IPL auction: KKR buys Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan
By ANISaturday, January 8, 2011
NEW DELHI - Kolkata Knight Riders bought Gautam Gambhir for Rs. 11.04 crore and Yusuf Pathan for Rs. 9.66 crore during the ongoing bidding for leading cricket players for the Indian Premier League in Bangalore on Saturday.
Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers bought Sri Lankan all-rounder Dilshan for 650,000 dollar and Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan for Rs. 4.14 crore. Mallya bagged AB DeVilliers for Rs. 5.06 crore.
Sahara Pune Warriors bought Yuvraj Singh for whopping Rs. 8.28 crore.
England star Kevin Pietersen was sold for Rs. 2.99 crore to Deccan Chargers and Koch IPL team bought its first player Mahela Jayawardene for Rs. 6.9 crore
Former West Indies captain Brian Lara and a number of England’s Ashes heroes are among 350 players up for grabs at the auction in Bangalore on Saturday and Sunday.
Lara and England bowler James Anderson are among 21 cricketers with the highest reserve price of 400,000 dollars for a three-year contract, with the cash-rich Delhi and Mumbai teams likely to engage in a fierce bidding war.
Other foreigners on offer include Australians Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee, South Africans Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori.
The tournament, to be held from April 8 to May 22, is expected to feature 10 teams after Indian courts overturned the expulsion of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.
Two new teams have joined the league: Kochi, who have also been involved in a nasty ownership squabble, and the Pune Warriors. (ANI)
