IPL auction 2016: Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh receive high bids in 1st round

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson attracted the highest bid for a marquee player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions on Saturday as he was sold to the Vijay Mallya-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs9.5 crore.

The former Rajasthan Royals star was the subject of intense bidding from the newly-formed Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) franchise, before the Mumbai Indians (MI) joined the race for Watson’s services. However, he will now play for RCB.

Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was also among the most expensive players in this category, after he was sold for Rs7 crores to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In the last auction, Yuvraj went for a whopping Rs16 crore (also a league record), when he was purchased by the Delhi Daredevils. He will be joined at Sunrisers Hyderabad by 36-year old Ashish Nehra, who was snapped up by the franchise for Rs5.5 crore. Both Yuvraj and Nehra are members of the India’s World T20 squad announced on Friday.

The two new franchises in the IPL, the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) and the Gujarat Lions (GL), made their presence felt in the auctions, snapping up some high-profile names in the opening rounds of Saturday’s auction. In fact, RPSG and GL fought bid by bid for English batsman Kevin Pietersen, before the Pune franchise prevailed with a winning bid of Rs3.5 crore. Pune added Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma for Rs3.8 crore.

The Intex-owned Gujarat Lions, who will represent Rajkot in IPL 9 and 10, opted for West Indian T20 specialist Dwayne Smith, who they bought for Rs2.3 crore. They also added South African paceman Dale Steyn to their squad for Rs2.3 crore.

Surprisingly, there were no takers for two of the most explosive opening batsmen in limited-overs cricket, Martin Guptill (New Zealand) and Aaron Finch (Australia). Finch also leads Australia in the shortest format of the game.Addressing media after the first set of auctions, Raghu Iyer, CEO of Rising Pune Supergiants said, “We will be looking for all-rounders as well. We’re happy with the two players we’ve bought. We’re doing well and are in good form, and hope it carries on for the next three sessions of the auctions. Every individual team will be having their own strategy.”

Likewise, Amrit Thomas, director, RCB said that they got the players they wanted. “Shane Watson is what we were looking for. We got him for a bargain, judging by his recent performance. He’s been in good form.” He added, “We were interested in Yuvraj. We set a ceiling price and we went up to it, unfortunately we couldn’t get him.”

Some of the leading batsmen in international cricket didn’t find any takers among the eight franchises. These include the likes of Indian test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, retired Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene and South Africa’s Hashim Amla. All of them went unsold. However, the rules of the auction mandate that any unsold player may be recalled for bids, if the franchises nominate the said player.

Interestingly, players in the wicket-keepers category saw some intense bidding. Young Indian keeper Sanju Samson, who impressed during his stint with the suspended Rajasthan Royals franchise, was snapped up by the Delhi Daredevils for Rs4.2 crore, after a duel with the Gujarat Lions. Similarly, the in-form English wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, with a base price of Rs1.5 crore was subject to bid by the Mumbai Indians, only to be joined by the Kolkata Knight Riders just as the auctioneer was about to throw the hammer. After an exciting round of bidding which went over double his base price, Buttler was sold to the Mumbai Indians for Rs3.8 crore. Similarly, IPL journeyman and former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik was sold to the Gujarat Lions for Rs2.3 crore.

Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan was sold to the Rising Pune Supergiants for a fee of Rs1 crore. One of the surprise picks in the all-rounder category was South African Chris Morris, who with a base price of Rs50 lakh, was eventually sold for Rs7 crore, after several suitors, including the Mumbai Indians, the Kolkata Knight Riders were involved in a round of bidding. However, a late bid from the Delhi Daredevils, their only bid in the round, won them Morris’ services, albeit for a steep fee of Rs7 crore. Kiwi all-rounder Colin Munro was sold to KKR for Rs30 lakhs.

Another Indian all-rounder, Stuart Binny, was snapped up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for his base price of Rs2 crore. Mitchell Marsh, one of the best young all-rounders in international cricket, was also subject to a round of heated bidding, before he was sold to the Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs4.8 crore.

Mumbai fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, was sold to the Gujarat Lions for Rs2 crore. Kulkarni, was an important member of the Rajasthan Royals squad over the last three seasons. Kolkata Knight Riders also secured the services of Australian paceman John Hastings for Rs1.3 crore. Indian swing bowler Praveen Kumar, who was initially valued at Rs50 lakh, was sold for seven times his base price at Rs3.5 crore to the Gujarat Lions.

© LiveMint A file photo of Shane Watson during a T20 match against India in Sydney January 2016. Photo: AP

New Zealander Tim Southee, who last represented the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, saw two bids, one each from the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, before the former prevailed, to secure his services for Rs2.5 crore. Indian international medium-pacer Mohit Sharma also attracted significant bids from two franchises, the Kings XI Punjab and the Kolkata Knight Riders. Sharma, who’s base price was at Rs1.5 crore, was eventually sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs6.50 crore.

Some of the better spinners in international cricket, including Nathan Lyon, Pragyan Ojha, Michael Beer among others, remained unsold.

While it might appear to be a surprise, IPL teams have typically relied on domestic spin-bowling talent over the years, and may well consider the overseas spinner a waste of purse money.