Day of surprises at IPL auction

Dubai: It was a dramatic day in the auction room of the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel in Bengaluru where 353 cricketers went "under the hammer" for the fourth edition of India's biggest cricket carnival — the Indian Premier League.

Amidst many surprises on the first day of the two-day auction, the loudest bang of the hammer that echoed for a long time was when India's left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir was "bought" for a staggering $2.4 million (Dh8.81 million) by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders.

The most shocking outcome of the day was former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and West Indies legend Brian Lara and Chris Gayle remaining unsold.

Sri Lanka's Ajanta Mendis and England's Graeme Swann, two of the leading spinners in the game, too surprisingly went unsold.

Gambhir, who displayed scintillating form during India's team's recent tour of South Africa, started off with a base price of $200,000 but went on to cross the $2m mark when Kochi raised the bidding price on him to $2.3m.

No giving up

Kolkata, adamant on getting Gambhir, got him for $2.4m.

Kolkata refused to give up even after the huge bid of Gambhir and went for all-rounder Yousuf Pathan too and got him for $2.1m.

The other two cricketers to reach the $2m mark were Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma. Uthappa started with a base price of $200,000 but Pune lifted his value to $1.5m. Kochi refused to give up and bid for $2m but Pune finally won him for $2.1m.

Equally intense was the bid for Sharma. Mumbai were adamant on getting him, but Royal Challengers Bangalore lifted his value to $1m. Deccan Chargers too bid for him and finally Mumbai Indians won him for $2m.

Irfan Pathan too looked set to cross the $2m mark. Kings XI Punjab raised Pathan's value to $1.8m but Delhi managed to get him for $1.9m. It turned out to be memorable day for the Pathan brothers.

Despite some of the finest international cricketers available for the owners, Indian cricketers fetched the highest value.

Kochi got Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, who is already being talked about as their captain. Though Kochi made a bit for $1.3m, Punjab raised it to $1.4m.

Kochi refused to give up and after the bidders were seen making a phone call won Jayawardene for $1.5m. Jayawardene was bought for just $475,000 last time.

Kochi also got S. Sreesanth, Kerala's only international cricketer. His base price was $200,000, but Delhi Daredevils bid for him aggressively raising his value to $750,000.

Kochi entered the fray only after Delhi bid him for $850,000 and won him for $900,000.

International players who went unsold included James Anderson, Herschelle Gibbs Dilhara Fernando, Luke Wright, Matt Prior, Mark Boucher, Graeme Manou and Jesse Ryder.

First day

• Gautam Gambhir (India): Kolkata Knight Riders, $2.4 million.
• Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka): Royal Challengers Bangalore $650,000.
• Zaheer Khan (India): Royal Challenger Bangalore, $900,000.
• Ross Taylor (New Zealand): Rajasthan Royal, $1 million.
• Yusuf Pathan (India): Kolkata Knight Riders, $2.1 million.
• Kevin Pietersen (England): Deccan Chargers, $650,000,.
• Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka): Team Kochi, $1.5 million.
• Yuvraj Singh (India): Pune Warriors, $1.8 million.
• AB de Villiers (South Africa), Royal Challengers Bangalore, $1.1 million.

• Sourav Ganguly (India): unsold.
• Cameron White (Australia): Deccan Chargers, $1.1 million.
• Jacques Kallis (South Africa): Kolkata Knight Riders, $1.1 million.
• Rohit Sharma (India): Mumbai Indians, $2 million.
• Andrew Symonds (Australia): Mumbai Indians, $850,000.
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka): Deccan Chargers, $700,000.
• Adam Gilchrist (Australia): Kings XI Punjab, $900,000.
• Rahul Dravid (India): Rajasthan Royal, $500,000.
• Graeme Smith (South Africa), Pune Warriors, $500,000.
• Robin Uthappa (India): Pune Warriors, $2.1 million.
• Johan Botha (South Africa): Rajasthan Royals, $950,000.
• V.V.S. Laxman (India): $400,000, Team Kochi.

• Daniel Vettori (New Zealand): Royal Challengers Bangalore, $550,000.
• Brendon McCullum (New Zealand): Team Kochi, $475,000.
• S. Sreesanth (India): Team Kochi, $900,000.
• Chris Gayle (West Indies): unsold.
• Irfan Pathan (India): Delhi Daredevils, $1.9 million.
• R.P. Singh (India): Team Kochi, $500,000,.
• Jesse Ryder (New Zealand): unsold.
• Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa): unsold.
• Michael Hussey (Australia): Chennai Super Kings, 425,000.
• JP Duminy (South Africa): Deccan Chargers, $300,000.
• Shaun Marsh (Australia): Kings XI Punjab, $400,000.

• Shikhar Dhawan (India): Deccan Chargers, $300,000.
• Saurabh Tiwary (India): Royal Challengers Bangalore, $1.6 million.
• David Hussey (Australia): Kings XI Punjab, $1.4 million.
• Dave Warner (Australia): Delhi Daredevil, $750,000.
• Graham Manou (Australia): unsold.
• Wriddhiman Saha (India): Chennai Super Kings, $100,000.
• Parthiv Patel (India): Team Kochi, $290,000.
• Brian Lara (West Indies): unsold.
• Dinesh Karthik India): Kings XI Punjab $900,000.
• Naman Ojha (India): Delhi Daredevils, $270,000.
• Brad Haddin (Australia): Kolkata Knight Riders, $325,000.
• Tim Paine (Australia): Pune Warriors, $270,000,.
• Matt Prior (England): unsold.
• Mark Boucher (South Africa): unsold.
• David Jacobs (South Africa): $190,000, Mumbai Indians.
• James Hopes (Australia): Delhi Daredevils, $350,000.
• Ravindra Jadeja (India): Team Kochi, $950,000.
• Luke Wright (England): unsold.
• Shakeeb Al Hasan (Bangladesh): Kolkata Knight Riders, $425,000.
• Stuart Broad (England): Kings XI Punjab, $400,000.
• Abhishek Nayar (India): Kings XI Punjab, $800,000.
• Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka): Pune Warriors, $950,000.
• Dwayne Bravo (West Indies): Chennai Super Kings, $200,000.
• Steven Smith (Australia): Team Kochi, $200,000.
• James Franklin (New Zealand): Mumbai Indians, $100,000

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