Sport | Cricket

IPL owners prefer Indians to foreign stars in fourth edition

A significant number of good international players were ignored

  • By K.R. Nayar, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 January 10, 2011
  • Gulf News

Preity Zinta
  • Image Credit: AFP
  • Indian actress and co-owner of King’s XI Punjab, Preity Zinta, arrives to take part to pick her players in Bengaluru.
Image 1 of 2
12

Dubai: Have the owners of the Indian Premier League teams placed too much emphasis on Indian players and deliberately ignored foreign players?

There has been a trend for owners to prefer promising Indian youngsters to renowned foreign stars.

The list of foreign players ignored included some of the finest hard hitters and even outstanding allrounders.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India had earlier decided to exclude Pakistan cricketers completely.

On the first day the ignored top cricketers included West Indies stars Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, England's Graeme Swann and James Anderson.

On the second day, the list of foreign players ignored swelled to unimaginable proportions.

Related Links

Speaking to Gulf News on the new trend, about especially about the exclusion of Pakistan players, Mudassar Nassar, the ICC Global Cricket Academy coach and former Pakistan allrounder said: "Pakistan players deserved to be playing in the IPL like anybody else".

"However, it is the prerogative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India to decide on this matter though the fact remains that Pakistan is in the forefront in Twenty20 version of the game and they have some of the finest players," he said.

"Not able to watch these players will be Indian public's loss."

Top losers

This owners even ignored even top subcontinent cricketers such as Bangladesh's hard-hitting opener Tamim Iqbal and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Ajanta Mendis.

Even Australian opener Simon Katich who played for Punjab and had a base price of $100,000 (Dh367, 240) went unsold.

The foreign player who hogged the limelight on the second day to fetch the biggest price was Australia's hard-hitting allrounder and flag bearer of the aboriginal community Daniel Christian.

He had a base price of $50,000 but was obtained by Deccan Chargers for $900,000.

Among the foreign players, England batsman Owais Shah was purchased by Kochi and Holland's allrounder Ryan Ten Doeschate was snapped up by Kolkata for $50,000 but no one showed any interest in West Indies captain Darren Sammy, New Zealand's Martin Guptill, England's Ryan Sidebottom, Ian Bell, and Tim Bresnan, South Africa's Makhaya Ntini and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, or Australia's Peter Siddle.

However Kolkata Knight Riders won Indians such as Lakshmipathy Balaji for $500,000, Ashok Dinda by Delhi Daredevils for $375,000, Abhimany Mithun by Bangalore for $260,000 and Sudeep Tyagi by Chennai Super Kings for $240,000. Mumbai Indians got Munaf Patel for $700,000 while Delhi Daredevils went for Venugopal Rao for $700,000.

Low price

Interestingly, when some of the unsold foreign players' names were submitted again, New Zealand's Jesse Ryder, with a reduced base price of $100,000 was sold for $150,000 to Pune.

South Africa's Colin Ingram was picked by Delhi for $100,000 and India's Murali Karthik was purchased by Pune for $400,000. South African batsman Jonathan Vandiar was sold for as low as $20,000 to Bangalore.

Despite being submitted again, India players Wasim Jaffer, and VRV Singh went unsold.

The last player to be submitted again and purchased was Mohammad Kaif by Bangalore for $130,000.

Players who were bought on second day:
Daniel Christian: Deccan Chargers $900,000 , Matthew Wade Delhi Daredevils $100,000, Thisara Perera Kochi for $80,000, Ajit Agarkar Delhi Daredevils $210,000, Charl Langeveldt Royal Challengers Bangalore $140,000, R Vinay Kumar Kochi for $475,000, Ashok Dinda: Delhi Daredevils $375,000, Munaf Patel Mumbai Indians $700,000, Shaun Tait Rajasthan Royals $300,000, Umesh Yadav Delhi Daredevils $750,000, Clint McKay Mumbai Indians for $110,000, Balaji Kolkata Knight Riders $500,000, Roelof van der Merwe Delhi Daredevils $50,000, Stephen O'Keefe Kochi $20,000, Luke Pomersbach Royal Challengers Bangalore $50,000, Venugopal Rao Delhi Daredevils $700,000, Scott Styris Chennai Super Kings $200,000, Ben Hilfenhaus Chennai Super Kings for $100,000, Jayadev Unadkat Kolkata Knight Riders $250,000, Manpreet Gony: Deccan Chargers $290,000, Joginder Sharma Chennai Super Kings $150,000, Wayne Parnell Pune Warriors for $160,000, Abhimanyu Mithun Royal Challengers Bangalore $260,000, Nuwan Kulasekara Chennai Super Kings for $100,000, Sudeep Tyagi Chennai Super Kings for $240,000, Suraj Randiv Chennai Super Kings for $80,000, Owais Shah Kochi for $200,000, Michael Klinger Team Kochi $75,000, Ryan ten Doeschate Kolkata Knight Riders $150,000, Mitchell Marsh Pune Warriors $290,000, Andrew McDonald Delhi Daredevils $80,000, John Hastings Kochi $20,000, Pankaj Singh Rajasthan Royals $95,000, Johan van der Wath Royal Challengers Bangalore $50,000, Jerome Taylor Pune Warriors $100,000, James Pattinson Kolkata Knight Riders $100,000, Alfonso Thomas Pune Warriors $100,000, George Bailey Chennai Super Kings $50,000, Rilee Rossouw Royal Challengers Bangalore $20,000, Nuwan Pradeep Royal Challengers Bangalore $20,000, Chris Lynn Deccan Chargers $20,000, Francois du Plessis Chennai Super Kings $120,000, Jesse Ryder Pune Warriors $150,000, Murali Kartik Pune Warriors $400,000, Juan Theron Deccan Chargers $85,000, Travis Birt Delhi Daredevils $20,000, Dimitri Mascarenhas Kings XI Punjab $100,000, Jonathan Vandiar Royal Challengers Bangalore $20,000, Moises Henriques: Mumbai Indians $50,000, Colin Ingram Delhi Daredevils $100,000, Michael Lumb Deccan Chargers $80,000, Nathan Rimmington Kings XI Punjab $20,000, Aiden Blizzard Mumbai Indians $20,000, Robert Frylinck Delhi Daredevils $20,000, Mohammad Kaif Royal Challengers Bangalore $130,000.

Why do you think so many players went unsold? Was there anyone you thought would be sold who wasn't? Tell us by posting a comment below.

Comments (13)

  1. Added 10:40 January 11, 2011

    I don't know why there is a lot of hue and cry on the issue of pakistani players not selected for IPL 4. I believe that pakistanis should be dignified enough to opt out of the event themselves as the political situation between both the countries is far from normal. Being a pakistani myself, i believe that we should focus on building a good young team capable of winning at international level instead of thinking about IPL, whose own image is tarnished!

    Taher, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 07:48 January 11, 2011

    This report is clearly biased. How can you make posts without getting your facts right? Ever heard of Demand and Supply? Well, get this. 48 Indians over 200 spots to fill (Indians Only). Don't you think thats going to hike up their price? Franchises made decisions based on performance and not star power. Ever heard of Ganguly? He's Kolkata's big man. Even he went unsold! As for the reason behind foreign players being purchased for cheap. Get this in your heads. At max 4 foreigners allowed per game and over 200 to choose from! Definately those who proved themselves in previous versions of the IPL went for big money. On the Pakistani Players issue - I'm not really sure what went wrong in getting these players into the auction. But in my opinion even IF they did make the cut, Franchises would not be looking forward to having them as getting extra security for them will be extremely difficult (and its better for their own safety). As for some of the comments on this page. Guys get this in your heads. IPL is a DOMESTIC INDIAN league and therefore it will always revolve around INDIAN players. As for losing viewer-ship, IPL is the most watched domestic circuit and will remain so because of its massive Indian audience and great fans from around the world following their favorite players and teams Cheers :)

    Sahil Ahmad, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 00:42 January 11, 2011

    IPL's mentality will keep their aspirations limited. How can they ignore formaer T20champions and consecutive semi-finalists Pakistan ?

    Anonymous, abu dhabi, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 21:15 January 10, 2011

    @ faisal. bro have you gone through the list of players sold in this ipl season. there are aussie's as well. except pakistani players beause of obvious security reasons. this is not the mistake of players, everyone will love too see them playing ipl. u might remember wat happened to sri lankan team in pakistan itself..

    Anonymous, ajman, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 20:01 January 10, 2011

    its a total drama.

    Anonymous, sharjah, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 15:31 January 10, 2011

    They should have included Pakistani players. Even though the PCB had sent all the required documentation on time to IPL officials, they were not selected.

    Amjad, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 15:30 January 10, 2011

    They should have included Pakistani players. Even though the PCB had sent all the required documentation on time to IPL officials, they were not selected.

    Amjad, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  8. Added 13:54 January 10, 2011

    Their are a number of reasons 1. The owner's would not have made money on those high paid player's, hence now learnt thier lesson and bringing the price down. 2. Scrutiny of the onwer's accounts would have forced them to be conservative 3. Lalit Modi issue has dented their confidence and dont know if the IPL would attract same viewer ship or not. 4.They have seen ignoring Pakistani players has cut their income, also may have realised buy more home grown talent. BUT then they would LOSE huge amounts on TV viewership. only indians would be watching the matches on TV.

    Amir , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  9. Added 12:19 January 10, 2011

    @Faisal Thats so called ...amen ke aasha ...at its best :)

    Adeel M, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  10. Added 10:57 January 10, 2011

    I think IPL is becoming more of an Indian League than an ICC event. Keeping Aussie, Pakistani and some international player out of the competition cannot be termed as an international event. Looking at the payscale for international player is lower, well I know it can be argued that Indian play better on India grounds. When the majority of the players are indian that why it is termed OPEN and ICC event. I wish to know if pakistani and australian players are a security issue .. what if these team come big in world cup are those matches which are going to be hosted in India would be relocated to be played in Srilanka or Bangladesh.

    Faisal , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    11. View more comments

More from Cricket

  1. Chennai juggernaut

  2. Time for innovation, not controversies

  3. Cricket controversy: Caught and bowled

  4. BCCI shows its mean streak, again

All articles in Cricket

More from Sport

Gulf News
Popular in Cricket
Multimedia
Sport Editor's choice