Indian Captain MS Dhoni top IPL auction with Rs 6 crore ($1.5 million)

The auctions for the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) were held at the Oberoi Hilton in Mumbai and after the first six rounds there have been many players who have been laughing all the way to the bank while some are still waiting for their suitors.

Young Indian players and all rounders ruled the roost with MS Dhoni and Andrew Symonds being the two most expensive players bought at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on Wednesday.

India Cements, which has the Chennai franchisee, bid the maximum amount for India’s One-Day International and Twenty20 skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Rs 6 crore ($1.5 million). Muttiah Muralitharan, who was bought for Rs 2.4 crore ($600,000), in the Chennai team.

Rohit Sharma was auctioned off to the Hyderabad team for Rs 3 crore ($ 750,000), Uthappa was sold to Mumbai for Rs 3.2 crore ($ 800,000). Considering that Ishant Sharma's base price was only a modest Rs 60 lakh ($ 150,000), he became the second highest paid Indian at Rs 3.8 crore ($ 950,000), the amount paid for him by the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata team was a clear indication of the meteoric rise of the 19-year-old Delhi-born fast bowler, who often touched the 150-km mark during the ongoing tour Down Under.

Surprisingly Ricky Ponting, one of the top Test and ODI players in the world, was available for only Rs 1.6 crore ($ 400,000) the Kolkata team being the beneficiaries, while Stephen Fleming was roped in by Chennai for Rs 1.4 crore ($ 350,000).

Irfan Pathan's base price for the bidding was only 80 lakh ($ 200,000) but he went for 3.7 crores ( $ 925,000) to Mohali. Clearly all rounders are much sought after for this version of the game.

The ever popular Brett Lee is not only the best one-day bopwler in the world right now, he could also double up and sing the theme song for Mohali... his 3.6 crore ( $ 900,000) making him the fifth most expensive player.

Controversial Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar will join Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata team for Rs 1.82 crore ($455,000). Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene will be joining the Mohali/Chandigarh team for Rs 1.9 crore ($475,000). Sri Lankan wicketkeeper/batsman Kumar Sangakkara will play for the Mohali/Chandigarh team for Rs 2.8 crore ($700,000).

Reliance Industries owner of the Mumbai team and with star batsman Sachin Tendulkar as their ‘Icon’ also dug deep to get Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for Rs 3.9 crore ($975,000) and Rs 3.4 crore ($850,000) respectively.

After the eight rounds, there was a final round for reserve players who had not been picked up in the earlier rounds. Glenn McGrath (Delhi), Michael Hussey (Chennai) and Ramnaresh Sarawan (Mohali) were among the key purchases.

The team will pay the winning bid to the player annually. The contracts are for a three-year period and are guaranteed by the Indian cricket board.