IPL 8 Auction: Yuvraj Singh still a
million-dollar baby
Yuvraj Singh set a new
record as he emerged as the costliest ever buy in the Indian Premier
League by going for a whopping Rs 16 crore to Delhi Daredevils while an
unheralded K C Cariappa was a surprise pick in the eighth players’ auction
in Bangalore on Monday. READ: IPL 8 Auction full list: Here’s who got what
In a relatively low key auction, Yuvraj triggered an unexpected bidding
war with four teams vying for the 33-year-old cricketer’s services before
Delhi clinched the deal for a record price. That Yuvraj, who had been
bought for Rs 14 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, went for
such a big price came as a huge surprise given the fact that he is no
longer in the Indian team. His current form, however, has been
good which could have led to the franchises showing interest in him.
“I think we learnt from last
year, and that if we want a player we need to push hard for him. Hence we
were prepared to go all the way with Yuvraj and it’s great for the player
as well,” Delhi coach Gary Kirsten said justifying the record bid for
Yuvraj. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was another player, who
commanded a massive price, going to RCB for Rs 10.50 crore at a glitzy
auction attended by business bigwigs, Bollywood stars like Preity Zinta
and former cricketers such as Anil Kumble, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming
and VVS Laxman — part of various teams’ support staff. A 20-year-old
Cariappa, an off-spinner who has not even played a first-class match, was
a stunning pick by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Cariappa was bought for a Rs
2.40 crore in what was perhaps the most shocking buy in an auction where
veterans such as Kumar Sangakkara went unsold despite being brought back
in the pool thrice. Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathew (Rs 7.5 crore to
DD), New Zealand pacer Trent Boult (Rs 3.80 crore to
Sunrisers Hyderabad), Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra (Rs 3.50 crore
to DD) and Australian opener Aaron Finch (Rs 3.20 crore to
Mumbai Indians) were among those who fetched a good price at
the auction.
Sri Lankan stalwarts Mahela
Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Indian pacer Irfan Pathan, South
African batsman Hashim Amla and New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor went
unsold in the initial rounds of the auction. They might still find
a buyer in the final round of bidding. Indian pacer Zaheer Khan, who
initially went unsold, suddenly saw a dramatic change in his fortunes when
he was brought back in the pool as he went for a hefty Rs 4 crore
to Delhi Daredevils.
In all, 88 players went
under hammer, of which the franchises bought 67. 23 of the players sold
were overseas picks. The franchises shelled out Rs 87.6 crore
in purchasing the players. Yuvraj, who carried a base price of Rs 2 crore,
was sold after a fierce tug of war for his services between
Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who bought him last
year for Rs 14 crore, at a city hotel here. Initially, there was four-way
bidding among Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab and
Delhi Daredevils to buy India’s 2011 World Cup hero in the
auction conducted by Richard Madley.
But once the bidding reached Rs
7 crore, RR and KXIP quit, leaving DD and RCB in the fray. Delhi
Daredevils, who had the largest purse of Rs 39.75 crore among all the
eight franchises taking part in the auction, also bought Mathews for Rs
7.5 crore, the third highest price in the first two rounds of
auction. RCB, who lost to DD in their bid to get Yuvraj and Mathews,
bought Karthik for the second highest price, even though it was Rs 1.5
crore lower than the amount he was bought for by DD last year.
Surprisingly, former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who was bought for
Rs 9 crore last year by DD, could get just Rs 2 crore as he was sold to
Sunrisers Hyderabad at the base price.
Other players sold in the
auction were India Test opener Murali Vijay for Rs 3 crore (to KXIP),
England’s Eoin Morgan (Rs 1.5 crore by SRH) and New Zealand’s Kane
Williamson (Rs 60 lakh by SRH). New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult also
fetched an impressive sum of Rs 3.8 crore from his base price of Rs
50 lakh as he was bought by SRH who joined in after initial bidding
between RCB and MI. There was also intense bidding for Indian pacer
Praveen Kumar, who was bought by SRH for Rs 2.20 crore. SRH
also strengthened their squad by buying England all-rounder
Ravi Bopara for Rs one crore. Two other all-rounders in West Indian Darren
Sammy and South African David Wiese went to RCB for an identical Rs
2.80 crore.
RCB also bought young Australian pacer Sean Abbott for Rs
1 crore. Veteran Australian Michael Hussey returned to Chennai Super Kings
at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Indian-origin Australian pacer Gurinder
Sandhu, who has played just two ODIs so far, was the surprise pick for Rs
1.7 crore by big spenders Delhi Daredevils who also bought
pacer Jaydev Unadkat for Rs 1.1 crore. Left-arm spinner Pragyan
Ojha also returned to Mumbai Indians for Rs 50 lakh.
Besides CSK, Kolkata Knight Riders and
Rajasthan Royals were the other franchises who did not spend much in
the auction. RR bought South African all-rounder Christopher Morris
for Rs 1.4 crore. Among the prominent Indians, Cheteshwar Pujara,
Pankaj Singh and Munaf Patel could not find any takers Brad Hodge,
Alex Hales, Cameron White, Luke Ronchi, and Marlon Samuels, were among the
foreign players who did not have any takers.
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