By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI Feb 4 (Reuters) – Indian all-rounder
Ravindra Jadeja fetched a bid worth more than $2 million, the
highest in Saturday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, while
there was no taker for frontline England players.
Less than 24 hours after Jadeja’s man-of-the-match
performance in India’s Twenty20 victory over Australia, Deccan
had a fierce bidding war with IPL’s Chennai franchise matching
their $2 million offer.
The stalemate resulted in secret bidding and Chennai secured
the 23-year-old all-rounder’s service for an undisclosed amount.
Only two other cricketers – Sri Lanka captain Mahela
Jayawardene ($1.4 million, Delhi) and Indian pace bowler R Vinay
Kumar ($1 million, Bangalore) – fetched a million dollars or
more in the auction in Bangalore.
England cricketers James Anderson, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann,
Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara were not among the 25 players, out
of 144, who invited bids.
Kevin Pietersen is expected to play some part in the league,
having completed his transfer from Deccan to Delhi.
Of the nine existing teams, Pune skipped the auction after
its owners Sahara Group announced it was pulling out.
Mumbai had a hectic day, adding Indian pace bowler RP Singh
($600,000), Sri Lankan Thisara Perera ($650,000), Australian
Mitchell Johnson ($300,000) and South African Robin Peterson
($100,000) to their bowling unit.
Continued…
