The two biggest names in the Indian Premier League – Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina – were the top draws in the draft picks for new teams.
The team from the western city of Pune coughed up 125 million rupees ($1.86 million) to grab the league’s most successful captain Dhoni for the next two editions of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
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Raina, the highest run-getter of the tournament (3699 runs) fetched the same price as Dhoni for Rajkot, owned by Indian consumer electronics firm Intex.
Dhoni, who has won 78 of 129 IPL matches, including two titles in 2010 and 2011 as Chennai Super Kings captain will have Australian captain Steven Smith, sold for 55 million rupees ($820,000), and South African Twenty20 captain Faf du Plessis, who went for 40 million rupees ($600,000), in his new team.
Take a look at how the 2016 vivo IPL Player draft unfolded in Mumbai https://t.co/eFDN6h8hKm
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 15, 2015
The Pune franchise owned by New Rising, an Indian conglomerate, also roped in prolific run-getter Ajinkya Rahane and this year’s leading Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 95 million ($1.42m) and 75 million rupees ($1.12m).
Rajkot also made a sound investment by selecting India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja ($1.42m) besides picking New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum for 75 million rupees ($1.12 million), Australian James Faulkner for 55 million rup-ees ($820,000) and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for 40 million rupees ($600,000).
Australia’s Shane Watson and Mike Hussey, South Africa’s Chris Morris and the West Indies’ Dwayne Smith were the top players unsold and will now be auctioned in Bangalore on February 6, next year.
The new franchises have rep-laced Chennai and the Rajasthan Royals – teams banned from the glitzy tournament for two years on the recommendation of a Supreme Court-appointed panel, after a corruption scandal.
They were allowed to choose five stars from each of the banned teams, while the remaining 40 were released into a pool for auction.
Excited to play for the beautiful vibrant city- Rajkot in @IPL. Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) December 15, 2015
The 2013 IPL season was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials from the teams and three Rajasthan players for illegal betting and spot-fixing.
Both Chennai and Rajasthan are expected to return to the IPL after their bans end following the 2017 edition.
