IPL PLAYER AUCTIONS

Indian one-day captain Mahendra Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds topped the bidding as teams spent big ahead of the inaugural Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chennai splashed out $1.5 million for Dhoni while Hyderabad paid $1.35m for Symonds at a glitzy auction to determine who plays where in the IPL tournament starting in April.
"It is amazing drama," Inderjit Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told reporters. "The market is determining the price. That's how a free market economy should flow."
Dhoni was snapped up by the southern metropolis side in the first round of the sale.
Retired Australian spin bowler Shane Warne was the first player to go under the hammer in a five-star Mumbai hotel conference room filled with cricketers, celebrities and tycoons, fetching $450,000 from Jaipur.
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.
India's multitude private television channels flashed developments by the minute sending the cricket-crazy country into a frenzy.
Indian paceman Ishant Sharma was bought by Kolkata for $950,000 and his partner Rudra Pratap Singh fetched $875,000 and was bought by Hyderabad.
Warne's compatriot fast bowler Brett Lee was snapped up by Mohali for $900,000 while Australia captain Ricky Ponting was bought by Kolkata for $400,000.
MOST VALUABLE
The Mumbai franchise, which has Sachin Tendulkar as the designated city player and is owned by India's most valuable company Reliance Industries, paid $975,000 for Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and $850,000 for India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The eight franchise teams of the IPL -- Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mohali and Mumbai -- had a budget of up to $5 million each for a maximum of eight contracted players.
They bid from a pool of 78 players and the main segment of the closed-door auction lasted for over seven hours.
The 44-day IPL starts on April 18 and will feature 59 matches.
No single event has made global cricket news in this manner since Kerry Packer's circuit did over thirty years ago, but unlike the IPL, the late Australian media magnate's event was a breakaway league.
Some of the country's biggest companies, including spirit company UB Group, have bought franchises. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta have bought into the Kolkata and Mohali franchises, adding further glamour to the league.
Zinta, who accompanied IPL chairman Lalit Modi for one of the media announcements, clapped in glee when Modi announced to reporters that India pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was bought by Mohali for $625,000. Mohali also bought India all-rounder Irfan Pathan for $925,000.
Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who last month retired from test cricket, went to Hyderabad for $700,000. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan went to Chennai for $600,000.
The players were bid in sets of 12 according to their annual base price, multiple-skills and expected availability for the inaugural year.
Retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf were among players who did not find buyers in the main round. They will be re-presented for auction later on Wednesday.