Pollard, Bond costliest players at IPL auction

It was a four-way tie among Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders to grab Pollard and eventually Mumbai won the player through a silent tie-breaker bid in the high profile auction which saw no Pakistani player being sold out. The price of the silent bid was not disclosed by the organisers with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi saying that the information will be confined to the bidders and them.

Like Pollard, a keen tussle was witnessed to grab Kiwi paceman Bond with Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers making the highest bid. After a tie-breaker, the Kolkata grabbed the paceman. West Indies paceman Kemar Roach was the second costliest player sold to Deccan Chargers for USD 720,000. Delhi Daredevils bought South African all rounder Wayne Parnell for USD 610,000 against a base price of USD 200,000.

Rajasthan Royals bought retired Australian Damien Martyn for USD 100,000 apart from securing the services of Adam Voges for USD 50,000. Chennai Super Kings recalled South African Justin Kemp by paying USD 100,000 and also bought emerging Sri Lankan batsman Thisara Perera for USD 50,000. Mohammed Kaif, the only Indian player featuring in the auction, went unsold in the first round but was later bought by Kings XI Punjab for USD 250,000. They also recalled South African Yusuf Abdullah. Royal Challengers Bangalore bid for just one player and got England's Eoin Morgan for USD 220,000.

In all, 56 players remained unsold out of 67 that went under the hammer. Three Under-19 Indian players at a fixed price of Rs 8 lakh were also in the auction list. Royal Challengers Bangalore chose U-19 skipper Ashok Maneria, Deccan Chargers preferred Harmeet Singh and Mumbai Indians opted for Harshal Patel. The third edition of the extremely popular Twenty20 tournament will begin from March 12.


Bond, an Indian Cricket League returnee, had an injury-marred career but Kolkata justified buying him saying that the pacer's experience would be valuable. "he is not playing Tests anymore. He is injury prone but his coach has told us that he is in good shape right now. We wanted a fast bowler and an experienced one. Shane fulfills the criteria," said KKR joint owner Jay Mehta.

West Indians were also among the hot picks at the auction with paceman Kemar Roach becoming the second costliest player, sold to Deccan Chargers for USD 720,000. Both Pollard and Roach featured in the West Indian domestic side Trinidad and Tobago, which won the Champions League Twenty20 last year.

"It was a team strategy decided by Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Singh to have Pollard. I go by their judgement," said Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani when asked why she chose to exhaust all the money on just one player.

South African Wayne Parnell, a 20-year-old hard-hitting all-rounder, also fetched a lot more then his base price of USD 200,000, bought for USD 610,000 by Delhi Daredevils. Rajasthan Royals picked retired Australian Damien Martyn, also an ICL returnee, for USD 100,000 apart from securing the services of pacer Adam Voges for USD 50,000.
"We were constantly on phone with our captain Shane Warne. He decides all this and we have got exactly what we wanted. Voges is a good player and so is Martyn," said Rajasthan stakeholder Shilpa Shetty.

Chennai Super Kings recalled South African hard-hitter Justin Kemp by paying USD 100,000 and also bought emerging Sri Lankan batsman Thisara Perera for USD 50,000. Mohammed Kaif, the only Indian player featuring in the auction after his contract was bought out by Rajasthan Royals, went unsold in the first round but was later taken by Kings XI Punjab for USD 2,50,000. Kings XI also recalled South African pacer Yusuf Abdullah.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bid for just one player and got England's Eoin Morgan for USD 2,20,000.  In all, 56 players remained unsold out of 67 that went under the hammer. The prominent Pakistani players who failed to find any buyers, included bowling all-rounder Sohail Tanvir, Akmal brothers -- Umar and Kamran, rising pacer Mohammad Aamer, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Gul.

The second edition of the event, which had to be shifted to South Africa due to a clash of dates with general elections, did not feature any Pakistani players in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

Modi and franchise owners said with Pakistani players availability still not sure, they didn't want to take the risk of including them in the squads. "Availability is an issue with the owners. Teams know when to replace and whom to replace based on their availability. Their strategy is devised on that basis," said Modi.

"We were not convinced about the availability of Pakistani players so didn't want to take the risk," added Shetty. Three Under-19 Indian players at a fixed price of Rs 8 lakh were also in the auction list.

Royal Challengers Bangalore chose U-19 skipper Ashok Maneria, Deccan Chargers preferred Harmeet Singh and Mumbai Indians opted for Harshal Patel. The third edition of the extremely popular Twenty20 tournament will begin from March 12.