West Indian
players.
The
auction will resume Thursday when the uncapped and unsold players will be
available for bids.
The
auction list of 514 players features 219 capped players (169 Indians and 50
overseas players) and 292 uncapped players (255 Indians and 37 overseas
players).
Royal
Challengers appeared a bit miffed that they paid out an additional Rs. 4 crore
to Yuvraj after they bid Rs. 10 crore only to see the auctioneer Richard Madley
re-opened the bid to allow Kolkata Knight Riders into the ring. The bid
eventually ended at Rs. 14 crore in favour of the RCB after the KKR pulled out
at Rs. 13.5 crore.
Pietersen,
unceremoniously dropped from the England squad earlier this month following the
disastrous Ashes tour of Australia, went back to Delhi Daredevils who used the
'right to match' (RTM) to keep the hard-hitting batsman for Rs. 9 crore ($1.5
million).
Kings
XI Punjab successfully bid for Ashes hero Johnson for Rs.6.5 crore ($1.08
million) and fellow-allrounder Glenn Maxwell for Rs.6 crore ($1 million).
Also
winning a lucrative contract was 23-year old Kiwi Corey Anderson who recently
set a ODI World record of 36-ball century as Mumbai Indians bagged him for
Rs.4.5 crore($750,000) and also former Aussie batsman Mike Hussey for Rs.5
crore ($833,000).
