The player auctions for the IPL 2010 took place on January 19th. Kieron Pollard and Shane Bond were the biggest buys at the third IPL auction in Mumbai, each fetching the maximum possible bid of $750,000. However, the biggest surprise was the fact that not a single Pakistan player was signed up by any of the franchises. There was not even one bid for any of the Pakistani players, which is quite surprising considering the fact that they are the current T20 world champions. The overlooked Paki players included some big stars like Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul and Umar Akmal.

Shane Bond, who had recently quit test cricket to concentrate on the shorter forms of the game, saw his value rise the most, from a base price of $100,000 to the cap of $750,000. Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers went into the secret bid, and KKR won bidding an undisclosed amount. Kieron Pollard, the explosive West Indies all rounder, also found himself bidded to the cost cap, from a base price of $200,000. He was eventually signed up by Mumbai Indians, who beat off Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata.

The two other notable signings were Kemar Roach, the West Indies fast bowler, who was bought by Deccan for $720,000, and South Africa’s Wayne Parnell, bought by Delhi Daredevils for $610,000. Eoin Morgan, the England batsman, was picked up by Bangalore for $220,000. Offspinner Graeme Swann was one of the players in the first auction pool but he did not get any bids at his base price of $250,000. Mohammad Kaif, the only Indian up for auction, went unsold in the first round of bidding but was later signed up by Punjab for $250,000. Only three of India’s Under-19 players, priced at Rs. 800,000 each, were eligible to play in the IPL and they were chosen by a draft system. Bangalore picked U-19 captain Ashok Menaria, Deccan went for Harmeet Singh and Mumbai opted for Harshal Patel.

Later on, the Pakistani players, cricket board and even the government expressed anger and disappointment at being cold-shouldered in the IPL auction. The IPL has said it was the franchise’s decision to decide on whom to bid for and have stated the availability issue as a reason for the non-selection of the Pakis. Lalit Modi, the IPL commisioner, explained the snub in these words “Franchises are no more ready to spend $7-8 million on someone who won’t be available for the tournament. It not only exhausted their purse but also wasted slots. They want only those players who would be available for the tournament. They are spending money and they want to get the results.” One can only say that even before the first ball has been bowled for the IPL 2010, there has been more than enough dosage of drama. Hopefully, we can get on with cricket!

Related posts:

1. IPL 2010 – The Semi-Finalists
2. IPL 2010 – Third Edition of the Competition
3. IPL-2010:The Final Knock
4. IPL 3 Live On YouTube
5. Two new IPL teams – Kochi and Pune