The latest auction will witness 351 players going under the hammer and that includes 230 Indian and 121 overseas players.
With a majority of the teams having retained their core players, attention will be riveted on the strategy adopted by the two new entrants — Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions — as they try to beef up their respective units led by M.S. Dhoni and Suresh Raina respectively.
Including the captain, both the Pune and Rajkot-based outfits have picked five players each and should do the lion’s share of the bidding. Delhi Daredevils too can be an active player, flush as it is with the highest available purse of Rs. 37.15 crore.
Missing from the auction will be the two suspended teams — Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals — which in the previous auctions used to follow a set pattern. CSK preferred continuity and Royals plumped for value-buys.
Here are the live updates:
11:13 am: Thisara Perera remains unsold
11:12 am: Mitch Marsh goes to Pune for Rs. 4.8 crores
11:10 am: Darren Sammy remains unsold
11:08 am: Lodha panel recommendations surface in the morning’s first press-conference, K.C. Vijaya Kumar reports Full story
11:07 am: RCB buys Stuart Binny for Rs. 2 crores
11:06 am: Kolkata makes first buy in this season. Colin Munro for Rs. 70 lakhs.
11:04 am: After hectic bidding, Morris goes to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 7 crores.
11:03 am: Mumbai Indians open bid for Chris Morris.
11:02 am: Jason Holder too is unsold
11:00 am: RCB happy to get Watson
Amrit Mathur, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s director, expressed joy in pocketing Shane Watson, who at Rs. 9.50 crore turned out to be the most expensive buy in the morning session.
“Shane Watson was what we were looking for. We wanted an international allrounder and he is the best in the business,” Mr. Thomas said.
And as for bidding for Yuvraj Singh till Rs. 5.50 crore and then backing out (Yuvraj was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 7 crore), Mr. Thomas clarified: “We had kept a ceiling price and once we reached that, we stopped. He is a valued player and hopefully sometime he will play for us in the future.”
10:58 am: Dilshan remains unsold
10:57 am: Irfan Pathan, Ravi Bopara remains unsold
10:54 am: All-rounders up now. Manoj Tiwary is the first player to go under the hammer. And Manoj Tiwary is unsold.
10:53 am: Cameron Bancroft remains unsold
10:50 am: Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik is sold to The Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2.3 crores.
10:48 am: Sam Billings, Ben Dunk remain unsold
10:47 am: Morne van WYK unsold
10:46 am: Johnson Charles, Brad Haddin unsold
10:44 am: Jos Buttler goes to Mumbai Indian for Rs. 3.8 crores.
10:40 am: Shane Dowrich remains unsold.
10:38 am: Delhi daredevils buys Sanju Samson for Rs. 4.2 crores.
10:36 am: Wicket-keepers up now. First to go under the hammer is Sanju Samson.
10:35 am: Badrinath, Usman Khawaja unsold.
10:34 am: Mahela Jayawadene and Michael Hussey too unsold.
10:33 am: George Bailey remains unsold.
10:32 am: Hashim Amla to unsold.
10:31 am: Cheteshwar Pujara unsold.
10:30 am: Rilee Rossouw goes unsold.
10:09 am: Dale Steyn sold out for Rs. 2.3 crores to The Gujarat Lions.
10:05 am: Sunrisers buy Yuvraj Singh for Rs.7 crores.
10:02 am: The base price of Yuvraj Singh is fixed at Rs. 2 crore.
10:01 am: Yuvraj Singh is the next. Mumbai Indians open bidding for Yuvraj.
10:00 am: Ashish Nehra sold out ot Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 5.5 crores.
09:55 am: Ashish Nehra is the next player to go under the hammer.
09:54 am: Aaron Finch remains unsold.
09:48 am: Shane Watson goes to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 9.5 crores
09:45 am: New Zealander Martin Guptill remains unsold.
09:40 am: Ishant Sharma sold out to Rising Pune SuperGiants for Rs. 3.8 crores.
9:35 am: Dwayne Smith sold to The Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2.3 crores.
