IPL Auction: Maha bid for 'Mahi'

It was history in making, as cricket's biggest auction began this morning (February 20) at Hilton Towers, Mumbai, where a total of 84 players both Indian and international went under the hammer for the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League. MS Dhoni, arguably the biggest catch of the day was bagged by Chennai's IPL team who were on the look out for an icon to build their brand image. Dhoni was bought by them for a whopping US $1.5 million - the highest bid ever for an Indian captain

Following the bidding results there few players who has been kept in the reserve pool and would come back at the end of the bidding session, as they did not fetch a starting price. The following are the players:Mohammed Yusuf (Pakistan)Glenn McGrath (Australia)Michael Hussey (Australia)Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe)Round 6India's all-rounder Irfan Pathan was bagged by Preity Zinta's Mohali for a whopping US $925,000. His brother, Yusuf Pathan was sold for US $475,000 to Jaipur. Veteran pacer Shaun Pollock was brought by Ambani's Mumbai for US $ 550, 000. Sri Lankan player with the likes of Parvez Maharoof and Tilkaratne Dilshan went to Delhi for US $ 225,000 and US $ 250,000 respectively. Aussie T20 pro Cameron White was bagged by Banglore for US $500,000. India's T20 saviour Joginder Sharma has been bagged by Chennai for US $225,000. South African Albie Morkel has been sold to Chennai as well for winning bid of US $650,000. Hyderabad brough the kiwi all-rounder Scott Styris for US $175,000. While. SRK's Kolkata add on to their pace attack by including Ajit Agarkar who was bagged for US $350,000.Round 5Delhi bags two players in the form of wicket- keeper Dinesh Karthik and AB De villiers for US $525,000 and US $300,000 respectively. South African wicket-keeper Mark Boucher was bagged by Mallya's Banglore for US $450,000. Chennai holds their stand strong and takes Parthiv Patel for US $325,000. While Pakistan's Kamran Akhmal has been bagged by team Jaipur for a base price of US $150,000. The round belonged to the world class wicket keepers as Tatenda Taibu of Zimbabwe has been kept in the reserve pool Round 4With eleven player's bidding results being announced, South Africa's Jacques Kallis topped the round as he was bagged by Bangalore for US $900,000. Following closely to the winning bid was West Indian Chris Gayle at US $800,000 won by SRK's Kolkata. Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi made his way into Hyderabad's team for US $675,000. Pacer Mohammad Asif has been bagged by Delhi's IPL team for US $650,000.South African batsment Herchelle Gibbs was won by Hyderabad for US $575,000. While, his team skipper Graeme Smith went to team Jaipur for US $470,000. The Kiwi - Stephen Fleming was bagged by Chennai at his base price itself for US $350,000.Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has joined Mallya's Banglore team for US $450,000. Preity Zinta -- Co-owner of team Mohali -- made her way out along with Lalit Modi and was jubilant to announce that Indian quickie S Sreesanth has joined her team for US $625,000.Round 3The IPL round 3 bidding results, which featured the Australian and New Zealand players, were declared with Andrew Symonds being brought by Hyderabad for a whopping US $1.3mn. Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting was sold to SRK's Kolkata for US $400,000. Pacer Brett Lee was bagged by Preity's US $900,000. Top order batsmen Mathew Hayden was sold to Hyderabad for US $365,000. The kiwis -- Daniel Vettori was bagged by Delhi for US $625,000. Wicket-keeper batsmen, Branden McCullum was bagged by Kolkata for US $700,000. While all-rounder Jacob Oram was brought by Chennai for US $675,000.Round 2Anil Kumble (bowler) whose base price was set at $250,000 was finally bought by the Bangalore IPL team at $500,000. Mumbai bid agressively for Harbhajan Singh and managed to bag him shelling out $850,000, while also grabbing Sri Lankan opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya for $975,000. Covetted wicket keeper and batsman Kumar Sangakkara was taken by Preity Zinta's Mohali team for $700,000.Round 1SRK's Kolkata won the paceman Shoaib Akhtar at US $425,000 and Adam Gilchrist has been bought for US $700,000 by Hyderabad . Chennai also bagged Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthaih Muralitharan for US $600,00. Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia's Mohali team bagged Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene for US $475,000. The Australian leg spinner Shane Warne has been bought by the Jaipur IPL team for US $450,000. The whole session, which was thought initially to last for at least 8 hours, looks to be wrapped up in barely a few hours given the swiftness with which the first round was lapped up. The first session started at 11:45 am this morning and ended by 12:15 pm.Five 'icons' not part of biddingFive iconic players of India - Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata), Rahul Dravid (Bangalore), Yuvraj Singh (Chandigarh) and Virender Sehwag (Delhi) - are not part of the bid process as they have to play for their respective city franchises. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi and key BCCI official IS Bindra, also the grounds and infrastructure chairman of the IPL, reached the hotel for the bidding earlier this morning. Former India captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid also arrived even though they would not be part of the auction because of their 'icon' status. Eminent bowling coach TA Sekar, who has been roped in to look after Delhi Daredevils' cricket operations, was spotted, as was VB Chandrashekhar, who is here as a selector with the Chennai franchise.It is for the first time ever that international cricketers from around the world are up for grabs by the eight city-specific franchises. The franchise owners - ranging from top industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya to Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, have bid for several top names in international cricket. The auction is a private one which is conducted by an independent professional auctioneer Richard Madley who will be the sole arbiter to all aspects of the auction.The biggest buzz though has been the Biggies - the superstars are worth anywhere from US$ 600,000- 800,000. The favourites for sure will fill seats in the stadiums across the nation.
IPL's Twenty20 cricket championship will be played between April 18 and June 1 among the eight city teams in various parts of the country.
Rules of the auction
-- Each franchise will be allowed to bid any number of times for a player.
-- Bid to start with the annual "base player fee" that has already been fixed by the IPL.
-- Players will be divided into sets of 12 each, according to their base fee and availability.
--A random draw will decide the order in which players go up on the block.
-- Bids to start with a set of marquee players like Gilchrist, Dhoni, Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle.
-- A designated bidder from each franchise will indicate a bid, which will be the fee per season.
-- No bid can be withdrawn.
-- Minimum 16 players will be allowed per franchise.
-- Eight overseas players allowed in one team.
-- Only four overseas players can be included in the playing eleven.
-- Four players will be picked from the catchment area.
-- Four under-22 players mandatory for each franchise team.
-- Teams to spend minimum US$ 3.3mn & maximum US$ 5mn
Dada-SRK meet to chalk out strategy
As the excitement to the auction builds up, players were in Mumbai gearing up for the big day. Former Indian captain -- Sourav Ganguly met Shahrukh Khan at the latter's residence to discuss issues related to Kolkata team, owned by the superstar.
Ganguly, one of IPL's icon players will be playing for Kolkata, whose franchise has been bagged by Khan's production house Red Chillies Entertainment. Ganguly and SRK are believed to have deliberated team composition ahead of the big auction of players.
Ganguly's meet with Khan came close on the heels of Pakistan's paceman Shoaib Akhtar's meeting with the King Khan.
The biggies...
The iconic names included in the IPL from different nations are as followers:-
IndiaMahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuraj Singh
AustraliaRicky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Justin Langer
BangladeshMohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza
New ZealandStephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendan McCullum
PakistanShahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan
Sri LankaMahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga
South AfricaGraeme Smith, Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs
West IndiesChris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul
As the IPL takes its first big step, cricket will definitely enter uncharted territory. The Game of Willows has never seen anything like this before but it is still time before it can match its inspiration and the more glamorous English Premiership.