Indian Premier League (IPL)

[jaydeep]

India's ODI and Twenty20 captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has been bought by the Chennai franchise for US$1.5 million. 

The other first picks -
Adam Gilchrist has gone to Hyderabad for US$700,000
Muttiah Muralitharan to Chennai for US$600,000
Shane Warne to Jaipur for US$450,000
Shoaib Akhtar to Kolkata for US$425,000

So until now Chennai has already spent US$2.1 million and grabbed two big names.
----------------------- end of first round  -----------------------

Mumbai joined the second round of bidding,
Sanath Jayasuriya for US$975,000 (his base price was US$250,000)
Harbhajan Singh for US$850,000 (base price US$250,000)

That means as an icon Tendulkar will stand to earn 15% more than the most paid player in the franchise (Jayasuriya) - which translates to US$ 1.12 million.

Anil Kumble by Bangalore for US$500,000 (base price - US$250,000)
Kumar Sangakkara by Mohali for US$700,000 (base price - US$250,000)
Mahela Jayawardene to Mohali for US$475,000

(Glenn McGrath & Mohammad Yousuf haven't found any bidders, so they have gone into the reserve pool.)
----------------- end of second round -------------------------

Andrew Symonds became the 2nd most expensive player in the IPL, as Hyderabad bought him for US$1.35m (his base price being $2,50,000)
Brett Lee bought by Mohali for US$9,00,000 (base price: $3,00,000)
Brendon McCullum bought by Kolkata for $7,00,000 (base price: $1,75,000)
Jacob Oram bought by Chennai for $6,75,000 (base price: $2,00,000)
Daniel Vettori bought by Delhi for $6,25,000 (base price: $2,50,000)
Ricky Ponting bought by Kolkata for $4,00,000
Mathew Hayden by Chennai for $3,75,000.

(Mike Hussey joined Glenn McGrath & Mohammad Yousuf into the reserve pool.)
----------------- end of third round -------------------------

Jacques Kallis purchased by the Bangalore team for $900,000 that means Rahul Dravid (their icon player) becomes the fifth cricketer to break the million-dollar barrier.
Chris Gayle became Kolkata’s highest successful bid - $800,000
Stephen Fleming bought by Chennai for his base price of $350,000
Graeme Smith by Jaipur for $475,000
Herschelle Gibbs by Hyderabad for $575,000
Shaoib Malik by Delhi for $500,000
Shahid Afridi by Hyderabad for $675,000
Younis Khan by Jaipur for his base price of $225,000
Mohammad Asif by Delhi for $650,000
Zaheer Khan by Bangalore for $450,000
Sreesanth by Mohali for $625,000
----------------- end of fourth round -------------------------

Dinesh Karthik bought by Delhi for $525,000 (base price: $200,000)
Mark Boucher by Banglore for US$ 450,000
Ab de Villers by Delhi for $300,000 (base price: $200,000)
Parthiv Patel by Chennai for $325,000 (base price: $150,000)
Kamran Akmal bought by Jaipur for his reserve price of $150,000

(Tatenda Taibu joined Mike Hussey, Glenn McGrath & Mohammad Yousuf into the reserve pool.)
----------------- end of fifth round -------------------------

Irafn Pathan was Mohali’s big pick for $925,000
Morkel was bought by Chennai for $675,000 (base price: $225,000)
Camroon White for $500,000 by Bangalore (base price: $100,000)
Yusuf Pathan for $475,000 by Jaipur (base price: 100,000)
Scott Styris went to Hyderabad for $175,000
Ajit Agarkar by Kolkata for $350,000 (base price: $200,000)
Shaun Pollock by Mumbai for $550,000 (base price: $200,000)
Farveez Maharoof by Delhi for $225,000 (base price: $150,000)
Tillakaratne Dilshan by Delhi for $250,000 (base price: 150,000)
Joginder Sharma by Chennai for $225,000 (base price: $100,000).
----------------- end of sixth round -------------------------

Robin Uthappa by Mumbai for US$ 800,000 (base price: $200,000)
Rohit Sharma by Hyderabad for US$ 750,000 (base price: $200,000)
Gautam Gambhir by Delhi for US$ 725,000 (base price: $200,000)
Mohammad Kaif by Jaipur for US$ 675,000 (base price: $125,000)
Manoj Tiwary by Delhi  for US$ 675,000 (base price: $100,000)
David Hussey by Kolkata for US$ 675,000 (base price: $125,000)
Suresh Raina by Chennai for US$ 650,000 (base price: $125,000)
VVS Laxman by Hyderabad for US$ 375,000 (base price: $150,000)
Wasim Jaffer by Banglore for US$ 150,000
Chamara Silva by Hyderabad for US$ 100,000

(Ramnaresh Sarwan, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ashwell Prince & Loots Bosman joined Tatenda Taibu, Mike Hussey, Glenn McGrath & Mohammad Yousuf into the reserve pool.)
----------------- end of seventh round -------------------------

Ishant Sharma bought by Kolkata for $950,000 (base price: $150,000)
RP Singh bought by Hyderabad for $875,000 (base price: $200,000)
Piyush Chawla by Mohali for $400,000 (base price: $125,000)
Dale Steyn by Banglore for $325,000 (base price: 150,000)
Murali Kartik by Kolkata for $425,000 (base price: $200,000)
Munaf Patel by Jaipur for $275,000 (base price: $100,000)
Nathan Bracken bought by Bangalore for $325,000 (base price: $225,000)
Makhaya Ntini by Chennai for $200,000
Lasith Malinga by Mumbai for $350,000 ($200,000)
Chaminda Vaas by Hyderabad for $200,000
Ramesh Powar by Mohali for $170,000 (base price: $150,000)
Umar Gul by Kolkata for his base price of $150,000
Dilhara Fernando by Mumbai for $150,000
Nuwan Zoysa by Hyderabad for $110,000 (base price: $100,000).
----------------- end of eighth round -------------------------

So now as per rule teams will be allowed to bid below the base price for unsold players (reserve pool).

Unsold Players - Ramnaresh Sarwan, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ashwell Prince, Loots Bosman, Tatenda Taibu, Mike Hussey, Glenn McGrath & Mohammad Yousuf

Glenn McGrath bought by Delhi for US$ 350,000
Michael Hussey by Chennai for US$ 350,000
Simon Katich by Mohali for $200,000
Ramnaresh Sarwan by Mohali for $225,000
Shivnarine Chanderpaul bought by Bangalore for $200,000
Loots Bosman by Mumbai for $175,000
Justin Langer to Jaipur for $200,000.

No takers for Mohammad Yousuf & Ashwell Prince so they were withdrawn ... Today of the 79 players, 77 players were sold at the base price or above.

[Sandeep]

Teams so far

Jaipur Shane Warne (US$ 450,000)

Chennai MS Dhoni (US$ 1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$ 600,00), Matthew Hayden (US$ 375,000), Jacob Oram (US$ 675,000)

Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$ 975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$ 850,000)

Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$ 500,000)

Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$ 700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$ 1.35 million)

Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$ 475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$ 700,000), Brett Lee (US$ 900,000)

Kolkata Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$ 425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$ 400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$ 700,000)

Delhi Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$ 625,000)

Surprisingly Ponting and Hayden got a very less price and Hussey has no takers!

[PKBasu]

Cricket seems to be the last thing on the bidders' minds. How can one explain that Parthiv Patel and MS Dhoni are in the same Chennai side, that Kallis/Dravid/Kumble/Cameron White are in the same side (two steady test-type icons, and two leggies in the same side)??!

It seems to me Vijay Mallya is the least savvy of the bidders so far (Bangalore). Shahrukh (Kolkata) and the Mohali owners (Preity/Ness Wadia?) seem to have assembled the strongest squads so far. Mohali with the pace aces (Brett Lee, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan) plus Yuvi, Sangakkara and Mahela -- wow! And Kolkata with McCullum keeping and opening with Gayle, to be followed by Ponting and Ganguly, plus the bowling of Chuckthar and (ahem!) Craparkar.

[jaydeep]

Until now Mumbai and Jaipur having very wierd selection ... :|

Mumbai still doesn't have wicket keeper, so who is the option?
Tatenda Taibu!!!

Other hand Jaipur still need to buy a pacer.

[S_K_S]

Can't work out who I am going to support. Can't say that I have any close connection with any of the cities. Probably spent more time in Delhi than any of the other places. Feel like supporting Hyderabad because of VVS and his decision to drop his icon status.

Have they started selling the replica shirts yet?

This is just so exciting. I love it.

[PKBasu]

Despite myself (and my early skepticism about the sheer naked materialism of this whole tamasha), I am beginning to get pretty excited about this concept. The quality of the teams (at least some of them!) is quite breathtaking -- probably even better than Kerry Packer was able to assemble in his prime.

Look at the current lists:

Jaipur Shane Warne (US$ 450,000), Graeme Smith (US$ 475,000), Younis Khan (US$ 225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$ 150,000), Yusuf Pathan (US$ 475,000), Mohammad Kaif (US$ 675,000), Munaf Patel (US$ 275,000)

Chennai MS Dhoni (US$ 1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$ 600,00), Matthew Hayden (US$ 375,000), Jacob Oram (US$ 675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$ 350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$ 325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$ 225,000), Albie Morkel (US$ 675,000), Suresh Raina (US$ 650,000), Makhaya Ntini (US$ 200,000)

Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$ 975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$ 850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$ 550,000), Robin Uthappa (US$ 800,000), Lasith Malinga (US$ 350,000), Dilhara Fernando (US$ 150,000)

Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$ 500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$ 900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$ 450,000), Mark Boucher (US$ 450,000), Cameron White (US$ 500,000), Wasim Jaffer (US$ 150,000), Dale Steyn (US$ 325,000), Nathan Bracken (US$ 325,000)

Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$ 700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$ 1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$ 575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$ 675,000), Scott Styris (US$ 175,000), VVS Laxman (US$ 375,000), Rohit Sharma (US$ 750,000), Chamara Silva (US$ 100,000), RP Singh (US$ 875,000), Chaminda Vaas (US$ 200,000), Nuwan Zoysa (US4 110,000)

Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$ 475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$ 700,000), Brett Lee (US$ 900,000), Sreesanth (US$ 625,000), Irfan Pathan (US$ 925,000), Ramesh Powar (US$ 170,000), Piyush Chawla (US$ 400,000)

Kolkata Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$ 425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$ 400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$ 700,000), Chris Gayle (US$ 800,000), Ajit Agarkar (US$ 330,000), David Hussey (US$ 675,000), Ishant Sharma (US$ 950,000), Murali Kartik (US$ 425,000), Umar Gul (US$ 150,000)

Delhi Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$ 625,000), Shoaib Malik (US$ 500,000), Mohammad Asif (US$ 650,000), AB de Villiers (US$ 300,000), Dinesh Karthik (US$ 525,000), Farveez Maharoof (US$ 225,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$ 250,000), Manoj Tiwary (US$ 675,000), Gautam Gambhir (US$ 725,000)

Mohali vs Kolkata is still looking the most exciting match-up. On the one hand Kolkata will have Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul and Murali Kartik (assuming Ganguly hands him the ball  ) plus Chris Gayle and Sourav himself sharing the fifth bowler's duties, and facing them would be Sangakkara, Yuvi, Mahela, Irfan with the bat. When Kolkata go out to bat, the line-up of Gayle, McCullum, Ponting, Ganguly and David Hussey will be facing up to Brett Lee, Sreesanth, Irfan, Piyush and Powar (with Yuvi available as sixth bowler) and Sangakkara behind the stumps.
Bangalore look a bit bowling-heavy (Kumble, Steyn, Zaheer, Kallis, Bracken, White), while Hyderabad look a bit batting-heavy (Gilchrist, VVS, Symonds, Afridi, Styris, Chamara) but have just picked up three bowlers (RP, Vaas, Zoysa) who (with allrounders Symonds, Afridi, Styris) could complete the bowling. Pretty good side actually, Hyderabad!

[Kumar]

Why would chennai pay $1.5 M to pick Dhoni..After picking Dhoni, they also pick Parthiv Patel? Sangakarra is the best WK batsman..

I have to agree Mohali and Kolkatta looks to be the best teams (at least on paper). And Hyderabad's batting is very mouth watering (Gilchrist, Gibbs, symmonds and Afridi). They may score 300 runs in 20 overs...

[prasen9]

Why did Kolkata have to get Umar Gul?  Given that we need 2-3 players from our barren hinterland, the only players worth their salt are Ranadeb Bose and SS Paul.  I would have gotten batsmen.  The batting looks strong but shallow, given two players who will score in binary digits will be chosen as batsmen.

MacCallum, Gayle, Ponting, Ganguly, DHussey, Dummy1, Agarkar, Karthik, Bose, Sharma, SS Paul

Reserves: Akhtar, Gul, Taibu

The dummy almost surely has to be a batsman and playing with Karthik, Bose, and Sharma means a very long tail.  Who would the dummy batsman be?  WP Saha or blood a young Shrivats Goswami?

[prasen9]

I think Hyderabad has a stellar team:

Gilchrist, Gibbs, RSharma, Styris, Symonds, Silva, VVSL, Afridi, Singh, Vaas, Zoysa,

[suresh]

Wow you guys are all amazing -- you have managed to keep track of today's happenings  I am yet to figure out how many zeros are there in a crore or if I should think about the figures in dollars. Looks like VVSL is special but not smart -- he turned down the chance to be an icon player and missed out on making a lot of money I must say I hate the term "icon player" -- shouldn't it be a player with iconic status.

[jaydeep]

Final IPL Team List after completion of bidding -

Jaipur - Shane Warne (US$ 450,000), Graeme Smith (US$ 475,000), Younis Khan (US$ 225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$ 150,000), Yusuf Pathan (US$ 475,000), Mohammad Kaif (US$ 675,000), Munaf Patel (US$ 275,000), Justin Langer (US$ 200,000)

Chennai - MS Dhoni (US$ 1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$ 600,00), Matthew Hayden (US$ 375,000), Jacob Oram (US$ 675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$ 350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$ 325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$ 225,000), Albie Morkel (US$ 675,000), Suresh Raina (US$ 650,000), Makhaya Ntini (US$ 200,000), Michael Hussey (US$ 350,000)

Mumbai - Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$ 975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$ 850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$ 550,000), Robin Uthappa (US$ 800,000), Lasith Malinga (US$ 350,000), Dilhara Fernando (US$ 150,000), Loots Bosman (US$ 175,000)

Bangalore - Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$ 500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$ 900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$ 450,000), Mark Boucher (US$ 450,000), Cameron White (US$ 500,000), Wasim Jaffer (US$ 150,000), Dale Steyn (US$ 325,000), Nathan Bracken (US$ 325,000), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (US$ 200,000)

Hyderabad - Adam Gilchrist (US$ 700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$ 1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$ 575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$ 675,000), Scott Styris (US$ 175,000), VVS Laxman (US$ 375,000), Rohit Sharma (US$ 750,000), Chamara Silva (US$ 100,000), RP Singh (US$ 875,000), Chaminda Vaas (US$ 200,000), Nuwan Zoysa (US4 110,000)

Mohali - Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$ 475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$ 700,000), Brett Lee (US$ 900,000), Sreesanth (US$ 625,000), Irfan Pathan (US$ 925,000), Ramesh Powar (US$ 170,000), Piyush Chawla (US$ 400,000), Simon Katich (US$ 200,000), Ramnaresh Sarwan (US$ 225,000)

Kolkata - Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$ 425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$ 400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$ 700,000), Chris Gayle (US$ 800,000), Ajit Agarkar (US$ 330,000), David Hussey (US$ 675,000), Ishant Sharma (US$ 950,000), Murali Kartik (US$ 425,000), Umar Gul (US$ 150,000), Tatenda Taibu (US$ 125,000)

Delhi - Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$ 625,000), Shoaib Malik (US$ 500,000), Mohammad Asif (US$ 650,000), AB de Villiers (US$ 300,000), Dinesh Karthik (US$ 525,000), Farveez Maharoof (US$ 225,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$ 250,000), Manoj Tiwary (US$ 675,000), Gautam Gambhir (US$ 725,000), Glenn McGrath (US$ 350,000)

[gbelday]

Have a question.  I didn't quite keep up with the bidding process. Can teams trade players?

[puneets]

keep in mind that only 4 overseas players can play at one time.

[prasen9]

keep in mind that only 4 overseas players can play at one time.

Huh?  I have obviously not followed the IPL very carefully.  Then, it is stupid to pay so much for a bunch of reserves.  The IPL bidding then is really a joke.  I would pool my $5 million to get the best 4-5 overseas players and then use the rest of the money to get Indian players.

Then, it is even worse for Kolkata.  Given the junk bats in the local hinterland, I would always play MacCallum, Gayle, Ponting, and DHussey.  Akhtar and Gul would need to be in the reserves.

Also, if that is the cases, then it makes more sense to choose players from different countries.  For, if Aus is playing international matches, you may lose Ponting and Hussey at the same time, and if Pak is playing you may lose Akhtar and Gul at the same time.  Why did the teams not diversify players from different countries then?

This is the most unscientific "draft"/auction in sporting history.  I do not know why the players should have minimum bids and categories.  Why not just say these are the players and let the bidding decide who should pay what.  It seems Michael Hussey was possibly listed at a very high price category and got no takers.

[prasen9]

Nice to see the major snub to Ponting.  Very satisfying.  But the problem is that he will play in the Kolkata team that I follow.  I would be lukewarm.  I am just a bit disappointed that the major-sledger got a big contract.

I hope that in the IPL they come down heavily on sledgers and sledgers who are banned get their pay deducted.

I still cannot figure out why Kolkata had to go for Akhtar, Gul, and Taibu instead of 2 young Indian bats in Round 7 given that more than 4 foreigners cannot play and given that there are no batsmen worth their salt in the hinterland.  Raina or Manoj Tiwari who would generate excitement and sell tickets could have been got.