Expensive deal amuses Symonds

Melbourne: Andrew Symonds's popularity in India since the racism row is anybody's guess and the Australian himself admitted he did not expect to land a staggering $1.35 million deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Symonds shares a stormy relation with the Indian crowd and was subjected to monkey chants when Australia toured India for a one day series last year.

Things subsequently turned worse in the Sydney Test where Symonds accused Harbhajan Singh of racially abusing him, an allegation that threatened to rip apart the cricket world with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) threatening to pull out of the tour.

The allrounder, however, was taken aback after learning that the Hyderabad franchisee of the IPL has bought him for a huge $1.35 million, higher than any of his teammates and second only to Mahendra Singh Dhoni ($1.5 million).

Quite amused by the deal, Symonds said: "If I could tell you why that would probably be quite a good news story, but there is no sort of logical sense to what each player's worth ... I can't see a pattern."

Incidentally, his captain Ricky Ponting went for much less, $400,000, to Kolkata, while Brett Lee, arguably the most popular Australian in India, managed $900,000 from Mohali.

Symonds admitted he had no clue as to what drove the bidders and could offer no explanation for the huge difference between his deal and that of Ponting.

"That's quiet amazing how that's unfolded. Unfortunately it's got nothing to do with me but that just the way things turned out," Symonds was quoted as saying by Herald Sun.

Australia captain Ponting said the large figures paid to recruit players to the IPL reinforced the case for the new competition having its own spot on the calendar.

"Everyone now understands that with the amount of money that's been bandied around and spent over the last couple of days that there is going to be some hard decisions to be made for international cricketers," Ponting said.

"For the betterment of the game worldwide and international cricket then the International Cricket Council and the home bodies really do have to look at how they can make this thing fit in."

Update
Dhoni's parents worried

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's parents have urged him to forget about the cash from his bumper Indian Premier League (IPL) contract and concentrate on cricket.

The Chennai franchise of the money-spinning Twenty20 tournament lavished a $1.5 million per year contract on the dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman at a player auction in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"He should keep his feet firmly on ground," Dhoni's father Pan Singh and mother Devki Devi told the Hindustan Times newspaper's website.

"It's no doubt a matter of pride but more than the monetary aspect, it is important that he lives up to the expectations of his fans, supporters and the country."

The teams will pay the winning bid to the player annually. The contracts are for a three-year period and are guaranteed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

- Reuters