India limited-overs specialist Ravindra Jadeja notched his biggest payday when he was bought for $2m (Dh7.34m) by defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the player auctions for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.
It was the highest amount bid for a player in the auction, where only 25 of the 144 player pool comprising Indian and foreign players were sold for the tournament which begins on April 4.
The 23-year-old all-rounder, who is an effective middle-order batsman, an useful left-arm spinner and a brilliant fielder, was picked by the Chennai outfit after an intense bidding battle with Deccan Chargers in Bangalore yesterday.
Jadeja whose base price was $100,000 (Dh367,000) went to Chennai after the tie-breaker clause was applied when both Super Kings and Chargers bid the maximum ($2 million) for the Saurashtra player. Both franchises were asked to bid a secret amount in the tie-breaker and Super Kings outbid Deccan to clinch the deal.
“Ravindra Jadeja’s approach to the game matches with CSK’s philosophy of fearless entertainers who play to win. We paid the amount for someone who has been delivering consistently,” said a spokesperson from India Cements, which owns Super Kings.
Nicknamed “Rockstar” by Australian Royals’ captain-cum-coach Shane Warne, Jadeja joins India’s Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa in the $2-million-a-year bracket. There is a twist in the tale, though. Jadeja will only get paid $950,000 (Dh3.48m) as per the contract he had signed with the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year and even the secret amount that was bid for Chennai will go to the BCCI.
The interest shown in Jadeja comes on the back of his Man of the Match display in the second Twenty20 International against Australia.
The other million-dollar boys were Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million (Dh5.14m), and Indian seamer Vinay Kumar, who fetched $1million (Dh3.67m) from Royal Challengers Bangalore. New Zealand keeper Brendon McCullum went to Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000 (Dh3.30m), while 41-year-old Aussie spinner Brad Hogg signed for Rajasthan for $180,000 (Dh661,085).
