Australian all-rounder Shane Watson received the highest bid of $1.4 million while banished England star Kevin Pietersen was sold to a new franchise at a glitzy Indian Premier League auction Saturday.
Watson lived up to his billing as one of the most sought-after players, being sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for 95 million rupees ($1.4 million) at an auction attended by business big-wigs and former stars including ex-Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Thirty-four-year-old Watson, who remains one of the top players in Twenty20 cricket, was sold for more than four times his reserve price in the first round of marquee bidding in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.
“Incredibly excited to join (RCB). Can’t wait to meet up with my new team-mates in April,” Watson tweeted. Bangalore director Amrit Thomas said the addition of a utility player like Watson would make his team more competitive.
“We were looking for Shane Watson to get the balance right in the team and finally we got him at the bargain price,” Thomas was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
See the complete list below:
Rising Pune Supergiants
- Kevin Pietersen sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 3.5 crores
- Ishant Sharma sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 3.8 crores
- Irfan Pathan sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 1 crore
- Mitchell Marsh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs.4.8 crores
- Rudra Pratap Singh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 30 lakhs
- Rajat Bhatia sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 60 Lakhs
- Ankit Sharma sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs.10 Lakhs
- M Ashwin sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for 4.50 crores
- T Suman sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Ben Cutting sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 50 Lakhs
- Ankush Bains sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Peter Handscomb sold to Rising Pune Supergiants Rs. 30 Lakhs
- Thisara Perera sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 1 crore
- Baba Aparajith sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Deepak Chahar sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Ashok Dinda sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 50 Lakhs
- Scott Boland sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 50 Lakhs
- Jaskaran Singh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Adam Zampa sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 30 Lakhs
Gujarat Lions
- Dwayne Smith sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs.2.3 crores
- Dale Steyn sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2.3 crores
- Dinesh Karthik sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs.2.3 crores
- Dhawal Kulkarni sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2 crores
- Praveen Kumar sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 3.50 crores
- Paras Dogra sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10Lakhs
- Ishan Kishan sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 35 Lakhs
- Eklavya Dwivedi sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 1 crore
- Pradeep Sangwan sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs
- Praveen Tambe sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs
- Shivil Kaushik sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Sarabjeet Ladda sold to Gujarat Lions for 10 Lakhs
- Aaron Finch sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 1 crore
- Umang Sharma sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Andrew Tye sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 50 Lakhs
- S. Jakati sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs
- Aksh Deep Nath sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Amit Mishra sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Jaydev Shah sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs
Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Ashish Nehra sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs.5.5 crores
- Yuvraj Singh sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 7 crores
- Mustafizur Rahman sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 1.40 crores
- Barinder Singh Sran sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs.1.20 crores
- Abhimanyu Mithun sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 30 Lakhs
- Aditya Tare sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 1.20 crores
- Deepak Hooda sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 4.2 crore
- Vijay Shankar sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 35 Lakhs
Delhi Daredevils
- Sanju Samson sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs.4.2 crores
- Chris Morris sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 7 crores
- Rishabh Pant sold to Delhi daredevils for Rs. 1.90 crores
- Carlos Brathwaite sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 4.20 crores
- Karun Nair sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 4 crores
- Pawan Negi sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 8.50 crores
- Sam Billings sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 30 Lakhs
- Pratyush Singh sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- SK Ahmed sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Joel Paris sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs.30 Lakhs
- Akhil Arvind Herwadkar sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 lakhs
- Pawan Suyal sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- CV Millind sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs
Mumbai Indians
- Jos Buttler sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.8 crores
- Tim Southee sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs.2.50 crores
- Nathu Singh sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.20 crores
- Jitesh Sharma sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- KP Kamath sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs.1.40 crores
- Krunal Pandya sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 2 crores
- Deepak Puniya sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Jitesh Sharma sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 10 Lakhs
Royal Challengers Bangalore
- Shane Watson sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs.9.5 crores
- Stuart Binny sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs.2 crores
- Travis Head sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 50 lakhs
- Sachin Baby sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Vikas Tokas sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Iqbal Abdullah sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Praveen Dubey sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 35 Lakhs
- Akshay Karnewar sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 lakhs
- Kane Richardson sold to Royal Challeneger Bangalore for Rs. 2 crores
- Samuel Badree sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 50 lakhs
- Vikramjeet Malik sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 20 Lakhs
Kolkata Knight Riders
- Colin Munro sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs.30 lakhs
- John Hastings sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs.1.3 crores
- Jaydev Unadkat sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.60 crores
- Ankit Singh Rajpoot sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.50 crores
- Jason Holder sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 70 Lakhs
- R. Satish sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 20 Lakhs
- Manan Sharma sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 10 Lakhs
Kings XI Punjab
- Mohit Sharma sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs.6.50 crores
- Marcus Stoinis sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 5.50 crores
- Kyle Abbott sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 2.10 crores
- KC Cariappa sold to Kings XI Punjab for 80 Lakhs
- Armaan Jaffer sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Pradeep Sahu sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 10 Lakhs
- Swapnil Singh sold to Kings XI Punjab for 10 Lakhs
- Pradeep Sahu sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 10 Lakhs
Pietersen was bought for $515,000 by Rising Pune Supergiants, one of the two new teams in this year’s tournament that will be played from April 9 to May 29 across various Indian cities.
The out-of-favour batsman last played for England in 2014 but proved his worth in the recent Big Bash League with the Melbourne Stars.
The Gujarat Lions, based in the western city of Rajkot, are the other new IPL entrant following the two-year suspension of the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings over a corruption scandal.
India’s Yuvraj Singh was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for $1.03 million, a far cry from the $2.3 million that he commanded at last year’s auction.
South Africa’s Chris Morris was picked for a surprise $1 million Saturday, 14 times his base price after the Mumbai Indians and Knight Riders went neck and neck, only for the Delhi Daredevils to grab him in the end.
Aaron Finch, Australia’s injured T20 captain, and in-form New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill went unsold. South African speedster Dale Steyn, laid low by injuries, was the last man to be auctioned in the first round at $500,000.
Many of India’s uncapped players were sold much above their base prices, including left-arm spinner Pawan Negi who was snapped up for a whopping $1.2 million by Delhi.
The IPL, boasting an enviable brand value with Bollywood stars and big businesses as investors, has been dogged by controversies ever since its first edition in 2008.
The 2013 IPL season saw police launch legal proceedings against several officials and players from Rajasthan and Chennai franchises over a betting and spot-fixing scandal.
Both Chennai and Rajasthan are expected to return to the IPL after their bans end following the 2017 edition.