Dhoni and Symonds top $1m mark in IPL auction
MUMBAI: India one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian Andrew Symonds crossed the million-dollar mark as the world's top cricketers were auctioned off for the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chennai bought Dhoni for $1.5 million, which was nearly four times the Indian's base price of $400,000 in the opening round of the novel sell-off held before the lucrative 44-day tournament's debut in April.
All-rounder Symonds was a close second after going for $1.35 million to the Hyderabad team. Team-mates Brett Lee was bought by Mohali for $900,000 and Ricky Ponting by Kolkata for $400,000.
Eight franchise owners, including corporate tycoons and Bollywood actors, were bidding for 77 cricketers in a pioneering process that some observers believe will change the face of the game.
"It's a landmark day. I have not seen anything like this before. It has been amazing," said IPL governing council member Inderjit Singh Bindra.
STAR PLAYERS AND THEIR PRICE TAGS
Jaipur: S Warne ($450,000), G Smith $475,000), Y Khan ($225,000), K Akmal ($150,000), Y Pathan ($475,000), M Kaif ($675,000), M Patel ($275,000), J Langer ($200,000)
Chennai: MS Dhoni ($1.5m), M Muralitharan ($600,000), M Hayden ($375,000), J Oram ($675,000), S Fleming ($350,000), P Patel ($325,000), J Sharma ($225,000), AMorkel ($675,000), S Raina ($650,000), M Ntini ($200,000), M Hussey ($350,000)
Mumbai: S Tendulkar (icon), S Jayasuriya ($975,000), H Singh ($850,000), S Pollock ($550,000), R Uthappa ($800,000), L Malinga ($350,000), D Fernando ($150,000), L Bosman ($175,000)
Bangalore: R Dravid (icon), A Kumble ($500,000), J Kallis ($900,000), Z Khan ($450,000), M Boucher ($450,000), C White ($500,000), W Jaffer ($150,000), D Steyn ($325,000), N Bracken ($325,000), S Chanderpaul ($200,000).
Hyderabad: A Gilchrist ($700,000), A Symonds ($1.35m), H Gibbs ($575,000), S Afridi ($675,000), S Styris ($175,000), VVS Laxman ($375,000), R Sharma ($750,000), C Silva ($100,000), RP Singh ($875,000), C Vaas ($200,000), N Zoysa ($110,000).
Mohali: Y Singh (icon), M Jayawardene ($475,000), K Sangakkara ($700,000), B Lee ($900,000), S S ($625,000), I Pathan ($925,000), R Powar ($170,000), P Chawla ($400,000), S Katich ($200,000), R Sarwan ($225,000).
Kolkata: S Ganguly (icon), S Akhtar ($425,000), R Ponting ($400,000), B McCullum ($700,000), C Gayle ($800,000), A Agarkar ($330,000), D Hussey ($675,000), I Sharma ($950,000), M Kartik ($425,000), U Gul ($150,000), T Taibu ($125,000).
Delhi: V Sehwag (icon), D Vettori ($625,000), S Malik ($500,000), M Asif ($650,000), AB de Villiers ($300,000), D Karthik ($525,000), F Maharoof ($225,000), T Dilshan ($250,000), M Tiwary ($675,000), G Gambhir ($725,000), Glenn McGrath ($350,000).
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