The economy across the world continues to struggle but the Indian
Premier League and its franchises just seem to buck the recession every
year.
On Sunday, at the sixth auction, the nine teams spent a combined total of $11.89 million (Rs.64 crore approximately) on purchasing 37 players, as against 25 players at last year's event.
This increase of 12 players was surprising, given that they will all be on one-year contracts since this is the final year of the IPL's three-year cycle of player deals. Next year all the players, except the limited number the franchises choose to retain, are expected to return to the auction pool and the teams will be rebuilt from scratch.
Glenn Maxwell, the young Australia all-rounder, commanded the biggest price at the auction - a whopping $1million (Rs.5.31 crore) - from the Mumbai Indians.
Maxwell, the 24-year-old righthanded batsman who appeared for the Delhi Daredevils last year and had a base price of $200,000, benefitted from an aggressive bidding war between Mumbai and the IPL's latest entrants, Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Mukesh Ambaniowned franchise sealed the deal after the Sun TV-owned franchise stopped at $975,000.
Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis was the second-biggest earner, being picked up by the Pune Warriors for $725,000, while No.3 on the list was little-known Australian pacer Kane Richardson, who the same franchise spent $700,000 on.
Adelaide-based Richardson, who has played just one ODI for Australia, had what seemed to be a rather unrealistic base price of $100,000. But thanks to a bidding war between Pune and Chennai Super Kings, he will be laughing all the way to the bank.
An even bigger surprise was South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who has played a solitary T20 and yet was picked up by Chennai for over 31 times his base price of $20,000. Morris, known in local circles as a Lance Klusener in the making due to his hard hitting and seam bowling, fetched $625,000.
"I have never in my life seen this much money," Morris was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "I suppose one of the things I'd like to do is give my parents anything they should like and spoil them a little bit."
Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake (base price $50,000) also hit paydirt, getting snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for $625,000, as did uncapped Aussie Nathan Coulter-Nile, who got $450,000 from Mumbai.
The 'marquee' players in the auction, Australia captain Michael Clarke and his predecessor Ricky Ponting, were bought quite surprisingly at their base prices, $400,000 each, by Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians respectively. South African all-rounder Johan Botha (base price $300,000) was picked up by the Daredevils for $450,000, while Rudra Pratap Singh, whose base price was a lowly $100,000, got four times the amount to join Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Indian pacers Jaydev Unadkat ($525,000; base price $100,000) and Manpreet Gony ($500,000; base price $200,000) also hit the jackpot with RCB and Kings XI Punjab grabbing them respectively at the gigantic Rajendra Hall of the ITC Grand Chola hotel.
The most expensive Indian, expectedly, was Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (base price $100,000), whom Pune Warriors bought for $675,000 after a brave challenge, particularly from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Nayar was in terrific form in the Ranji season gone by, with his 900-plus runs and wicket-taking medium-pace bowling playing an integral part in Mumbai's 40th Ranji Trophy victory.
Only about one-third of the 108 players available were picked up, and IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that was only to be expected. "It was not a full-fledged auction. The franchises this time only wanted to fill the places in the squads. It's not like it has gone down and all. Next year we will have a fullfledged auction when there will be over 350 to 400 players up for grabs," Shukla said.
The limited number of slots and money left under the salary cap restriction of $12.5 million each forced the teams to approach the auction with specific strategies in place.
While the Daredevils wanted allrounders - and bought Jesse Ryder, Johan Botha and Jeevan Mendis -teams like Pune and Hyderabad were attempting to fill out their rosters with the best available players.
The franchises were also clear that they didn't want any wicket-keepers. So, all 10 of them who formed the third set went unsold. They included England's Matt Prior (base price $200,000). However, at the end of the auction, Hyderabad bought South African Quinton de Kock for $20,000.
On Sunday, at the sixth auction, the nine teams spent a combined total of $11.89 million (Rs.64 crore approximately) on purchasing 37 players, as against 25 players at last year's event.
This increase of 12 players was surprising, given that they will all be on one-year contracts since this is the final year of the IPL's three-year cycle of player deals. Next year all the players, except the limited number the franchises choose to retain, are expected to return to the auction pool and the teams will be rebuilt from scratch.
Glenn Maxwell, the young Australia all-rounder, commanded the biggest price at the auction - a whopping $1million (Rs.5.31 crore) - from the Mumbai Indians.
Maxwell, the 24-year-old righthanded batsman who appeared for the Delhi Daredevils last year and had a base price of $200,000, benefitted from an aggressive bidding war between Mumbai and the IPL's latest entrants, Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Mukesh Ambaniowned franchise sealed the deal after the Sun TV-owned franchise stopped at $975,000.
Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis was the second-biggest earner, being picked up by the Pune Warriors for $725,000, while No.3 on the list was little-known Australian pacer Kane Richardson, who the same franchise spent $700,000 on.
Adelaide-based Richardson, who has played just one ODI for Australia, had what seemed to be a rather unrealistic base price of $100,000. But thanks to a bidding war between Pune and Chennai Super Kings, he will be laughing all the way to the bank.
An even bigger surprise was South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who has played a solitary T20 and yet was picked up by Chennai for over 31 times his base price of $20,000. Morris, known in local circles as a Lance Klusener in the making due to his hard hitting and seam bowling, fetched $625,000.
"I have never in my life seen this much money," Morris was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "I suppose one of the things I'd like to do is give my parents anything they should like and spoil them a little bit."
Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake (base price $50,000) also hit paydirt, getting snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for $625,000, as did uncapped Aussie Nathan Coulter-Nile, who got $450,000 from Mumbai.
The 'marquee' players in the auction, Australia captain Michael Clarke and his predecessor Ricky Ponting, were bought quite surprisingly at their base prices, $400,000 each, by Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians respectively. South African all-rounder Johan Botha (base price $300,000) was picked up by the Daredevils for $450,000, while Rudra Pratap Singh, whose base price was a lowly $100,000, got four times the amount to join Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Indian pacers Jaydev Unadkat ($525,000; base price $100,000) and Manpreet Gony ($500,000; base price $200,000) also hit the jackpot with RCB and Kings XI Punjab grabbing them respectively at the gigantic Rajendra Hall of the ITC Grand Chola hotel.
The most expensive Indian, expectedly, was Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar (base price $100,000), whom Pune Warriors bought for $675,000 after a brave challenge, particularly from Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Nayar was in terrific form in the Ranji season gone by, with his 900-plus runs and wicket-taking medium-pace bowling playing an integral part in Mumbai's 40th Ranji Trophy victory.
Only about one-third of the 108 players available were picked up, and IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that was only to be expected. "It was not a full-fledged auction. The franchises this time only wanted to fill the places in the squads. It's not like it has gone down and all. Next year we will have a fullfledged auction when there will be over 350 to 400 players up for grabs," Shukla said.
The limited number of slots and money left under the salary cap restriction of $12.5 million each forced the teams to approach the auction with specific strategies in place.
While the Daredevils wanted allrounders - and bought Jesse Ryder, Johan Botha and Jeevan Mendis -teams like Pune and Hyderabad were attempting to fill out their rosters with the best available players.
The franchises were also clear that they didn't want any wicket-keepers. So, all 10 of them who formed the third set went unsold. They included England's Matt Prior (base price $200,000). However, at the end of the auction, Hyderabad bought South African Quinton de Kock for $20,000.
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