Dhoni, Symonds top million dollar bids

IPL auction: disappointment for Ponting, Warne and Hayden; Sachin, Sourav also in million club










CHENNAI: Indian one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds crossed the million-dollar mark as the world’s top cricketers were auctioned for the DHL Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mumbai.

Dhoni attracted the highest price of $1.5 million per season from The India Cements Limited group, which owns the Chennai franchise.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was part of the group of “marquee” players which began the bidding for the lucrative and singular Twenty20 league on Wednesday. The group included Adam Gilchrist, bought by Hyderabad for $700,000, and Muttiah Muralitharan, purchased by Chennai for $600,000.

Symonds was the second-most expensive buy on Wednesday — he went for $1.35 million to Hyderabad. Multi-skilled players were in demand as was evident in the winning bids for Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000 from Mumbai), Irfan Pathan ($925,000 from Mohali) and Jacques Kallis ($900,000 from Bangalore).

Ishant Sharma’s stirring performance with the ball in Australia was rewarded with a bid of $950,000 – the fourth highest on Wednesday – from Kolkata. Australia’s Brett Lee was bought for $900,000 by Mohali, while his rival in pace, Shoaib Akhtar, fetched $425,000 from Kolkata.

The amounts fetched by Jayasuriya, Ishant, Kallis, and Lee ensured that Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh, who as “icons” are guaranteed 15 per cent more than the highest-paid player of their cities, crossed the million-dollar mark.

The members of India’s victorious Twenty20 campaign in South Africa attracted bids in excess of their base prices. Robin Uthappa was acquired by Mumbai for $800,000 (base price $200,000). Rohit Sharma went to Hyderabad for $750,000 (base price $150,000), while Gautam Gambhir was purchased by home team Delhi for $725,000 (base price $200,000). Delhi also paid $675,000 (base price $100,000) for Manoj Tiwary.

Anomalies


The auction had its share of anomalies. Yusuf Pathan, with a sole international appearance to his credit, drew a bid of $25,000 more than Australian leg-spinning great Shane Warne ($450,000) for Jaipur.

The comparatively modest prices for Ricky Ponting ($400,000) and Matthew Hayden ($375,000) are probably explained by Australia’s scheduled tour of Pakistan overlapping a part of the IPL. But the fact that Glenn McGrath, an all-time great, was relegated to the reserve pool before he was bought for his base price was surprising, even accounting for his retirement last year.

The IPL, which begins on April 18, features eight teams in home and away encounters leading to the grand final on June 1.