MUMBAI: The two-day auction for the Indian Premiere League (IPL) finally came to an end. The auctions turned out to be much like the earlier six seasons – a heady mix of surprises, shocks, set-backs and happiness.
The happiest of the lot was obviously Yuvraj Singh, who came aboard Royal Challengers Banglore for a hefty sum of Rs 14 crore. Even Delhi Daredevils coughed up Rs 12.5 crore to pick up Dinesh Karthik and Rs 9 crore for Kevin Pietersen using its right to match card.
The right to match or the joker card worked wonders for the franchises this time as they managed to reclaim some of their ‘priced possessions’. Most of the teams used up their right to match card on day one of the auction itself, being aware that day two was consisted of the uncapped players.
Out of the 154 players sold, 80 are capped and 74 are uncapped; again proving the purpose of the IPL – to nurture young and raw talent and provide them an international stage to play alongside and learn from the best in the business.
The auction started on Wednesday morning with 514 players going under the hammer in two days. The sad part: nearly 70 per cent of the players went unsold.
The dark side came to the fore when nobody bid for players like Mahela Jayawardena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Marlon Samuels, Brett Lee, Cameron White, Luke Wright, David Hussey, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Darren Bravo, Dirk Nannes and among others. While the reasons to it would be best known to the franchises, it just brought out the ugly side of the game.
Now all that remains to be seen is whether the season 7 of the IPL can overshadow the dark history of the controversies that plagued season 6.
With the biggest pool of players to have gone under the hammer in all the seasons so far, IPL 7 is all set to keep you hooked to your television sets for a roller coaster ride once again beginning from April.
We will get you all the happenings of the Indian Premiere League season 7. Do continue reading this space for latest updates.
