dajugz.com

IPL isn't distraction: Strauss

observer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:42:55 +0000

Dubai, Feb 3(ANI): England captain Andrew Strauss doesn’t believes the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) is a distraction for his players, as his team stares at a series whitewash against Pakistan in the final Test match of the series.

The IPL’s auction is scheduled to take place on Saturday and the final Test match starts on Friday and various England players would be available for sale during the auction.

‘I certainly hope not. I think we’ve had this circumstance before,” Strauss said when asked whether the IPL auction would distract his players, Sports24 reports.

James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior and Chris Tremlett are some of the England players who will be available during Saturday’s IPL auction whereas Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen already have IPL contracts in place.

Strauss believes the thought of the IPL auction is in the background as his team faced first ever whitewash in Pakistan-England Test history and would be surprised if any of his players had IPL auction in his mind.

“I certainly remember Test matches in the past where this has been looming, in the background and it is very much in the background,” he added.

“I would be very, very surprised if any of our players had their attention anywhere other than on the game at the moment especially after what’s happened over the last couple of Test matches. So it’s not a big issue for us.”

He believes that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had given England players ample amount of time to recover from the IPL for their next Test series.

“I think we have become very comfortable with the fact that the (International Cricket Council) ICC have given our players the window to play in the IPL and that window stipulates that the guys have to have enough time when they come back home to prepare for our next series.” (ANI)

Mitchell Johnson is a great buy, says Harbhajan

observer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:13:53 +0000

Bangalore: Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, acquired at his base price of $300,000, was a great buy for the team but was disappointed at not getting New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and West Indies leggie Sunil Narine at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here on Saturday.

“I hope Mitchell is fit and he will play most of the matches for us. Now, we have a lot of options. We were sitting till four in the morning discussing about the players. Narine and McCullum got away but still we have a very good team,” Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan, who has been dropped from the Indian national team, was happy with the players bought by Mumbai Indians.

“We had a set plan and we got the players who we were looking for. I was a little tense initially. It was more intense than playing cricket,” he added.

Johnson had shunned lucrative IPL contracts in 2008 to concentrate on his Test career. But now he feels that the high-profile Twenty20 league is the best way to resurrect his Test career.

The 30-year-old Johnson is recuperating from a toe surgery that he underwent in December and won’t be considered for the upcoming West Indies tour in March and April. But he is hopeful he might be able to make his comeback to the Australian team after a good show in IPL which runs through April-May.

The Australian was lucky to get an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians buying him for a base price of $300,000.

Besides Johnson, Mumbai Indians also bought South African Herchelle Gibbs for a base price of $50,000, and India pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, who had a base price of $200,000, for $600,000. Mumbai Indians had to fight hard with Deccan Chargers to get Rudra Pratap, who was the highest wicket taker for the Hyderabad franchise when they won the IPL in 2009.

Harbhajan said with Lasith Malinga, Rudra Pratap and Johnson in the side Mumbai Indians will have a great bowling attack.

Mumbai Indians also made a surprise bid for South African left-arm orthodox spinner Robin Peterson and bought him for his base price of $100,000.

They fought hard with Kolkata Knight Riders for Narine and McCullum. Narine, who had a base price of $50,000, was sold for a whooping $700,000 while McCullum was the first player to be sold for $900,000. McCullum was a part of the Knight Riders for the three years before being bought by Kochi Tuskers last year.

Ravindra Jadeja hits $2 million jackpot

observer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:44:16 +0000

It was a foregone conclusion before the IPL auction that Ravindra Jadeja would be the most-sought-after player. Jadeja kept up to his reputation as he fetched more than $2 million to become the highest paid player among those sold for season five of the lucrative T20 league.

Jadeja, whose base price was mere $100,000, was the second player to be put up for auction by auctioneer Richard Madley. In no time, it led to a fight to finish contest between the franchisees to bag him. Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were the first to start the contest. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) soon joined in but left the fight midway preferring to hold on to their purse strings.

Kings XI, too, gave up the fight before Deccan Chargers came in and along with CSK reached the $2 million mark. Finally, it was CSK who clinched the secret tie-breaker by quoting a higher figure than the Chargers. In fact, it was a bonus for Jadeja as he was getting only $950,000 from Kochi Tuskers.

Jadeja wasn’t the only Indian to get into the million dollar club. His former Kochi Tuskers colleague, R Vinay Kumar, was bought by RCB for $1 million as he returned to his home team after a gap of one year.

Like Jadeja, even Vinay had a base price of $100,000. Though there were five teams bidding for him, RCB finally managed to bring him back on board after paying a hefty cheque. In the last auction, Vinay was acquired by Kochi Tuskers for $475,000.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was the second costliest player after being bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4m. The other two big buys on the day were made by the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR bought Brendon McCullum for $900,000 and West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine for $700,000.

VVS Laxman remained unsold as were the England players. Former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Mahmood, who now has a British passport, was picked up by Kings XI Punjab.

IPL auction: The full list | Cricket365 | Cricket News

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:42:45 +0000

A full list of players who were bought in the 2012 Indian Premier League auction, which took place on Saturday.

Brendon McCullum – $900,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Ravindra Jadeja – Maximum purse of $2 million bid by Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers. Bought by Chennai Super Kings after a tiebreaker

Muttiah Muralitharan – $220,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore

Mahela Jayawardene – $1.4 million to Delhi Daredevils

Herschelle Gibbs – $50,000 to Mumbai Indians

Brad Hodge – $475,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Parthiv Patel – $650,000 to Deccan Chargers

Dinesh Chandimal – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Andre Russell – $450,000 to Delhi Daredevils

Mitchell Johnson – $300,000 to Mumbai Indians

RP Singh – $600,000 to Mumbai Indians

Vinay Kumar – $1 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sreesanth – $400,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Ramesh Powar – $160,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Brad Hogg – $180,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Sunil Narine – $700,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Robin Peterson – $100,000 to Mumbai Indians

Daniel Harris – $70,000 to Deccan Chargers

Kevon Cooper – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals

James Faulkner – $190,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Azhar Mahmood – $200,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Thisara Perera – $650,000 to Mumbai Indians

Marchant de Lange – $50,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Darren Bravo – $100,000 to Deccan Chargers

Doug Bracewell – $50,000 to Delhi Daredevils

Stars line up for IPL auction | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:14:03 +0000

England spinner Graeme Swann and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene head a star cast of cricketers who will be auctioned on Saturday to join the Indian Premier League.

As many as 144 foreign and Indian players have thrown their hat in the ring in an auction restricted to players not already aligned to any team in the money-spinning Twenty20 league.

Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle, and England duo James Anderson and Ian Bell, are among the other leading players going under the hammer in Bangalore.

Each of the nine franchises have a maximum of $2 million to spend at the auction as they bid to strengthen their line-ups ahead of the fifth edition of the IPL which will be played between April 4 and May 27.

Team insiders warn, however, that no more than 20-25 players are likely to be bought since only a few slots are up for grabs to fill the quota of 11 foreign stars in the 33-man squads allowed for each club.

“Teams will focus on their strategic requirements, not on star quality alone,” Delhi Daredevils executive Amrit Mathur told AFP.

“If a team already has a number of batsmen, it will likely go for bowlers. The idea is to provide an all-round balance to the squad.”

Much will also depend on the availability of the players for the seven-week tournament that will host 76 matches.

England’s international players will not be available for more than a month, since their tour of Sri Lanka ends on April 7 and is followed by a home series against the West Indies starting in mid-May.

The leading Australians will join the IPL only after their tour of the West Indies finishes on April 27.

Among the players to be auctioned are those from the Kochi Tuskers franchise, which took part in last year’s tournament before being thrown out of the IPL in September for non-payment of dues.

Sri Lankan pair Jayawardene and world Test and one day wicket record holder Muttiah Muralitharan are among the Kochi players on the market, as well as New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Indian veteran Venkatsai Laxman.

Former Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood, who now holds a British passport, is the only player from his country to try his luck at the auction.

Pakistani players took part in the inaugural edition in 2008, but were kept out of the next three editions amid growing political tensions following the Mumbai attacks later that year.

Tom Cooper of the Netherlands and the O’Brien brothers from Ireland — Niall and Kevin — are players from the non-Test nations on the auction list, which also includes Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal.

Players have to be cleared by their domestic cricket boards before they can enter the IPL auction.

“The short-list comprises some outstanding cricket talent,” IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said in a statement.

“Given that the list was prepared on the basis of the feedback from the franchises themselves, the stage is set for an exciting and eventful player auction.”

Acting does not excite me: Gaurav Kapur

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:13:39 +0000

Mumbai: Popular VJ Gaurav Kapur, who has had a tryst with Bollywood with films like `A Wednesday` and `Quick Gun Murugan`, says acting does not excite him.

Gaurav was a VJ with a popular music channel for six long years when movies beckoned him but he admits that he is not that keen on pursuing a career in acting.

“I am not big on acting. Working in films doesn`t excite me much. It is too long and consuming. You have to put in a lot of time and effort which I feel I can`t. I am not ruling out films but it will happen in some 4-5 years. As of now I am not working on any film,” Gaurav told PTI.

“I want to enjoy performing rather than being on the big screen. The day I am told I am too old for all these and asked to leave, I will think of films,” he added.

The VJ-actor, who himself has hosted travel shows, recently went on an extensive hunt for India`s first travel jockey for FOX Traveller`s new show `Freaky Traveller`. But he said he will never be part of travel shows again and is happy with his role as a judge.

Gaurav said he zeroed on Brij Bhakta because he had the crazy-weird attributes that were required for the show.

“The show is weird. It is not like the other travel shows. Out of 6000 online applicants, we had to select one. We were looking for someone who is as weird as the show and its judge. Brij was perfect.”

Gaurav was 17 when he landed an opportunity to work with FM radio and soon after he turned to video jockeying. It was followed by a number of other outings like hosting events, writing columns, plays and also authoring a book on cricket.

“I think I have MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder). I love trying different things. I just perform, only the setting, the camera and the mic changes. I consider myself to be a story teller. I tell stories on different media, be it anchoring or writing columns,” Gaurav said.

“My favourite by far was my stint as an RJ, mainly because it was my first job and I was very young. Being an RJ can be very challenging because there is no visual and you have to interact with the faceless audience. I also enjoy being on stage and interacting with the audience,” he added.

Gaurav, who has been a part of the IPL from the second season, will be back as one of the hosts of the fifth season as well.

“I am back in IPL season 5 and will be seen rubbing shoulders with cricket greats and doing the same serious talk.

We will start shooting for the promos very soon. I don`t think India`s dismal performance in Australia will have any bearing on IPL`S popularity. In India, we forget very easily,” he said.

PTI

Mumbai Indians strengthened; Kings XI look weak

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:46:01 +0000

The 2012 IPL player auction was a chance for teams to fill the gaps in their squads. The limited number of slots combined with the cap of US$2 million meant franchises could afford to splurge on players they coveted, illustrated by Ravindra Jadeja getting the maximum bid of $2 million and R Vinay Kumar being bought for $1 million. At the same time, deals were available – much touted Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for just $50,000. ESPNcricinfo breaks down how well each franchise did, and hands out grades.

Mumbai Indians

Grade: A+
In: Dinesh Karthik (transfer), Pragyan Ojha (transfer), Thisara Perera ($650,000), RP Singh ($600,000), Mitchell Johnson ($300,000), Robin Peterson ($100,000), Herschelle Gibbs ($50,000)
Out: R Sathish

For the past couple of seasons, the Mumbai Indians have had, on paper, the strongest squad. That has been strengthened even further with a raft of transfers and auction buys. One of the Mumbai Indians’ biggest weaknesses was the wicketkeeper’s slot, which has now been filled by one of India’s top keepers in Dinesh Karthik. Their Indian contingent gets even more formidable with the acquisition of RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha, both among the top four highest wicket-takers in IPL history; and in snagging Herschelle Gibbs for $50,000 they might well have pulled off the bargain buy of the day.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Grade: A-
In: Chris Gayle ($550,000), Andrew McDonald (transfer), Vinay Kumar ($1 million), Muttiah Muralitharan ($220,000)
Out: None

By retaining Chris Gayle, who almost single-handedly dragged them to the final in 2011, the Royal Challengers Bangalore had already done much of their work before the auction. Last season, they faced some criticism for the lack of home players in the side, something which they have addressed by bringing back medium-pacer Vinay Kumar, though at $1 million he wasn’t procured cheaply. Muttiah Muralitharan was picked up for $220,000 but given the Royal Challengers’ high number of foreign players, he might not get too many matches, as was the case last season when Muralitharan was with the Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Andrew McDonald, the Australia allrounder, transferred in from the Delhi Daredevils, might also struggle to find a regular place in the XI.

Rajasthan Royals

Grade: B+
In: Dinesh Chandimal ($50,000), Brad Hodge ($475,000), Sreesanth ($400,000), Brad Hogg ($180,000), Kevon Cooper ($50,000)
Out: Jacob Oram

Buying Dinesh Chandimal for $50,000 was a big coup by the Rajasthan Royals. They needed a wicketkepper who can bat and they got him on the cheap. Brad Hodge gives them another bat in the middle order, but with Shane Watson and Ross Taylor picking themselves, the Royals will be forced to pick between him and Johan Botha, who was their best player last season. Sreesanth might miss the season with a toe injury and while Brad Hogg and Kevon Cooper are good buys it is tough to see how they fit into the playing XI given the limit of four foreigners.

Chennai Super Kings

Grade: B
In: Ravindra Jadeja ($2 million plus tie-breaker)
Out: None

Ravindra Jadeja was always tipped to end up in the tie-breaker but that wasn’t solely because of his talent and ability. The lack of India players, especially allrounders, meant his value had much to do with supply and demand. That said, he does strengthen the Super Kings line-up, which did not need much reinforcement to begin with, and he loves playing for MS Dhoni. All in all, a smart buy for the defending champions. They don’t get an A, though, because they had to overpay to get him, and missed out on a chance to add some additional depth to their squad.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Grade: B
In: Brendon McCullum ($900,000), Sunil Narine ($700,000), Marchant de Lange ($50,000)
Out: Mark Boucher

The Kolkata Knight Riders showed in last year’s auction that they were not afraid to spend to get the players they wanted. McCullum will likely replace Brad Haddin behind the stumps and gives them a more explosive option at the top of the order, while Sunil Narine proved he could strangle a batting side in the 2011 Champions League. The downside is the Knight Riders were already forced to bench players of the quality of Shakib Al Hasan and Ryan Ten Doeschate last season. Adding three more foreign players means more talent warming the bench.

Delhi Daredevils

Grade: B
In: Kevin Pietersen (transfer), Mahela Jayawardene ($1,400,000), Andre Russell ($450,000), Doug Bracewell ($50,000), Pawan Negi (local signing), Manprit Juneja (local signing), Kuldeep Raval (local signing)
Out: Andrew McDonald, Robert Frylinck, S Sriram, Vivek Yadav, Rajesh Pawar

One of the big problems for the Delhi Daredevils last season was their over-reliance on the explosive top-order, led by Virender Sehwag and David Warner, and the pressure that put on their young Indian batsmen in the middle order. They have rectified that by bring in two marquee names: Kevin Pietersen and Mahela Jayawardene. Their spin department, though, is extremely weak. They have left-armer Roelof van der Merwe but will he get in the side given the brighter lights in the squad? Their Indian twirlers don’t inspire much confidence either. Also, Doug Bracewell may seem a smart buy at $50,000 but why purchase him when you already have nine fast bowlers in the squad, including Andre Russell and Morne Morkel?

Deccan Chargers

Grade: C-
In: Darren Bravo ($100,000), Daniel Harris ($70,000), Parthiv Patel ($650,000)
Out: Kevin Pietersen, Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh

Deccan Chargers lost their bidding war for Ravindra Jadeja to the Chennai Super Kings and seemed to lose their way after that. They bid for a number of players, but mostly unsuccessfully. Parthiv Patel gives them another opening option but their batting still looks thin behind Kumar Sangakkara following the loss of Kevin Pietersen. They will also miss Pragyan Ojha, transferred to the Mumbai Indians, who is one of the top four wicket-takers in IPL history. Darren Bravo is an intriguing choice and will get his chances, but overall they didn’t do much to improve the team.

Kings XI Punjab

Grade: D
In: Azhar Mahmood ($200,000), James Faulkner (190,000), David Miller (retained), Ramesh Powar ($180,000)
Out: Dinesh Karthik

The team with one of the weakest Indian contingents in the tournament was weakened further by the exit of Dinesh Karthik. There was not too much of an attempt to correct that; the only Indian player they purchased was offspinner Ramesh Powar, not exactly a game-changer. Even the overseas buys aren’t names that will pull in the crowds; 37-year-old Azhar Mahmood is the highest-profile and most-expensive signing. The next costliest is low-profile Australia allrounder James Faulkner, and the only other player brought in was another who most Indian fans will struggle to recognise: South African middle-order batsman David Miller.

Pune Warriors

Grade: Absent

An hour before the auction, Sahara announced they were pulling out of the IPL and their sponsorship of the India team in protest against what they saw as poor treatment by the BCCI. That left just eight teams in the auction. IPL officials said they couldn’t comment until they had a formal notice from the Pune Warriors, but the show must go on regardless

RCB snaps up Vinay Kumar for $1 million

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:14:01 +0000

Muralitharan also joins the team

The prodigal son symbolically returned home on Saturday though he was playing for India in Australia. Vinay Kumar may be thousands of miles away, but the Davangere lad, who has sparkled as Karnataka’s lead fast bowler and has also winged his way into the Indian team, is back in the red and yellow colours of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

During the Indian Premier League player auction held at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel here on Saturday, RCB picked Vinay at $1 million dollars. Coming in at a base price of $1,00,000, the seamer triggered a bidding war between Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers, King’s XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals before Royal Challengers stepped in and snapped up Vinay to firm up its bowling as well as reiterate its Kannadiga quotient.

Vinay, who was a key player for RCB during the first three editions of IPL, was lost to Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year as the now-defunct team out-bid RCB and secured the medium pacer.

Led by team owner Siddhartha Mallya and chief-mentor Anil Kumble, the RCB management made amends in the latest auction, and an ecstatic Vinay tweeted from Australia: “Back to Namma Bangalore. It is a great feeling to be part of RCB.”

‘Extra dimension’

Siddhartha Mallya expressed his delight at getting Vinay back and said: “We are happy to have Vinay. He is a fine cricketer and he has shown his talent in the recent Twenty20 games in Australia. He will add an extra dimension to the team.”

RCB also gained the services of spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan at $220,000.

“I am thrilled to bits to get Murali, who is a world-class performer with more than 1,000 wickets. And at the price we got him, it is a steal. Now with Murali, captain Daniel Vettori and mentor Kumble within our ranks, other young spinners are bound to benefit in our team,” Mr. Mallya said.

Royal Challengers will open its campaign in the IPL on April 7 with a match against Delhi Daredevils.

Sahara walks out of BCCI sponsorship and IPL (Second Lead)

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:43:40 +0000

The Indian cricket board suffered a body blow Saturday as Sahara India pulled the plug from its multi-million dollar sponsorship and also walked out of the Pune franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL), citing they have been denied natural justice yet again.

Sahara’s decision comes just hours before the IPL 2012 auction, when 144 players went under the hammer here. Pune Warriors did not take part in the auction.

In a statement, Sahara said they would “continue paying the sponsorship money” to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a period of “2-4 months” before the board gets a new contract.

“Sahara to dissociate with BCCI/IPL and reinvest in setting up of 20 sports promotion centres, with an international standard sports academy. It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship but our emotions were never appreciated and many genuine situations, were not given due consideration at all,” Sushanto Roy, Managing Director, Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, said in a statement.

Sahara had won the bid to continue as the Indian team sponsor in May 2010. Sahara’s sponsorship deal with the BCCI is worth at $719,000 per match and will end December 31, 2013. Sahara bid $370 million to become owners of the IPL Pune franchise in 2010.

Sahara cited several reasons while ending its 11-year-old association with the BCCI, the latest being its request in the IPL auction being turned down.

Sahara had requested the IPL to add Yuvraj Singh’s price into its auction purse after the southpaw was ruled out of the tournament with a lung tumour.

“We requested the BCCI on the basis of the fact that we have only one Indian marquee player, that we be allowed to add price of Yuvraj Singh in our auction purse, during the February 4 auction because we had later taken Sourav Ganguly at $400,000. Again, we have been denied on the basis of the rule book. Yet again, a case of being denied natural justice.

“We think this peculiar situation of Yuvraj Singh is silent in the rule book because it probably talks only about players who are temporarily injured. Incidentally, once during the Champion’s League tournament, one of the Indian IPL teams had a lot of injured players so they were rightly, out of natural justice, allowed to break the rules and take one extra foreign player. We appreciated this natural justice,” the statement said.

Sahara said it would pay Yuvraj his full fee.

“Yuvraj, who is truly like one of our family members, is, quite unfortunately, passing through a bad phase health wise, undergoing treatment for critical illness, overseas. Our duty is to take care of him, so Sahara has decided to pay him his full fee this year with condition as a guardian that his priority should be health care and he should not play till he has fully recovered,” he said.

Sahara sad its one-sided emotional relationship with the BCCI cannot be dragged any further.

“We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI. However, we don’t want to give any problem to the BCCI and we also feel that the players should not suffer. BCCI will definitely take 2-4 months to get a new sponsor and we will continue paying the sponsorship money till then. All other IPL team players, coaches and other such associates will definitely get their due this year, in case they do not get a chance to play,” the statement said.

Sahara’s problems with the BCCI started in 2008 when their bid for one of the first eight IPL franchises was disqualified “owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI.”

“Our first entry into IPL was thwarted in 2008 when we were disqualified, owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI. Yet our bid was not opened. Last year, Sahara entered the IPL on the basis of information in the media and everywhere else that 94 matches will be played among 10 teams. The bid price was accordingly calculated, but only 74 matches were played. We are still pursuing continuously with the BCCI to refund the extra bid money proportionately. It has been denied on the basis of strict rules,” the statement said.

Bid-by-bid coverage: IPL-5 auctions -

observer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:16:26 +0000

Click here to get read Who Went Where at What Price

4:12 pm

Kiwi pacer Tim Southee is unsold for the second time. Ajantha Mendis and Ravi Rampaul attracted no bids. Lonwabo Tsotsobe finds no takers. O’ Keefe and Swann unsold. Done and dusted??? Yes, finally, auctions have come to an end. IPL website informs us that the trading window shall reopen on Monday, February 6. There have been quite a few surprises, I am still stunned, Vinay Kumar fetching 1 million usd! Bye for now, do join us for the over-by-over analysis from the 1st ODI between Australia and India on Sunday.

A look at the top buys in 2012 IPL auctions

3:55 pm

Delhi Dardevils pick up Kiwi all-rounder Doug Bracewell for $50,000. Justin Kemp is unsold and Kevin O’ Brien has a similar case.

Owais Shah is unsold and so is Ravi Bopara, they were supposed to be in the wishlist! Isn’t it so? Or have I got it wrong.

Darren Bravo sold to Deccan Chargers at base price of $100,000

3.45 pm

IPL chief, on Twitter: “Unsold players from the morning will be represented now for the auction after a 2mt break.”

Kiwi pacer Andy McKay is unsold and so is Aussie pacer Ben Laughlin. Craig McDermott did wonders with for Australia this summer down under as their bowling coach, sadly his son, Alistar McDermott fetched no bids.

3.40 pm

South Africa’s Ryan Mclaren had no takers and so does Nicky Boje.

Merchant de Lange is SA now up – KKR has started the bid at 50k: IPL CEO Sundar Raman on Twitter. And he goes to Kolkata at the base price itself.

Moises henriques unsold. Well in case you guys are confused, Azhar Mahmood is allowed to take part because of his British passport.

Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera is under the hammer. IPL CEO Sundar Raman informs on Twitter: Thisara Perera now at 550k with MI. auction still on. Let’s wait and watch. And he goes to Mumbai Indians for $650,000