Bangalore, Feb 4 (IANS) India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja lived up to his “hot property” tag in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here Saturday with Chennai Super Kings buying him for $2 million. Fast bowler R. Vinay Kumar was a surprise package and was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1 million.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who led the terminated franchise Kochi Tuskers last year, remained the second biggest draw with Delhi Daredevils dishing out $1.4 million for the marquee player.
Another all-rounder, Andre Russell of the West Indies was also bought by Delhi Daredevils for $450,000, nine times his base price. Daredevils secured Russell after a stiff battle against Deccan Chargers.
Chargers spent $650,000 on wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, whose base price was $200,00. Chargers went aggrressively after Patel, who attracted bids from Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.
Mumbai Indians bought Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson at a $300,000 base price.
Earlier, Jadeja was bought by the Super Kings in a hotly contested battle with Deccan Chargers. Jadeja, who had a base price of $100,000, was bagged in a tie-breaker between Super Kings and Deccan Chargers. The $2 million budget cap for the auction means the Super Kings have spent all their money on a single player and cannot participate in the auction any more.
Five marquee players were put up for sale in the first session of the auction at the Royal Gardenia Hotel here and four of them played for defunct Kochi Tuskers in the 2011 edition.
New Zealand batsman-wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum (base price $400,000) was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000 and was the first player to be sold.
Retired Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan ($200,000) was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $220,000 while Jayawardene ($300,000) attracted $1.4 million by the Delhi Daredevils after a two-way battle between the Delhi franchise and Deccan Chargers.
India’s veteran batsman V.V.S. Laxman ($400,000) and Irish all-rounder Kevin O’Brien ($50,000) did not find any takers. England fast bowler James Anderson went unsold with a base price of $300,000.
