IPL auction: Watson sold at Rs 9.5 crore

Sports Desk:  Shane Watson has emerged the biggest of purchases by the halfway mark of bidding at the 2016 IPL player auction in Bangalore, finding a second franchise in Royal Challengers Bangalore who forked out Rs 9.5 crore for his services.

The second highest earners were Yuvraj Singh and South African allrounder Chris Morris, who each went for Rs 7 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils respectively, the latter for more than 14 times his base price.

Kings XI Punjab have made just one purchase so far, but it was a hefty one - that of seamer Mohit Sharma for Rs 6.5 crore from his reserve price of Rs 1.5 crore. Other noticeable buys were Ashish Nehra (Rs 5.5 crore) to Sunrisers, Sanju Samson (Rs 4.2 crore) to Daredevils and Jos Buttler (3.8 crore) to Mumbai Indians. Surprisingly, not a single batsman or spin bowler has been acquired. 

Australian Watson, who for eight seasons has represented Rajasthan Royals until their suspension last year, attracted heavy bidding from RCB and Mumbai, but it was the Vijay Malya-owned franchise that nabbed his services for Rs 9.5 crore, from a base price of Rs 2 crore. Watson recently scored the second-highest individual score in Twenty20 internationals, and apart from his all-round value he also offers RCB a strong leadership role.

After an initial moment of inactivity around the auction room in Bangalore, Sunrisers and Mumbai started a bidding tussle for Yuvraj, which eventually ended at Rs 7 crore. From the pool of allrounders, the most bidding was for Morris, with Mumbai and KKR chasing the South African eagerly until the paddle went down at a huge Rs 7 crore by Daredevils, in their first bid of the round.

Sunrisers spent Rs 12.5 crore of their Rs 30.15 purse on securing two proven T20 performers in Singh and Nehra during the marquee round of the auction, while new franchise Gujarat Lions shelled out Rs 12.4 of their Rs 27 crore budget in buying three pace bowlers in Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Dhawal Kulkarni, a wicketkeeper in Dinesh Karthik and an opener to Dwayne Smith. With Brendon McCullum earlier acquired last year, Gujarat now have the successful former Chennai Super Kings opening combination.

The Hyderabad franchise also spent well on Nehra, whose base price was Rs 2 crore. The pair was recently recalled to India`s T20 side and featured in the 3-0 sweep of Australia, which earned them spots for the upcoming Asia Cup and ICC World Twenty20 in India.

Rising Pune Super Giants - with a purse of Rs 27 crore - purchased Kevin Pietersen for Rs 3.5 crore and Ishant for Rs 3.8 crore, adding to a squad which already contains MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis.

Daredevils made their first bid of the morning for Samson, who kicked off the wicketkeeper`s round, and eventually got him for Rs 4.2 crore. Though he had a poor domestic season by the standards shown when he entered the scene a couple of years ago, the talented Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman netted a solid IPL pay packet. Moments later, England`s big-hitting Buttler found Mumbai and KKR vying for his services, but KKR - in their first bid of the day - were hesitant once the bid crossed Rs 3.5 crore. Butter went to Mumbai Indians for 3.8 crore, from a base price of 1.5 crore. Gujarat needed a wicketkeeper and got Karthik for Rs 2.3 crore, just Rs 30 lakhs higher than his base price.

Australia`s Mitchell Marsh was the second most valued allrounder at Rs 4.8 crore, with Pune holding out over KXIP with the winning bid. Irfan Pathan went to Pune for his base price of Rs 1 crore and Stuart Binny to RCB for his of Rs 2 crore, while New Zealand allrounder Colin Munro was KKR`s first purchase at his base price of Rs 30 lakh.

The fifth round, that of fast bowlers, saw intense bidding for two names, Mohit and Praveen KKR and KXIP tussled for Mohit - who previously has played only for Chennai Super Kings - until the Rs 4.8 crore mark before late entrants SRH raised that past Rs 5 crore. But KXIP, who until then had not purchased one player, were the keener franchise and won Mohit for Rs 6.5 crore. KKR and Gujarat chased Praveen (base Rs 50 lakh) and eventually he went to the latter for Rs 3.5 crore. Gujarat also added Kulkarni to their pace attack for his reserve price of Rs 2 crore. From the overseas lot, Mumbai picked Tim Southee for Rs 2.5 crore and John Hastings went to KKR for Rs 1.5 crore.

Not a single batsmen was sold during the first round, with the franchises overlooking the likes of Usman Khawaja and Michael Hussey without so much as a second glance. No spinner was picked either, with Pragyan Ojha, Samuel Badree and Pragyan Ojha finding no takers. New Zealand`s Martin Guptill and Australia`s T20 captain Aaron Finch went unsold during the marquee round, but it is likely that by the end of the day they will have contracts.

Marquee round
Shane Watson Rs 9.5 crore (base price Rs 2 crore) to RCB
Yuvraj Singh Rs 7 crore (base price Rs 2 crore) to SRH
Ashish Nehra Rs 5.50 crore (base price Rs 2 crore) to SRH
Ishant Sharma Rs 3.8 crore (base price Rs 2 crore) to PSG
Kevin Pietersen Rs 3.5 crore (base price Rs 2 crore) to PSG
Dwayne Smith Rs 2.3 crore (base price Rs 50 lakh) to GL
Dale Steyn Rs 2.3 crore (base price Rs 1.5 crore) to GL
Unsold: Martin Guptill (base price Rs 50 lakh), Aaron Finch (base price Rs 1 crore)

Source: Times of India

Risingbd/Feb 6, 2016/Mukul