Saturday, 24 March 2012

England players miss out on IPL

Kevin Pietersen drives down the ground, Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL, March 31, 2010 

Not one of the five current England cricketers on sale in the IPL auction were sold. The only players from the current England squad who will play in the fifth season of the IPL are Kevin Pietersen - who was transferred to the Delhi Daredevils for a reported US$2million - Eoin Morgan, who is part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad and Stuart Broad, who was bought by Kings XI Punjab in 2011.

James Anderson, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara did not attract any bids. Chris Tremlett had been included in the auction list but withdrew after flying home from England's tour of the UAE with an injury.

The news will be welcomed by the England management who wanted maximum time for England's players to rest after their tour of Sri Lanka, which ends on April 7, and prepare for the start of the international summer, which begins on May 17 against West Indies at Lord's.

Anderson hoped to use the IPL to press his claim for a recall to England's Twenty20 side ahead of the World Twenty20 in September, but his base price of $300,000 was too much to attract any interest. He last played Twenty20 cricket for England in 2009 and spoke out at players not being given more opportunities to develop their T20 skills.

Pietersen was transferred to the Daredevils from the Deccan Chargers before the auction. He will join India batsman Virender Sehwag and Australia's David Warner for the fifth season of the IPL. He was first signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 for $1.55 million but when the players we re-auctioned in 2011, Pietersen saw his price tag fall to $650,000. Morgan, on the other hand, saw his price increase in the 2011 auction, when the Knight Riders bought him for $350,000. He had been the only England player to be handed a new contract before the 2010 season, when the Royal Challengers signed him for $220,000. Broad was bought for $400,000 by Kings XI in 2011.

Former England internationals Owais Shah - who played for the Cape Cobras in the Champions League in September - and Luke Wright - who turned out for the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League, scoring a hundred from 44 balls against Hobart - were not bought. Ireland's Kevin O'Brien also missed out in Saturday's auction.

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