Fast bowlers were the flavour of the
DLF IPL season 3 auction at the Trident, Bandra-Kurla Complex here in Mumbai recently.
Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad was desperate in search of an alternative to West Indian Fidel Edwards, who is prone to injury. Reluctant to raise the stakes beyond $600,000 for the South African left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell and losing New Zealand's Shane Bond on the tie-breaker bid to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Deccan Chargers made a successful bid for the West Indian fast bowling sensation Kemar Roach at $720,000.
The third auction in three years of the IPL Twenty20 competition fizzled out once Mumbai Indians won the Trinidadian Kieron Pollard at an undisclosed price above $750,000. Delhi Daredevils bought Parnell at a high sum of $610,000, Kolkata Knight Riders took Bond at a price higher than $750,000 and Deccan Chargers heaved a sigh of relief with no rival for its bid for Roach.
Pakistani cricketers feel "hurt" and insulted after none of their 11 players fielded for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction were picked up.
Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi said India and IPL had "made fun" of his country. "The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country by treating us this way," said Afridi.
"We are the Twenty20 World Champions and for me the attitude of the franchises was disappointing. I feel bad for the Indian people who I am sure wanted to see us play in the IPL this year."
The message from the franchises was that they would not squander money on players whose availability is restricted to a few matches.
England and Bangladesh will be busy in a Test series from March 12 to 24 and Australia is scheduled to play One-Day Internationals and a Test series from March 3 to 31. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan (base price $100,000) too suffered because of his home commitments against England.
Thanks to the exposure he got in the Champions League in India, Pollard (base price of $200,000) appealed to Chennai Super Kings,
Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and
Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai Indians which signed up South Africa's J.P. Duminy last year for a whopping $950,000 once again showed its money power quoting a sum that was in excess of the bids from the other three and breaking the deadlock.
Auction results: Kieron Pollard (WI) $750,000 (Mumbai Indians), Wayne Parnell (SA) $610,000 (Delhi Daredevils), Shane Bond (NZ) $750,000 (Kolkata Knight Riders), Kemar Roach (WI) $720,000 (Deccan Chargers), Eoin Morgan (Eng) $220,000 (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Damien Martyn (Aus) $100,000 (Rajasthan Royals), Thissara Perera (SL) $50,000 (Chennai Super Kings), Justin Kemp (SA), $100,000 (Chennai Super Kings), Adam Voges (Aus) $50,000 (Rajasthan Royals), Yusuf Abdulla (SA) $50,000 (Kings XI Punjab), Mohammad Kaif (Ind) $250,000 (Kings XI Punjab).
India under-19: Ashok Menaria (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Harmeet Singh (Deccan Chargers), Harshal Patel (Mumbai Indians) - Rs. 8 lakh each.
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