After a going through patch for over 6 months, Yuvraj Singh finally gets something to cheer about. If it began with the news of his retention in the T20 World Cup squad, the whole circle was completed when he got the highest bidding in the Indian Premier League auction.
Yuvraj Singh, who was among the very few top-class marquee players who went under the hammer in the auction before the IPL VII, stole the show with almost all the franchisees desperately wanted him in the team. In the end it was Dr. Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers Bangalore who got him in the team at Rs. 14.5 crores. Kolkata Knight Riders made a valiant effort when the bidding looked over at Rs. 10 crores, but eventually RCB had Yuvi in the bag at the said price.
Among the other marquee players who went under the hammer was Kevin Pietersen was bought by Delhi Daredevils as they got him in their bag with a match card after being sold to a different team at Rs. 9 crores. Dinesh Karthik came as the surprise package as both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils fought till the end before DD claimed the former Indian international at Rs. 12.5 crores, though experts still doubt whether DK deserves so much or not. Corey Anderson who had hogged the limelight for the last few days after his unbelievable batting display in the Kiwi colours could not match up to the hype that was created around him over the last few days. He got Rs. 4.5 crores, much lower what prediction had suggested, and went o the MI camp.
The credit of one of the poorest buys and a clear wastage of the valuable match card goes to Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR for some unknown reason got back Yusuf Pathan with a match card when they were yet to have a good pacer in their line-up, particularly when Pathan had not delivered at all for the men in Purple and Yellow.
At the end of first day’s auction, it seems RCB has got the most exciting set of players after buying Yuvi as they had already retained De Villiers, Gayle and Kohli. DD also looks to be in a good position with quite a balanced side. Teams like Rajasthan royals and Kings XI Punjab have cleverly used their money bank to spend for the players and at the end of the day they also sit pretty with balanced side, though they lack bigger names. With the set of uncapped players still due to go under the hammer on the second day, all the teams will be looking forward to fill up the deficiencies in the depth of their team, if they have any.
Tags: dinesh karthik IPL IPL 7 IPL 7 auction IPL auction Yuvraj Singh
