Star all-rounder Sakib al Hasan was sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders for Indian Rs 2.8 crore (Tk 3.5 crore, $450,000) at the Indian Premier League 2014 player auction in Bangalore on Wednesday, while Indians Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik fetched record prices for their services. Yuvraj was bought for a record Rs 14 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Karthik was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for Rs 12.5 crore in the first two marquee player rounds before a bidding war between the Daredevils and the Knight Riders saw Sakib almost triple his base price of Rs 1 crore in the fifth round of bidding.
England’s Kevin Pietersen, whose recent and controversial dismissal from the England set up makes him available for the duration of the IPL this year, saw his fortunes turn around as his bidding reached Rs 9 crore courtesy the Sunrisers Hyderabad before the Daredevils used one of their right-to-match cards to bring him back to Delhi.
Sakib’s national team-mates Tamim Iqbal, Sohag Gazi and Mahmudullah went unsold at the auction, which saw teams stay away from a number of high-profile international players, wary of allocating spending cap space on foreign players when only four can play for a side per game in the world’s richest domestic Twenty20 competition.
The Sri Lankans, who are currently touring Bangladesh and began the first Twenty20 of the series as the session drew to a close, were hit particularly hard, with their tour of England in May likely causing teams to pass on their players because they will not be available for the whole tournament.
Mahela Jayawardene, who was the second player called after being designated a ‘marquee player’ before the auction, could not find a taker for his Rs 2 crore base price, capping a miserable few days that saw a hand injury on Tuesday rule him out for the T20s against Bangladesh.
New Zealand’s Ross Taylor and Australians Matthew Wade and David Hussey were also among the casualties on day that saw name-after-name called without a single bid, especially as the rounds progressed.
Teams will have the option to ask that individual players be re-presented on the second and final day of the auction, which will be broadcast on Sony Six today with coverage beginning at 9:30am Bangladesh Standard Time.
-With New Age input
