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Category: Sports

  • Fox Sports Asia to broadcast SFL

    Fox Sports Asia to broadcast SFL

    MUMBAI: The Super Fight League (SFL), which has a deal with MTV in India to broadcast matches, has entered into a one-year exclusive multimedia and broadcast rights agreement Fox Sports Asia for the second season of the mixed martial arts tournament.

    The league is promoted by British businessman and sports enthusiast Bill Dosanjh and British professional boxer Amir Khan. SFL in India has a deal with MTV till 2019.

    Promising reach in more than 500 million homes, the licenced territories include Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

    SFL founder and CEO Bill Dosanjh said, “We are excited to be partnering with Fox Networks Group, the leading multi-platform entertainment group across the world. This association will further capitalise on our long-term vision of taking SFL to different markets. In the next three years, we would like to take SFL to the Asian markets where MMA is more popular than a sport such as cricket and comes second after soccer. The opportunity to have our premier content available in over 500 million homes will immediately accelerate the growth of the SFL brand and the sport of MMA across the region. The emergence of young Indian mixed martial artists coupled with Fox’s marketing muscle and distribution will allow us to expand our event output beyond India and into the rest of the world in the coming years.”

    With 100 million views in 5 years for 67 live events, SFL is ranked as the third biggest MMA brand in the world and second most watched sport in India after cricket apart from being the fastest growing combat sport.The franchise-based league that is being organized in association with the All-India Martial Arts Association (AIMMAA) will entail prize money of INR 4 crores as well as 96 players and 8 teams.

    Fox Networks Group president Brian Sullivan added, “This new agreement allows us to continue adding value to our uniquely holistic entertainment experience, aiming to suit all our fans’ preferences. We are quite delighted to deliver first class MMA content through our channels and digital platforms. The passion of Asian fans for mixed martial arts makes this category key to our content offering, and we will contribute with our know-how to make the experience of living it in our portfolio unbeatable.”

    Also Read:

    Indian Boxing Federation invites bids for pro league 

    The year of big switch in sports broadcasting

    SPSN to broadcast ‘Rajasthan Rumble’- Vijender Singh’s double-title defense against Ghana’s Ernest Amuzu

  • Laliga foundation and spanish women’s football to collaborate with anantapur rural football league

    Laliga foundation and spanish women’s football to collaborate with anantapur rural football league

    The LaLiga Foundation and LaLiga’s women’s football department have signed a collaboration agreement with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, with the aim of developing football in the most deprived communities of the district of Anantapur, India. This will be achieved by establishing conditions in which both individual and collective talent will flourish in India.

    The Anantapur Football League (AFL) is a rural grassroots competition that was founded for the 2014/15 season and is run by the Anantapur Sports Academy, which is in turn managed by the Vicente Ferrer Foundation. Since its formation, the AFL has grown in size, expanding both its number of divisions and youth teams.

    Through this joint initiative set up by LaLiga and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, around 2,000 boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 19 will have the opportunity to play sport and receive an education. The project will instil such values as discipline, self-improvement and team spirit in the youngsters, qualities which are sure to stand them in good stead for the future.

    As part of three collaboration schemes, coaches and players from the Liga Iberdrola will have the opportunity to share experiences with their Anantapur counterparts through a series of videos. This will encourage the exchange of information on getting the best out of players, such as training methods and player development, as well as promoting the positive values which are ingrained in football and other sports.

    In addition, various representatives from LaLiga, Spanish women’s clubs and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation will visit Anantapur in the latter stages of the project in order to organise joint activities and witness the impact of the project in India first-hand.

  • IPL 2018 gets a makeover with Star India

    IPL 2018 gets a makeover with Star India

    MUMBAI: IPL 2018 not only has a new destination channel but has changes that have been requested and accepted for the first time.

    It all started in September 2017 when Star India won the global IPL media rights for Rs 16,347 crore for the span of five years (2018-22). This is the first time when both the TV and digital rights are with a single broadcaster, which will result in the simulcast of the game without the groaning five-minute delay.

    For the first time, IPL will be live on 10 channels and Hotstar. On the digital platform, VR will be a key differentiator and will possibly help Hotstar to keep the fans glued on to it.

    For the previous seasons, Sony Pictures Network was airing IPL in two languages Hindi and English on Sony Six, Sony Max and their HD feeds. But Star is planning to telecast it in six different languages English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Kannada. The Kannada channel was still in the works some weeks ago.

    Star India recently managed to convince the IPL governing council (GC) to change the timings for the games of the league being held from 7 April to 27 May 2018. The 8 pm game will now begin at 7 pm while the 4 pm game has been pushed forward to 5:30 pm.

    Mumbai Indians co-owner Akash Ambani said that the time change will impact the team. “For us it is tough. Because people of Bombay work till 6:30-7 pm. It’s going to be impossible making it to a game at 7 pm. You are impacting the revenue. You are impacting the audience coming there. So we are objecting to that,” he said to Cricbuzz.com.

    IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told Indiantelevision.com, “We have received the letter from Mumbai Indians. We haven’t taken any decision yet and it will be confirmed shortly.” But a week ago he confirmed to Indiantelevision.com that the timings have been changed.

    IPL 2018 will see mid-season transfer after seven games. The players who were not included in the playing 11 can opt for their mid-season transfer to other franchisees.

    The IPL GC announced that each IPL franchise can retain a maximum of five players from their respective current squads. Of the five players, a franchise can retain a maximum of three players through retention in lead up to the auction, and a maximum of three players through the right-to-match card during the auction. The other restrictions on player retention are: a maximum of three capped Indian players can be retained, and only two overseas players and two uncapped Indian players can be retained. For the first time, the player retention event was aired on TV and digital. The event was watched by 8.1 million people across the country.

    The salary cap for each team for the 2018 season has been increased from Rs 66 crore to Rs 80 crore (approximately $12.4 million). A franchise will be allowed to spend only Rs 33 crore on retentions ahead of the 2018 IPL auction, leaving it with just Rs 47 crore to spend at the auction.

    The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is working on a proposal to make IPL available on Doordarshan and has asked the Sports Ministry to weigh in on the matter.

    The move will mean that Star India will have to share the live feed of the tournament with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007. Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan and All India Radio. For this IPL will have to be categorised as a tournament of national importance at par with events like Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Wimbledon.

    Star India, for the first time, has also thought of starting international fan parks for the IPL and cricket lovers around the globe. Fan Parks were launched in 2015, initially in 16 cities. The 2017 edition of the Fan Park was held in 36 cities in 21 states, bringing fans across the length and breadth of India closer to their beloved sport. These included 14 new cities, like Bhubaneswar, Bareilly, Kochi, Ludhiana, Tumkur and Nagercoil which hosted the Fan Park for the first time.

    For the first time, fans were given a chance to vote for their favourite players on vivoiplelection.hotstar.com as a part of the ‘Election se Selection’ campaign on the network. The campaign, according to Star India MD Sanjay Gupta, received more than one lakh votes in less than 12 hours of its launch. Ajinkya Rahane and Krunal Pandya emerged as fan favourites after the final voting count before the auctions.

    Also read:

    Star ushers in IPL’s new era with a bang

    IPL auction: Gayle to play for KXIP, Unadkat most expensive Indian player

    Star India gets IPL to change match timings for 11th edition

  • Sandro, Bartra, Moreno and Krohn-Dehli among deadline-day movers and shakers in LaLiga Santander

    Sandro, Bartra, Moreno and Krohn-Dehli among deadline-day movers and shakers in LaLiga Santander

    The  2017/18  January  transfer  window  has  drawn  to  a  close,  with  more  than  100 transfers involving players moving to LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 1|2|3 clubs. Many of them were signed off in the final 24 hours of the window, with Sevilla FC, Real Betis, Levante UD and UD Las Palmas keeping the excitement going right down to the wire.

    Sevilla have recruited Guilherme Arana, Roque Mesa, Sandro and Miguel Layun, with moves for the latter two sealed and delivered on deadline day, while Real Sociedad have snapped up Layun’s Mexico teammate Hector Moreno. Las Palmas were once again one of the most active dealers, with late arrivals in the shape of Oghenekaro Etebo and Matias Aguirregaray joining fellow January signings Nacho Gil, Gabriel Peñalba, Jairo and Alejandro Galvez in the ranks.

    One of the most notable moves on deadline day was Marc Bartra signing for Betis from Borussia Dortmund. Levante also did plenty of late business, bringing in Giampaolo Pazzini, Armando Sadiku and Ruben Rochina before the window closed.

    Choco Lozano is now a LaLiga Santander player, having joined Girona FC from FC Barcelona B on deadline day. Another eye-catching signing was Michael Krohn-Dehli’s late switch from Sevilla to RC Deportivo.

    Other clubs such as SD Eibar and Malaga CF also took advantage of the January transfer window to strengthen their squads by drafting in players who they hope will help them achieve their goals for the second half of the campaign.

    Check out all the movers and shakers in the January transfer window on our map.

  • Social media most significant for snackable content: NBA India MD

    Social media most significant for snackable content: NBA India MD

    MUMBAI: Cricket being the most watched and followed sport in the country, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has started the journey to make basketball the number two sport in India. With several sports gaining popularity, the NBA is aware that the goal is not going to be a cakewalk as the investment required is huge.

    The NBA has had steady growth over the past couple of years in India. The partnership with Sony Pictures Network India has been a good boost to the game and also helped in reaching to different regions in the country. It has also set up training centres in schools and recently started its fantasy league for fans. 

    According to the data provided by NBA India, the southern market contributed to 60 per cent of the viewership for the association in the country followed by the western region with 17 per cent market share in the previous season of 2016-17 (CS 2+). The northern and eastern regions contributed to 10 per cent and 13 per cent viewership, respectively.

    NBA India’s managing director Yannick Colaco, in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, said that the core target remains youth and young adults and that the association believes that introducing boys and girls to the game of basketball at a young age will help in instilling in them positive values of the game.  

    Here are the excerpts:

    What, from your analysis, is the level of popularity of basketball in India?

    Basketball is one of the fastest growing sports in India. There has been incredible growth on popularity with respect to participation and consumption across multiple platforms. The game itself is simple to play and infrastructure light; all you need is a flat surface, a hoop and a ball.

    We have been extremely focused on growing the game from bottom-up and are thrilled at the response we have seen across the country in both participation of the programmes and adoption of the sport.

    How do you measure the success of basketball in India?

    We measure success in participation, especially among young boys and girls, and consumption. Basketball has to be grown the right way, from the bottom up, and its why we’ve invested significantly in grassroots. Our large scale in-school programmes such as the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA has reached more than six million youth and trained over 5,000 coaches. We anticipate that programmes like this and many others will continue to fuel the growth of the game in the years to come. We also continue to provide greater access of the NBA to our fan base, inspiring more kids to play and increasing opportunities for our fans to engage with us.

    With our partners Sony Six, we bring 14 live games a week to fans in India and we’ve consistently clocked high double-digit percentage viewership growth year on year

    Is there more viewership on digital? 

    We are committed to providing greater access of the NBA to reach the largest number of audiences and keeping that in mind, we ensure our partner platforms work in synergy; they’re complementary rather than cannibalistic.

    Last season, we reached a record number of 125 million fans for NBA programming across India. While television is our largest distribution for live games, social media is by far the most significant distribution platform for us for what we call ‘snackable’ content such as dunks of the day, bloopers, NBA fashion, quick tips and so on. Just on Facebook, NBA India has reached more than 900 million impressions this season, engaging over 600,000 unique fans weekly and amassed more than 155.6 million video views over the course of the 2016-17 season. We also have this subscription network called League Pass, which is now more accessible to our fans than before.

    How much time does an average viewer spend on the NBA digitally?

    We are very successful in engaging our audience on digitally owned platforms. Be it through social media pages, the NBA destination, our mobile app or Sony LIV. The average time each user spends on the mobile app per week is 1 hour 12 minutes.

    How will the Fantasy Basketball league function?

    The NBA Fantasy game allows its users to create their own virtual team choosing their players and perform the role of a manager and accumulate points based on their selected players’ statistics in real life. The free-to-play game will offer a variety of prizes as rewards, including NBAStore.in gift cards, NBA merchandise and the opportunity to win a trip to the US to attend the 2018 NBA Finals.

    The NBA, globally, has tremendously successful fantasy partnerships across multiple players. We are thrilled to be partnering with Dream11, India’s largest fantasy gaming company, to launch a free-to-play daily fantasy basketball game.

    We have over seven million fans across social media in India and a high percentage of them are actively connected with us. With the NBA’s highly aspirational appeal, and an abundance of marketing assets locally (TV, digital, social, events and athlete tours), we expect a large number of NBA fans to contribute to the online fantasy game.

    Which are the top two teams based on their fan following?

    Success, in sports worldwide, drives a lot of fan affinity and the NBA in India is no exception. The Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs received tremendous support and fandom last season.

    Are you planning commentary in languages other than English?

    We ran a pilot project last season in introducing Hindi in-game commentary for the 2016-17 Conference Finals and NBA Finals and the response was tremendous. This season, we are offering close to 100 NBA games with Hindi commentary on Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD.

    With the growing popularity of the NBA across the country, this move aims to engage a wider set of fans and enthusiasts with Hindi as their primary language.

    We are also extremely fortunate to have youth influencers fans such as actor and VJ Rannvijay Singh and popular culture stand-up comedian Gursimran Khamba who contribute as guest commentators on a regular basis.

    Do you see merchandising as a big play here?

    Certainly, we have witnessed a consistent growth in demand and purchases for NBA apparel and licensed product. NBA products are available in over 700 outlets across the country. We are committed to growing the culture of basketball along with the game and merchandising plays a huge role in bringing about that change.

    The NBA has several active global licensing partners in India such as Nike, Under Armour, 2K, EA, Tissot and Spalding. Our local licensing partners include Jabong, Jack & Jones, Iskcon Apparel and Dream11. 

    Also Read :

    Mairu Gupta and the art of building the NBA in India

    NBA and Dream11 to bring fantasy basketball to India 

    Sony Six: NBA preparing for Hindi commentary in three months

  • Viacom18, DSport join hands for simulcast of Nidahas Trophy

    Viacom18, DSport join hands for simulcast of Nidahas Trophy

    MUMBAI: In what may be a sign of things to come, Viacom 18 has struck a deal with DSport to live simulcast the Nidahas Trophy, a tri-nation series tournament featuring India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    DSport, Discovery’s sports channel, had acquired the exclusive India broadcast rights of Nidahas Trophy 2018 last week. In an industry-first initiative, the broadcaster has joined hands with Viacom18 to live telecast the series. While DSport will telecast English commentary, Viacom18-owned mass entertainment channels Rishtey Cineplex and Cineplex HD will feature Hindi commentary for the tournament. Rishtey Cineplex reaches out to maximum number of viewers across any Hindi Movie channel with a reach of 460 Mn+ individual viewers across India (urban and rural) and therefore will add more eyeballs to the international T20 series scheduled to begin on 6 March 2018. Cineplex HD will further add to the enhanced viewer base by taking the tourney to a premium Hindi content consumer base.

    Explaining the rationale behind the partnership, Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “Sports broadcasting is a bit of a business conundrum–it represents a sizeable opportunity but the cost of entry tends to be prohibitive. It has been a white space that we have continuously been evaluating and this association with DSPORT to air the NIDAHAS tri series provides us with a fertile testing ground. As we endeavor to test waters with our very first broadcast of an international sporting property, what better than a cricket tri series involving the national team.”

    This tri-nation internationalT20 tournament will follow a round robin format with all the three teams playing each other twice, and the top two progressing to the final to be played on 18 March 2018. All the matches will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

    “The future belongs to collaborative broadcasting and this association between Discovery’s DSPORT and Viacom18’s Rishtey Cineplex is a pioneering initiative that seeks to broaden the horizon of sports broadcasting in India,” said Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak. “Cricket is much more than a sport in this country – it is an emotion. With this collaboration, we will be taking this emotion to more than ~460mn additional viewers in India.”

    Commenting on the partnership, DSport business head TS Panesar said, “In a first of its kind arrangement we are delighted to partner with Viacom18’s Rishtey Cineplex and Cineplex HD to bring Hindi telecast of the Nidahas Trophy to millions of fans in India. The Nidahas Trophy celebrates 70 years of Sri Lankan Independence and as such holds a special significance and we expect a keenly fought contest between India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”

    Also Read:

    Dsport acquires exclusive India rights for Bellator MMA

    Dsport acquires India rights of tri-nation tournament in SL

  • AXN kick-starts a bold, thought provoking campaign for the premiere of ‘Handmaids Tale’ in india

    AXN kick-starts a bold, thought provoking campaign for the premiere of ‘Handmaids Tale’ in india

    AXN will host the Indian television premiere of the most talked about show ‘Handmaids Tale’ on February 5th and the channel has undertaken a unique, innovative and disruptive marketing campaign that will make everyone sit up and take notice.  

    Women dressed in red robes with white hats holding placards with bold messaging are swarming malls and offices across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai in places like Cyber Hub, Phoenix Mall Chennai, Palladium, Group M, Lodestar to name a few.

    These Handmaids are holding placards with thought provoking and impactful messages such as ‘Women’s rights to use the lifts are revoked’ outside the lifts, ‘Women employees are allowed only one washroom break for the day’ outside the washrooms. Without uttering a word or enforcing the rules, these women are giving people a glimpse into the life of a Handmaid and how they are forbidden from exercising basic living rights.

    Set in a dystopian future ‘The Handmaids Tale’ follows the life of fertile women who are forbidden to hold jobs, own property or even read. Their life’s purpose is to bear children for the rich. The show has created a stir worldwide and has emerged as the best drama show of 2017. Apart from winning 8 Emmy and 2 Golden Globes, the show has been appreciated for the powerful performances and a brave theme that makes people question the future.

  • Sky Sports retains IPL rights for UK, Ireland

    Sky Sports retains IPL rights for UK, Ireland

    MUMBAI: Sky Sports has signed a new multi-year deal to broadcast the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UK and Ireland. The deal allows Sky to retain the IPL broadcast rights for the territory.

    In 2014, Sky had signed a three-year deal to broadcast the IPL for the first time in the UK and Ireland.

    Under the deal, Sky Sports will broadcast 60 IPL matches live each year in the UK and Ireland, starting with the 2018 edition. The 11th season of the IPL is slated to go on air from 7 April.

    The Sky-Star deal also includes digital rights. This means that Star’s video-on-demand (VoD) service Hotstar will not be streaming the T20 tournament in the UK.

    Star was planning to use the IPL to strengthen Hotstar’s presence in global markets like the US and the UK.

    Last year, Star India had acquired all IPL media rights for Rs 16,347.5 crore ($2.55 million) for a five-year (2018-2022) cycle.

    Also Read:

    IPL auction: Gayle to play for KXIP, Unadkat most expensive Indian player

    Star India gets IPL to change match timings for 11th edition

    Star ushers in IPL’s new era with a bang

  • U Cypher begins new innings for e-sports in India

    U Cypher begins new innings for e-sports in India

    MUMBAI: The Indian e-sports scene is all set for a major revamp as U Sports, one of the newly formed sports business companies in India, launched U Cypher, the country’s first multi-platform, multi-game e-sports championship that started airing on MTV 19 January onwards.

    “U Cypher took around two years to plan, which includes thinking about a nice game, searching and auditioning the right team, spreading the right word and also licence tie-ups,” said U Sports CEO and co-founder Supratik Sen. The execution took another six months.

    U Sports focuses on some main sporting disciplines: kabaddi, football, e-sports and motorsports. The company also owns the UMumba team in the Pro Kabbadi League.

    “Motorsports is in the planning stage and a lot of infrastructure needs to be created on the racing track. We want to make it like a tourist destination sport, we don’t want to stick to a place and make racing tracks,” said U Sports founder Ronnie Screwvala. “The planning is in two stages, starting with global and local experts and bike riders to talking to three or four top bike companies in the world in their interest, and support from the state government for the infrastructure,” he added. 

    U Cypher’s ambition is to present a platform to talented gamers that helps them achieve their maximum potential as well as shape their career in e-sports leagues.

    “The first season is not live but recorded because we wanted the non-gamers to understand it well,” said Screwvala. “On the digital front, our deal is revenue sharing and with MTV it is content exchange and airtime sales. On the print side, we will have some ads on The Times of India and Hindustan Times.” 

    The first season of U Cypher has six teams, with 14 members in each team, competing for a total prize money of Rs 51 lakh. The combat zone orbits around four games, namely Counter Strike: GO and DOTA 2 on PC and Tekken 7 on PS4 and Real Cricket 2017 on mobile. The championship is available digitally on U sports.in, YouTube, Twitch, and Voot. Season one consists of 35 episodes.

    Sen said that the company has tracked closed to 200 tournaments pan India, in various colleges fest, cafes and small areas. U Cypher will be a bi-annual tournament with total investment of Rs 20-25 crore.

    The combined e-sports and gaming market is estimated to be Rs 3900 crore with more than 2000 teams consistently participating in tournaments across India and abroad with over 50 crore players worldwide.

    “The difference between U Sports and other sports companies in India today is that some of them are into a single sport, some are the team owners in a league and some of them own a league but we are a combination of all these elements,” Screwvala added.

    The gamers have been divided into six teams for the league—Yakshas, Yodhas, Sherdils, Crusaders, Marksmen and Akramaks. Most of the gamers for the first season are from Mumbai.

    Also Read :

    U Sports launches India’s first ever Multi-Platform Multi-Game E-Sports Championship – U Cypher with MTV

    PKL sponsors and partners cross 100-mark

  • IPL auction: Gayle to play for KXIP, Unadkat most expensive Indian player

    IPL auction: Gayle to play for KXIP, Unadkat most expensive Indian player

    MUMBAI: KXIP played its cards perfectly by making a bid of Rs 2 crore at the end of the auction for the distructive Chris Gayle.

    Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmanta Chameera was snapped up by RR for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.

    The highlight of the day, however, was Jaydev Unadkat. The seam bowler became the most expensive Indian player after RR bought him for Rs 11.50 crore. Unadkat has over taken Manish Pandey and KL Rahul, who were bought for Rs 11 crore each on Saturday.

    Uncapped Indian spinners also got big money when RR bought Gowtham for Rs 6.20 crore. The other big buys on Sunday were Sandeep Sharma, who went to SRH for Rs 3 crore.

    Several international players failed to find takers on Sunday. All the unsold players can be brought back in the auction if franchises ask for them. Ben Stokes remained the top buy with RR buying the England all-rounder for Rs 12.50 crore and keeping him in the company of his former Pune teammates Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi.

    Interestingly, CSK’s team composition is similar to what it was before the ban. They do, however, still lack the strike bowlers and struggled on Sunday to grab any of the attacking options. R Ashwin moved to Kings XI Punjab in the course of the bidding.

    There was some big money for India’s under 19 cricketers as Kamlesh Nagarkoti was bought for Rs 3.20 crore by KKR.

    Some of the big international names that went unsold were James Faulkner, Josh Hazlewood, Hashim Amla, Lasith Malinga, Ishant Sharma and Martin Guptill.

    MI retains Krunal Pandya for Rs 8.80 cr

    The first upcapped batsman in the eighth set was Surya Kumar Yadav with a base price of Rs 30 lakh. MI eventually snapped him up for Rs 3.20 crore.

    The highest big for an under 19 cricketer was Rs 3.20 crore, the player being Kamlesh Nagarkoti—his base price was Rs 20 lakh. Krunal Pandya was retained by MI for Rs 8.80 crore using RTM against RCB’s bid. His base price was Rs 40 lakh. Nitish Rana (base price Rs 20 lakh) went for Rs 3.40 crore to KKR. Darcy Short (Rs 20 lakh) went for Rs 4 crore to RR. Jofra Archer (Rs 40 lakh) was snaffled by RR for a not too insignificant Rs 7.20 crore.

    Current under 19 cricketer Shubman Ghill (base price Rs 20 lakh) went for Rs 1.80 to KKR. Mayank Agarwal, with a base price of Rs 20 lakh, went to KXIP for Rs 1 crore. Rahul Tripathi with a base price of Rs 20 lakh went for Rs 3.40 crore to RR. Manan Vora (Rs 20 lakh) went to RCB for Rs 1.10 crore.

    Indian under 19 captain Prithvi Shaw (Rs 20 lakh) went to DD for Rs 1.20 crore.

    RCB retain Yuzvendra Chahal

    The seventh set of the IPL auction included the spinners. The first spinner to go under the hammer was Piyush Chawla with a base price of Rs 1 crore and was sold to CSK for Rs 4.20 crore but KKR used RTM against the CSK bid. CSK, however, managed to grab the best deal of the day buy bidding Rs 1 crore for Imran Tahir. Karn Sharma with Rs 2 crore base price sold to CSK for Rs 5 crore. Rashid Khan, Afghanistan leggie with a base price of Rs 2 crore, was sold to KXIP for Rs 9 crore but SRH used their RTM to thwart the bid.

    New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi, Australia’s Adam Zampa and West Indian spinner Samuel Badri, all leg spinners, all went unsold.

    The most awaited spinner in this set, Yuzvendra Chahal (base price Rs 2 crore) was first bought by DD for Rs 6 crore but RCB used RTM to retain the player. Kuldeep Yadav, the Indian spinner went for Rs 5.80 crore to RCB but KKR used their RTM and retained the player. Amit Mishra was sold to DD for Rs 4 crore.

    In the fast bowlers’ set, Mohammed Shami, with a base price of Rs 1 crore, went to SRH for Rs 3 crore but DD used its RTM to grab the player. Kagiso Rabada, the South African tearaway, was retained by DD using RTM against CSK’s bid of Rs 4.20 crore.

    Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood go unsold

    Set six of the auction started with the bowlers and the first one on the list was Mustafizur Rahman with a base price of Rs 1 crore. He was sold to MI for Rs 2.20 crore. Mitchell Johnson and compatriot Josh Hazlewood with the same base price (Rs 2 crore)failed to evoke any interest from the franchises.

    Fellow Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins, however, was sold to MI for Rs 5.40 crore. RCB picked up India fast bowler Umesh Yadav (Rs 1 crore) for Rs 4.20 crore. Ishant Sharma, with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, also went unsold.

    RR pick up Sanju Samson for Rs 8 cr

    Set five of the IPL auction started with the wicketkeepers to be auctioned. A total of 11 wicketkeepers were on the list. Parthiv Patel, with a base price of Rs 1 crore, went unsold; England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow also went unsold. South African keeper Quinton de Kock went to RCB for Rs 2.80 crore (base price Rs 2 crore).

    Wriddhiman Saha, with a base price of Rs 1 crore, went to SRH for Rs 5 crore. India wicketkeeper and batsman Dinesh Karthik went to KKR for Rs 7.40 crore. Robin Uthappa with a base price of Rs 2 crore went to MI for Rs 6.40 crore but KKR used their RTM and snatched him from MI.

    Sanju Samson with a base price of Rs 1 crore went to RR for Rs 8 crore.

    CSK won the bid for Ambati Rayudu with Rs 2.20 crore. His base price was 50 lakh. Sam Billings (base price Rs 1 crore) and Naman Ojha (Rs 75 lakh) failed to get picked up by any of the franchises.

    Jos Buttler (base price Rs 1.50 crore) was sold to RR for Rs 4.40 crore. 

    IPL auction: RCB splurge Rs 7.4 cr on Chris Woakes

    RCB spent a whopping Rs 7.4 crore to acquire England fast bowler Chris Woakes. His base price was Rs 1.5 crore. Meanwhile, Yusuf Pathan was sold to SRH (base price Rs 75 lakh) and Collin Munro (Rs 50 lakh) went to Delhi Daredevils. 

    Both players were sold at an identical price of Rs 1.9 crore. Kedar Jadhav was bought for Rs 7.80 crore (Rs 2 crore) and former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson for Rs 4 crore (Rs 1.5 crore) by CSK.

    IPL auction: Manish Pandey sold to SRH for Rs 11 cr

    Manish Pandey, who has been in and out of the India set up, has been picked by SRH for Rs 11 crore, the same amount as KL Rahul. Meanwhile, Chris Lynn was sold to KKR for Rs 9.60 crore.

    The last cricketer of the set, Martin Guptill, went unsold.

    Indian cricketer S Badrinath said, “Joe Roots is not IPL material but Chris Gayle and Hashim Amla not being unsold was a big surprise.” Amla wasn’t bought despite making two hundreds in the last season of the IPL.

    Brendon Mccullum went to RCB for Rs 3.60 crore. He will fill the slot of Chris Gayle as the opener in the side. Jason Roy was sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1.5 crore.

    IPL auction: Joe Root goes unsold in his first season

    Joe Root, the English captain went unsold in his inaugural season. The last marquee player of the first set was Yuvraj Singh, who was bought by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at a base price of Rs 2 crore. KXIP officials were happy with the deal.

    Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan was sold to SRH for Rs 2 crore. Glenn Maxwell, the distructive Australian batsmen, was bought by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 9 crore.

    Ex KKR captain Gautam Gambhir was sold for Rs 4.8 crore to Delhi Daredevils while New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was sold to SRH for Rs 3 crore.

    IPL auctions: Ben Stokes sold to RR for Rs 12.50 cr

    Mumbai Indians used the RTM for Kieron Pollard after Delhi Daredevils bought him for Rs 5.40 crore. Chris Gayle was unsold as no team started the bid. He can be presented again for the auction at the day’s end.

    Ben Stokes, the costliest player sold last year for 14.2 crore, is also the costliest player till now with Rs 12.50 crore to Rajasthan Royals (RR).

    Chennai Super Kings used RTM for Faf Du Plesis against Kings XI Punjab’s 1.60 crore bid.

    Ajinkya Rahane was retained by RR by using RTM against Kings XI Punjab’s Rs 4 crore bid.

    Mitchell Starc was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 9.40 crore; he was previously with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

    Former Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Shrikant told Indiantelevision.com, “I’m not surprised seeing Chris Gayle not being sold. RCB may use RTM for KL Rahul and Yezuvendra Chahal. Chennai got the South African captain at a very good price.” at Star Sports Studio in Lower Parel Mumbai. 

    Star Sports has made a whole floor for the live studio feed for diiferent languages. Total of 12 studios that includes five major studios, five micro studios a fan box set-up and a cafe set-up.

    After a break of 15 minutes, Harbajan Singh was sold to Chennai Super Kings for his base price of Rs 2 crore.

    R Ashwin sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 7.60 crore

    The auction day has arrived and it’s time for the fans to be glued to their television sets and watch big money being spent on marquee players.

    The first player to be auctioned was Shikhar Dhawan at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and RR fought for the player, who was sold to Kings XI Punjab with highest bid of Rs 5.2 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad, however, used Right to Match (RTM) and grabbed the opportunity at the same price.

    R Ashwin was the second player to be auctioned at the same base price of 2 crore. The spinner was sold for Rs 7. 6 crore to Kings XI Punjab.