Attacking New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, Pakistani middle-order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq and Indian under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli were snapped up by Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second round of the Indian Premier League player auction here on Tuesday.

The Vijay Mallya-owned team, which will be led by Rahul Dravid, also picked up Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq and Indian U-19 wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami.

Australian all-rounder James Hopes fetched the highest prize of Rs 1.2 crore and was bought by the Mohali team owned by Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia.

All-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, became the first Englishman to be auctioned at the IPL when Jaipur franchise roped him in. “Mascarenhas approached us and we told him to get an NOC from his home board. Since he’s not a contracted English player with the ECB, he got permission of the Hampshire county. I also spoke to the ECB chairman and he was cleared for the auction,” said IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi.

“We will follow the same procedure for other England players too if and when they are available,” Modi explained at the end of the second auction in which 14 overseas players went under the hammer.

The Jaipur team also signed up South African fast bowler Morne Morkel, Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir and a couple of Indian U-19 players -- Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

The Kolkata franchise, now named the Kolkata Knight Riders, has bought two Pakistanis — Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez — and two U-19 players, Siddarth Kaul and Iqbal Abdulla.

The Australians James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach, have been bought over by the Mohali franchise, in addition to two U-19 players, Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal.

Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm seamer who impressed in his debut Ranji Trophy season and at the U-19 World Cup, was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils.

Karnataka’s U-19 player Manish Pandey and his team-mate Saurabh Tiwary went to Mumbai Indians.

Linking up

Former Australia coach John Buchanan will link up with old adversary Sourav Ganguly after signing up with the Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday.

Buchanan, who guided Australia to two World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007 before stepping down last April, was unveiled as coach of the Ganguly-led team.

OVERSEAS ACQUISITIONS

List of overseas acquisitions by IPL franchises after second round of auction:

Bangalore: Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak, Rs 50 lakh); Ross Taylor (NZ, Rs 40 lakh), Abdur Razzak (Ban, Rs 20 lakh).

Jaipur: Dmitri Mascarenhas (Eng, Rs 40 lakh), Shane Watson (Aus, Rs 50 lakh), Sohail Tanvir (Pak, Rs 40 lakh), Morne Morkel (SA, Rs 24 lakh).

Mohali: James Hopes (Aus, Rs 1.2 crore), Kyle Mills (NZ, Rs 60 lakh), Luke Pomersbach (Aus, Rs 20 lakh).

Kolkata: Salman Butt (Pak, Rs 40 lakh), Mohd Hafeez (Pak, Rs 40 lakh).

Mumbai: Ashwell Prince (SA, Rs 70 lakh).

Delhi: Brett Geeves (Aus, Rs 20 lakh).