Youth, rather than experience, was the flavour of the IPL auctions. The biggest buzz, however, was all about a veteran, Shane Watson of the banned Rajasthan Royals, who was lapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £950,000, the most expensive buy.
In a slight shift from previous years, team owners kept their purse strings tightly drawn when it came to international stars but were far more liberal when it came to domestic and uncapped players. In just over eight hours, the eight franchises spent £13.6 million in buying 94 players, which included 28 overseas ones.
Unlike the previous two auctions where players like Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik crossed the £1 million mark early in the proceedings, this time teams were more judicious with the selections.
The Watson buy wasn't as eye-popping as the £1 million plus deals Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik secured in the last auction. It raised eyebrows, nonetheless.
The bidding for the 34-year-old Australian all-rounder was slow off the blocks, but picked up once Rising Pune Supergiants joined the fray. Pune threw in the towel when RCB bid £550,000 and just when it looked like he was heading to Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians entered the fray. Vijay Mallya's team eventually sealed the deal at £950,000.
Making a mockery of predictions and reputations, Delhi's left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who started at a base price of Rs 3000,000, turned out to be the most expensive Indian buy at £850,000. His `home' team, the Delhi Daredevils, battled hard with Pune to add Negi -who was a surprise inclusion in the Indian team for the World T20 squad - to their lineup.
Negi was followed by last year's costliest buy, Yuvraj, who was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad for £700,000, less than half of the £1.6 million he fetched last year. In fact, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians were the first to vie for the southpaw. Just when the RCB corner looked content bidding £550,000, SRH entered the fray and swung the proceedings in their favour.
It was the same price Delhi paid for the inclusion of South African pacer Chris Morris. Another player who was expected to rake in the big bucks but fell short of expectations was maverick Englishman Kevin Pietersen, who was bought by Pune for £350,000, only £150,000 more than his base price.
Among the nine marquee players who went under the hammer, New Zealander Martin Guptill went unsold. By the end of the marquee round, it was clear that splurging big bucks on established stars wasn't part of their strategy.
With most teams favouring batsmen while retaining players, the focus was largely on bowlers and bowling all-rounders. This apart, the talented bunch from Rajasthan Royals and CSK found homes which offered them more than their base price.
