« Back to article

Print this article

Gambhir stole the show

The 2011 Indian Premier League Players' Auction certainly lived up to its hype as all the ten franchises went on an all-rout rampage to secure the world's best players in the team. Our Correspondent Harish Kotian takes a look at the players purchased by the ten franchises on day one of the auction.

Money was certainly no bar as new records were set with 15 players crossing the million-dollar mark, out of which four even breached the two-million mark.

With the addition of two new franchises and an improved purse money of $9million except for the franchises, who had retained players, and Rajasthan Royals (who had $2 million deduced because of a court order), there was an intense battle on day one of the auction in an otherwise laid back city of Bangalore.

India's dashing opener Gautam Gambhir stole the show on day one with a record bid of $2.4 million, the highest-ever paid in the history of the tournament. The previous record belonged to England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who were sold last year for $1.55million each.

Yusuf Pathan was also not far behind when he was bought by the same franchise for $2.1 million, while Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa must be thanking their stars at having crossed the $2 million dollar mark.

Pathan snapped up by Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders
Total players purchased: 8
Total Amount spent: $7,575,000
Remaining Amount: $1,425,000

Kolkata Knight Riders started off with a bang with the purchase of Gambhir for a whopping $2.4 million. And they didn't stop at that by grabbing the services of the dangerous Yusuf Pathan for $2.1 million followed by the in-form South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis for $1.1 million.

While many local fans would be disappointed that they opted not to retain their beloved Sourav Ganguly, they made up for it somewhat by purchasing Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary for $475,000, while Bangladesh captain Shakib-Al Hasan was bought for $425,000.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Gautam Gambhir: $2.4 million (200,000)
Yusuf Pathan: $2.1 million (300,000)
Jacques Kallis: $1.1 million (300,000)
Manoj Tiwary: $475,000 (100,000)
Shakib Al Hasan: $425,000 (200,000)
Brett Lee: $400,000 (400,000)
Eoin Morgan: $350,000 (200,000)
Brad Haddin: $325,000 (200,000)

Deccan Chargers snap Steyn, Sangakkara, KP

Deccan Chargers
Total players purchased: 9
Total Amount spent: $5,500,000
Remaining Amount: $3,500,000

The 2009 champions Deccan Chargers also didn't hold back by signing up the world's best fast bowler in Dale Steyn for a massive $1.2 million. Australia's newly appointed T20 captain Cameron White also was another big purchase for Deccan as they shelled out as much as $1.1 million. 

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara found a new home after not being retained by Kings XI Punjab, while Kevin Pietersen was virtually a bargain for Deccan at $650,000.

They also managed to get the Indian duo of Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma at a modest price for $500,000 and $450,000 respectively.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)

Dale Steyn: $1.2 million (200,000)
Cameron White: $1.1 million (300,000)
Kumar Sangakkara: $700,000 (300,000)
Kevin Pietersen: $650,000 (400,000)
Pragyan Ojha: $500,000 (200,000)
Ishant Sharma: $450,000 (200,000)
JP Duminy: $300,000 (200,000)
Shikhar Dhawan: $300,000 (100,000)
Amit Mishra $300,000 (100,000)

Tiwary off to Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Total players purchased: 8
Starting Auction Salary cap: $7,200,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $7,950,000
Remaining Amount: $1,050,000

Royal Challengers Bangalore started with an auction cap of $7,200,000 after they retained Virat Kohli. They added another exciting Indian youngster to their line-up in Saurabh Tiwary for a massive $1.6million after beating stiff competition from Team Kochi and Delhi Daredevils.

AB de Villiers also reaped huge rewards after being snapped up for $1.1 million, while they also got Zaheer Khan for $900,000 a player whom they had also bought in the inaugural auction in 2008 before packing him off to Mumbai.

Cheteshwar Pujara was another notable inclusion at $700,000 for seven times his base price, while Tillakaratne Dilshan and Daniel Vettori were purchased at throwaway price at $650,000 and $550,000 respectively.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Saurabh Tiwary: $1.6 million (100,000)
AB de Villiers: $1.1 million (400,000)
Zaheer Khan: $900,000 (300,000)
Cheteshwar Pujara: $700,000 (100,000)
Dirk Nannes: $650,000 (200,000)
Tillakratne Dilshan: $650,000 (400,000)
Daniel Vettori: $550,000 (400,000)

Retained:
Virat Kohli ($1.8 million)

Power packed Mumbai team

Mumbai Indians

Total players purchased: 8
Starting Auction Salary cap: $4,500,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $7,640,000
Remaining Amount: $1,360,000

Mumbai Indians went all out for local favourite Rohit Sharma resulting him in earning a fat pay cheque $2million despite him struggling to make it to the Indian ODI and T20 team.

Mumbai had to face stiff competition from Deccan in the closing stages, who also looked quite desperate to retain their star batsman, but eventually gave up.

Interestingly, they also snapped up Andrew Symonds for $850,000, which sees him in the same team as Harbhajan Singh. Just a couple of years back the former Australian all-rounder had accused Harbhajan of racial abuse before the latter was cleared of all charges.

With Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga already retained, Mumbai have managed to string a strong combination with $1.36 million still left in their kitty.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Rohit Sharma: $2 million (200,000)
Andrew Symonds: $850,000 (300,000)
David Jacobs: $190,000 (20,000)
James Franklin: $100,000, (100,000)

Retained:
Sachin Tendulkar ($1.8 million)
Kieron Pollard ($1.5million)
Harbhajan Singh ($900,000)
Lasith Malinga ($500,000)

Over 9 crore for Uthappa

Sahara Pune Warriors
Total players purchased: 8
Total Amount spent at auction: $6,870,000
Remaining Amount: $2,130,000

Interestingly, Sahara Pune Warriors paid more for Robin Uthappa than Yuvraj Singh. While Yuvraj, the only man to hit six sixes in an over in Twenty20 match, went for $1.8 million, Uthappa exceeded all expectations by raking up a mammoth $ 2.1 million.

The new-comers also paid a hefty sum to Sri Lanka's star all-rounder in Angelo Mathews as they purchased him for $950,000 while getting Ashish Nehra for $850,000.

Graeme Smith is also another strong addition to their batting line-up along with young Australian Callum Ferguson, while Tim Paine was snapped up at a cutaway price of $270,000.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Robin Uthappa: $2.1 million (200,000)
Yuvraj Singh: $1.8 million (400,000)
Angelo Matthews: $950,000 (300,000)
Ashish Nehra $850,000 (200,000)
Graeme Smith: $500,000 (400,000)
Callum Ferguson: $300,000 (100,000)
Tim Paine: $270,000 (100,000)
Nathan McCullum: $100,000 (100,000)

Kochi made the most number of purchases

Team Kochi
Total players purchased: 11
Total Amount spent at auction: $6,920,000
Remaining Amount: $2,080,000

Debutants Team Kochi made the most number of purchases by buying as many as 11 players. Sri Lankan veteran duo of Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan were the top picks as they were purchased for $1.5 million and $1million respectively.

Local favourite S Sreesanth was purchased for $900,000 in a key purchase for the franchise, while Ravindra Jadeja shocked everyone by getting $950,000.

Veterans Brad Hodge and VVS Laxman also made the Kochi team, who made quite a few surprise selections including Ramesh Powar and Steven Smith.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Mahela Jayawardene: $1.5 million (400,000)
Muttiah Muralitharan $1.1 million (300,000)
S. Sreesanth: $900,000 (200,000)
Ravindra Jadeja: $950,000 (100,000)
RP Singh: $500,000 (200,000)
Brendon McCullum: $475,000 (400,000)
Brad Hodge: $425,000 (200,000)
VVS Laxman: $400,000 (300,000)
Parthiv Patel: $290,000 (100,000)
Steven Smith: $200,000 (200,000)
Ramesh Powar: $180,000 (100,000)

One of the most bizarre purchases

Delhi Daredevils
Total players purchased: 7
Starting Auction Salary cap: $7,200,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $5,845,000
Remaining Amount: $3,155,000

Delhi Daredevils made one of the most bizarre purchases in the auction by shelling out a massive $1.9 million for Irfan Pathan, who has been struggling with injuries and poor form for the last couple of seasons.

They managed to retain Australia's dashing batsman David Warner, known for his destructive batting in the T20 format, while his compatriot James Hopes came at a modest price of $350,000.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Irfan Pathan: $1.9 million (300,000)
David Warner: $750,000 (200,000)
Morne Morkel: $475,000 (100,000)
James Hopes: $350,000 (200,000)
Aaron Finch: $300,000 (100,000)
Naman Ojha: $270,000 (100,000)

Retained:
Virender Sehwag ($1.8 million)

Super Kings maintained a low-profile

Chennai Super Kings
Total players purchased: 10
Starting Auction Salary cap: $4,500,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $7,575,000
Remaining Amount: $1,425,000

Champions Chennai Super Kings maintained a low-profile at the auction. But they were forced to shell out the extra bucks to get local favourites in R Ashwin and S Badrinath for $850,000 and $800,000 respectively.

Doug Bollinger was another important player that the Chennai outfit managed to retain for $700,000, while Michael Hussey was also kept at $425,000.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
R. Ashwin: $850,000 (100,000)
S. Badrinath: $800,000 (100,000)
Doug Bollinger: $700,000 (200,000)
Michael Hussey: $425,000 (200,000)
Dwayne Bravo: $200,000 (200,000)
Wriddhiman Saha $100,000 (100,000)

Retained:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni ($1.8 million)
Suresh Raina ($1.5million)
Albie Morkel ($900,000)
Murali Vijay ($500,000)

Ross Taylor finds a new home

Rajasthan Royals
Total players purchased: 6
Starting Auction Salary cap: $3,900,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $5,800,000
Remaining Amount: $1,200,000 (Following the Bombay High Court order, Rajasthan were only allotted $7million at the auction.)

The 2008 champions Rajasthan Royals were handicapped after their spending was cut by $2 million. They however, made two big purchases in Ross Taylor for a million, while they also went all out for Johan Botha with a spending of $950,000.

Rahul Dravid, who was not picked by Bangalore, was bought for $500,000 to team up with the legendary Shane Warne.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
Ross Taylor: $1 million (400,000)
Johan Botha: $950,000 (200,000)
Rahul Dravid: $500,000 (400,000)
Paul Collingwood: $250,000 (200,000)

Retained:
Shane Warne ($1.8 million)
Shane Watson ($1.5 million)

David Hussey the top pick for Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab
Total players purchased: 9
Starting Auction Salary cap: $9,000,000
Total Amount spent at auction: $6,825,000
Remaining Amount: $2,175,000

Australian T20 specialist David Hussey was the top pick for Kings XI Punjab as he took home a huge pay of $1.4 million. Former Australia wicketkeeping great Adam Gilchrist, who led Deccan Chargers to the title in 2009, also got a good offer of $900,000 the same as India duo of Dinesh Karthik and Piyush Chawla.

Abhishek Nayar was a surprise buy at $800,000 after starting at a modest base price of $50,000, while Praveen Kumar also bagged the same amount.

They also managed to retain Shaun Marsh, the top scorer in the IPL in 2008 for $400,000 the same they paid for England's Stuart Broad.

Players purchased at auction: (Base price)
David Hussey: $1.4 million (300,000)
Adam Gilchrist: $900,000 (400,000)
Dinesh Karthik $900,000 (200,000)
Piyush Chawla: $900,000 (100,000)
Abhishek Nayar: $800,000 (50,000)
Praveen Kumar $800,000 (200,000)
Shaun Marsh: $400,000 (400,000)
Stuart Broad: $400,000 (400,000)
Ryan Harris 325,000 (200,000)