Bangalore: Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday expectedly turned out to be the biggest draw for the franchises with Chennai Super Kings buying the young Indian all-rounder for a whopping USD two million (approx. Rs 9.72 crore) in the players` auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.
The 23-year-old, whose base price was USD 100,000, went to Chennai after the tie-breaker clause was invoked when two teams -- CSK and Deccan Chargers -- bid the maximum (USD two million) for the Saurashtra player.
Both the franchises were asked to bid a secret amount in the tie-breaker and it was Chennai which managed to outbid Deccan in this.
But the cricketer himself will get paid USD 950,000 as per the contract he had signed with the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year and even the secret amount that was bid on him by Chennai would go into the BCCI coffers.
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, incidentally the KTK captain last season, was also a big draw going to Delhi Daredevils for USD 1.4 million (approx Rs 6.8 crore).
Jayawardene will, however, get USD 1.5 million as per his contract last year.
Among other big gainers at the auction, New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum was bought for USD 900,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders.
McCullum`s base price was USD 400,000.
Indian stumper Parthiv Patel went for USD 650,000 to Deccan Chargers, which was quite high from his base price of USD 200,000.
Veteran Indian batsman VVS Laxman, who was a big disappointment during the recent Test series against Australia, went unsold in the auction along with England`s
James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior, West Indies` Ramnaresh Sarwan, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo and South Africa`s Mark Boucher.
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who was with Chennai Super Kings and Kochi in the previous editions, was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 220,000 (approx. Rs 1.06 crore).
South Africa`s veteran opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs, who was released by Deccan Chargers, fetched USD 50,000 (approx. Rs 24 lakh) from Mumbai Indians, while Australian batsman Brad Hodge was taken by Rajasthan Royals for USD 475,000 (approx Rs 2.3 crore).
Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson went to Mumbai Indians at his base price of USD 300,000 (approx Rs 1.4 crore). West Indies Andre Russell fetched USD 450,000 from the Delhi Daredevils, a substantial hike from his base price of USD 50,000.
Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal was turned out to be a bargain buy for Rajasthan Royals, who bought him at his base price of USD 50,000.
Jadeja was supposed to be the highlight of the auction today and so it turned out to be with almost all franchise placing their bids on the all-rounder.
Ironically, just two years ago, Jadeja was banned for a year after trying to negotiate a deal with Mumbai Indians while still on contract with Rajasthan Royals.
Dubbed the "rockstar" by Australian spin legend and Rajasthan captain-cum-coach Shane Warne, Jadeja was bought by Kochi for USD 950,000, and he did well by making 283 runs at a strike rate of 124.12, and taking eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.26.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 04, 2012, 13:19