Dubai: Indian limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is still the most wanted player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) despite his poor performances in the recent series against South Africa.
He was the first pick for new franchise Pune owned by New Rising.
Equally in demand was Suresh Raina, considered the best limited overs cricketer in India. He was snapped up by Rajkot, owned by Intex, as their first pick.
Both Dhoni and Raina were teammates in the Chennai Super Kings team suspended for two years following the spot-fixing and betting scandal of IPL 2013.
The star players picked by Pune are Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis, while Rajkot got Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo.
The IPL player draft was held in Mumbai on Tuesday following the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
