IPL auction: Is Yuvraj Singh a player worth Rs 14 crore?

Zee Media Bureau/Yogesh Pandey

Bangalore: Before the start of the Indian Premier League auction, all eyes were on sacked England batsman Kevin Pietersen and New Zealand`s mighty all-rounder Corey Anderson to emerge as the high-profile players in the seventh edition of lucrative IPL. But as players went under the hammer, India`s out of form batsman Yuvraj Singh, surprisingly attracted an exorbitant price of 14 crore, which left cricket fans and experts baffled. Yuvi was auctioned at a whopping sum of Rs 14 crore to Vijay Mallya`s Royal Challengers Bangalore, which was seven times more than his Rs 2 crore base price, outshining the likes of Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson who wreaked havoc against England at the recently concluded Ashes series. Ahead of the auction, RCB skipper Virat Kohli expressed his desire to sign Yuvraj for his team, a reason which could have led Mallya to place such a high bet on the left-hander. “We wanted to boost our bowling department and Yuvraj will help do that,” said a satisfied RCB owner Vijay Mallya soon after the first round of auction. Yuvraj was dropped from the Indian squad for the ongoing New Zealand tour, owing to his dismal show against the Proteas. Considering his excellent record in the T20`s, Yuvraj has been included in India`s squad for the forthcoming ICC World T20. Yuvraj was earlier associated with Pune Warriors and Kings XI Punjab. It will be interesting to see, if Yuvraj will be able to stand tall on his price tag.