2013 IPL Auctions: Players Who Made Big Bucks

Cricket is a game that not just attracts Indians but people worldwide. The Indian Premier League or IPL is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket championship in India and has been keenly followed by all. The world’s richest cricket tournament auctions this year saw team buyers picking their choices and here are players who hit jack pot this season, as listed by the Economic Times.

Glenn Maxwell:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Price: $1 million (Rs 5.3 crore)
Base Price: $200,000

Glen is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm off spin and batting with an average of over 30 for Victoria in interstate one day cricket. He set the record for the fastest ever half-century in Australian interstate one day cricket in 2011, reaching 50 runs off 19 balls. He certainly got a hefty price tag at IPL’s auction.

Ajantha Mendis:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $725,000 (Rs 3.8 crore)
Base Price: $50,000

Mendis is known for his slow-medium, bowling a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the carrom ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. He hit jack pot this IPL auction with a tag of 3.8 crore.

Kane Richardson:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $700,000 (Rs 3.7 crore)
Base Price: $100,000

Third on the list is Kane Richardson who was bought by the Pune Warriors for $700,000 in the IPL auction. He is a right arm fast bowler swings ball into right-handers and gets a good bounce. On the back of his strong performances for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers, Kane replaced the injured Mitchell Starc in the 2nd one day international against Sri Lanka in January this year making his international debut.

Abhishek Nayar:

Country: India
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price:$100,000

Abhishek Nayar is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. He is the highest paid Indian in this auction. Abishek has time and again got Mumbai crucial breakthrough’s in his young unsurpassed career.

Thisara Perera:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Thisara Perera represents Sri Lanka at the Test, One Day International and Twenty20 levels. He is an aggressive left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He surfaced as a big impact player for Sri Lanka. He was bought for a whopping Rs 3.6 crore.

Chris Morris:

Country: South Africa
Team: Chennai Super Kings
Price: $ 625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $20,000

Chris Morris is bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 3.3 crore. He is another great player who is already being compared with Lance Kluseer for his ability as match-finisher, both with bat and ball. His auction price surpassed his base price by more than 30 times.

S Senanayake:

Country: Sri Laka
Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
Price: $625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Senanayake is an all-rounder; he bats right-handed and bowls off spin. The 27-year-old has been top bowler in Sri Lanka’s domestic ODI circuit. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth One Day International (ODI) of the tour of South Africa in January last year. His call-up followed a domestic season where he had taken the most wickets in the Sri Lankan Premier League limited overs tournament.

Michael Clarke:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Michael Clarke, nicknamed ‘Pup’ is a right-handed middle-order batsman, and an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler. In November 2012, he scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He is known for his partnerships with Mike Hussey. He went to Pune Warriors for his base price of $400,000.

Ricky Ponting:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Ponting is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as an extremely occasional bowler. He is widely considered by many to be the best batsman of the modern era, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jacques Kallis, etc. Ponting went to Mumbai Indians fetching base price of $400,000.

Phil Huges:
Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians

Nathan McCullum
Country: New Zealand
Team Sunrisers Hyderabad

Clint McKay
Country: Australia
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Phil Huges, Nathan McCullum and Clint McKay went into their respective IPL teams for $100,000.
South African cricketer Ryan McLaren went into Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 50,000.
Only 37 players out of 108 found buyers and those ignored include Martin Guptill, Aaron Finch, and Vernon Philander.

Related articles

• IPL 6 Auction – 37 Players in $11.89 Million (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Ganguly, Dravid, Dhoni: Who’s the Best Captain?

All three had captained the Indian team (One still does) - in three different styles and all the three are at very different stages of their careers today but the Indian Premier League (IPL) brings them together on a single platform where their leadership skills are evaluated them – Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni once again – quite differently.

All the three have contributed immensely to Indian cricket and many argue that a comparison of these outstanding three is unfair. However, debate, undoubtedly, is also the best part of watching sport. And there is the IPL battle being played out in front of us and so, we can be the judges of the present without much of assumptions and imaginations.

There is a difference, a unique feel that Sourav Ganguly brings on to the cricketing field when he takes over the captaincy. And today when he is back with his leadership tactics on the field, the nostalgia begins to jumpstart among the cricket frenzy Indian crowd.

Ganguly’s inputs as the captain of Pune Warriors have been noticeable when his side overthrew the Mumbai Indians on the third match of IPL V. The furious captain rung in the changes and with his unique style, he made some remarkable field placements and as always, he was constantly looking for wickets.

Ganguly who took over the captaincy of Indian team at a very tumultuous period with a task of lifting a team that lost its credibility to the match-fixing controversy. He did rebuild the side reeling from the fallout and had to battle the odds stacked against the Indian team such as “tigers at home and lambs away.” The flamboyant captain created a team that wants afraid of anyone, just like Ganguly who always spoke his mind and dared the orthodox as he took off his shirt at the Mecca of cricket – eventually making the Indian team an aggressive and confident unit.

As today he leads a unit of new commerce, it should be noted that it was with his backing, India saw the emergence of a bunch of talented youngster like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh etc. And in the absence of Yuvraj, Ganguly comes to the Pune Team as its captain and mentor, with a not-so-good record in KKR, to prove something and a motivated Ganguly can do wonders.

One of the finest batsmen in the world, technically perfect, carrying a rich experience of 16 years of international cricket, Rahul Dravid will remain to be admired for his exemplary work ethic, meticulousness, and methodical approach for eternity. On the grounds of IPL season V, the world saw a highly spirited Rahul Dravid who carried the role of captaincy and coaching from its talismanic leader Shane Warne with ease, taking the his team Rajasthan Royals to the top spots in the points table. Dravid, with a different temperament that of Warne, could handle the transition with exceptional maturity and cricketing intelligence.

“Warne was loud, aggressive and loved being the centre of attention. Rahul Dravid is quiet, restrained and simply goes about his business,” Tariq Engineer writes espncricinfo. However, both these cricketing greats share something in common – their ability to lead by example and deep knowledge of the game. “A game of T20 lasts for little over three hours, but he bats for three hours on days we have to practice! His work ethics and discipline have become the benchmark for the team,” Dishant Yagnik says about his captain.

It’s no wonder Rahul exhibit his best during this IPL season as he is probably under the least amount of pressure because for Dravid, these two months of IPL is the cooling down period for him. The former Indian captain, who always took decisions by books than by pure instinct, has the best of his chances and he proves to be implementing his great knowledge of the game this time.

Dhoni’s record as skipper makes him one of the best captains the team ever had; however, the recent poor shows first in England and then the tour Down Under have severely dented his reputation.

Dhoni added a finishing touch to what his captain Sourav Ganguly had began with and brought in a new culture of consistency and the team went on to clinch a number of tournaments. Indian cricket team reached to the No.1 in Test cricket and in the biggest games, unlike the past, the team didn’t crumble under pressure. As a result, Team India Under MS Dhoni made history by winning the top tittles in ICC World T20 2007 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The fearlessness that Dhoni instilled in the team has helped the new comers like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin, to name a few, who exhibited their exceptional skills at the highest levels. And the good forms of the seniors like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman brought back the good memories of the Ganguly era.

It’s here Dhoni faces the real test. After having an exceptional period of captaincy, India’s awful performance away that brought back unwanted memories of the past, generated doubts from different corners on his leadership qualities. The IPL extravaganza is going to be a salvage operation for Dhoni, a chance for him to figure out what’s gone missing and this cricketing festival, without the pressure of leading a national team, will draw his true self once again.