IPL 2014 auction: Mumbai Indians steal a deal in Corey Anderson, with meagre 4.5 crore signing

Zee Media Bureau/ Suyash Srivastava

New Delhi: While the franchises were eyeing several big names for purchase on Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, one player who was expected to be signed for a record deal was the in-form Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson. Anderson made the headlines when he recently broke more than a decade-old Shahid Afridi`s record of the fastest ODI ton. The left-hander achieved the feat against West Indies, where he played a historic knock and reached three figures off just 36 balls, one ball lesser than that of the Pakistani flamboyant batsman`s record. Anderson continued his good form in the ODI series against India as well, where he played several brutal knocks and also scalped wickets at regular intervals. His success made him a prized target in the IPL auction. But it was a matter of surprise when Mumbai made the final bid of 4.5 crore for Anderson, which got them the deal. The Mumbai team management were delighted after signing the Kiwi. Anderson was expected to be among the top three signings on Day 1, which wasn`t the case, as Yuvraj Singh (14 cr), Dinesh Karthik (12.5 cr) and Kevin Pietersen (9 cr) struck gold with top signings.