Millions for Jadeja, Jayawardene and Vinay

 

India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja fetched the highest bid in the IPL 2012 auction, being signed up by Chennai Super Kings for more than $2m after they beat Deccan Chargers in a secret tiebreaker. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene went to Delhi Daredevils for $1.4m and India medium-pacer Vinay Kumar to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1m. The auction was held under a cloud of controversy following the breaking news, an hour before its scheduled start, that Sahara was pulling out of its Pune franchise.

Two other big buys on the day came from Kolkata Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum for $900,000 and the relatively low-profile West Indies offspinner, Sunil Narine, for $700,000.

Once again England players weren't in demand. Most West Indies players also missed out as they have Test series with Australia and England clashing with the IPL season. With their availability for the IPL restricted due to the home series against West Indies in May, none of them attracted a bid. VVS Laxman, with a base price of $400,000 and originally an icon player when the IPL launched in 2008, also went unsold.

The big surprises
Vinay Kumar has been prolific in Indian domestic cricket but does not command a permanent spot in India's XI. He was certainly not considered a candidate to hit the million-dollar mark.
Sunil Narine was the mystery bowler of the 2011 Champions League T20. But a player who has played only three internationals going from a base price of $50,000 to being one of the top-five most expensive buys was not on the radar.
Last year Thisara Perera was bought by Kochi Tuskers for $80,000. This year the allrounder went from a base price of $50,000 to $650,000 - the sixth biggest buy at the auction.
Tim Southee came into IPL 2011 as CSK's replacement for an injured Jacob Oram, and impressed with his death bowling, especially against KKR. That, coupled with his big-hitting ability down the order, make his going unsold a huge surprise.
For a team that looks to have one of the weaker combinations in the league, KXIP made bizarre buys, none more so than little known Tasmania allrounder James Faulkner.
Among the most active franchises on the day was Mumbai Indians. They strengthened their bowling line-up by signing up the IPL's highest all-time wicket-taker, RP Singh ($600,000), and three overseas allrounders: Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera ($650,000), Australia's Mitchell Johnson ($300,000) and South Africa's Robin Peterson ($100,000). Mumbai also made one of the smartest buys of the day, by hiring experienced Twenty20 specialist Herschelle Gibbs for a paltry $50,000.

The Rajasthan Royals also made five signings but, unlike Mumbai, they didn't splash the cash. Their most expensive purchases were Australia's Brad Hodge ($475,000) and India fast bowler Sreesanth ($400,000). They made three low-cost buys: $180,000 for left-arm spinner Brad Hogg - who turns 41 on Monday and had received an unlikely international recall for the Twenty20s against India, following his good run in the Big Bash League - and $50,000 apiece for Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal and Trinidad & Tobago allrounder Kevon Cooper, whose medium pace proved hard to hit at the Champions League T20 last year.

Another West Indies allrounder, Andre Russell, who impressed last year with his combination of fast bowling, big hitting, sharp fielding and made-for-IPL bling, was picked up by Delhi Daredevils for $450,000.

Two players whose international days are behind them, Muttiah Muralitharan ($220,000 to Royal Challengers) and former Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood ($200,000 to Kings XI Punjab) also earned contracts.