cricket 2009 IPL auction in Goa. Here is a list of the players who have been bought at the auction (base price in brackets; all numbers in US$):

Indian Premier League 2009

Pietersen didn’t lose sleep tracking IPL auction

Cricinfo staff

February 8, 2009

	Kevin Pietersen is not going to be “shaking his IPL money around” soon © PA Photos

Kevin Pietersen has said he did not stay up all night in Jamaica, where he was on tour with the England side, awaiting the results of the IPL auction on February 6. Pietersen emerged the big winner along with team-mate Andrew Flintoff at the event in Goa, earning annual contracts worth US$1.55 million each, making them the highest-earning players in the league. However, Pietersen said he was wary of flaunting around his dollars while his friends were coping with the global economic crisis.

“It’s an unbelievable amount of money,” Pietersen told News of the World. “But I didn’t stay up all night waiting for the results of the auction. I am in the Caribbean in the middle of an important Test series against the West Indies and preparation and focus for that is the most important thing.

“I was honoured when I heard the news that I was one of the most highly-rated players in the world. But I can’t let things like this affect my focus,” he said. “There has been no banter in the dressing room as to how much money we went for. There is a huge credit crunch in England and some of my mates have been made redundant. I have friends who have lost their jobs, so it’s not the time to start shaking your money around.”

While Pietersen was bought by Bangalore Royal Challengers, Flintoff was purchased for the same sum by Chennai Super Kings – who had paid US$1.5m for Mahendra Singh Dhoni last year. Flintoff, too, was happy with the way things had panned out. “We would not have had any problem with different prices, but I guess being the same might stop a few of the other lads taking the mick. I’m very pleased. I went in at $950,000 so to get that much it’s unbelievable really, it has not quite sunk in, I guess. I regard it as a massive bonus.

“My team includes guys like my friend Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan], Matthew Hayden and Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain. So it’s a very exciting team,” he said. “But I’m here in Jamaica playing a Test match. My mind is full of that and the IPL is not for another six weeks. I just regard it as a massive bonus.”

Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah were the other players in the touring party to bag contracts – both for the Delhi Daredevils. “I didn’t make any plans to stay up with the Test match in progress, but I must admit I got a text message telling me what had happened. I slept easily after that!” Collingwood said. “I’m absolutely delighted at the price tag on my head. The reserve price was $250,000 so to get a bit more than that is a really nice feeling.”

There was some cheer in the opposition camp as well, with West Indian fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards being lapped up at the auction, although Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Powell were unsold. Edwards got news of his $150,000 contract with the Deccan Chargers on his 27th birthday.

“It feels great. It was a good birthday gift,” he told the Nation. Playing in the IPL will give me the chance to have a new experience and play alongside different players and in different conditions,” he said. “It is good to see people recognising your talent and requiring your services.”

Edwards was a surprise pick, given he played only three Twenty20 games for Barbados, and was not part of the Stanford Superstars squad that won the Stanford 20/20 for 20 against England last year.”I always felt I was good enough to play Twenty20 cricket. This is good for me personally and good for my cricket career,” he said. “At present, however, I am concentrating on West Indies cricket and looking to help the team beat England. This series is crucial to us and we want to win and more importantly win at home.”

PL auction 2009

IPL 2009

How the teams stack up

Mathew Varghese

February 6, 2009

The auction ahead of the IPL’s second season was, as expected, a tactical exercise. Most franchises came with clear-cut ideas and with the aim of finding the ideal mix in their squads. We take stock of how the teams look like after today’s bidding.

	Kevin Pietersen provides the much-needed X-factor to the Bangalore Royal Challengers © Getty Images

Bangalore Royal Challengers

When the team rosters were fixed last season, many commented on how the Bangalore squad was in stark contrast to the flamboyant image of its owner Vijay Mallya. A ‘Test batting line-up’ comprising Rahul Dravid, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacques Kallis and Wasim Jaffer now has a limited-overs sheen with the induction of Kevin Pietersen, New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder and local boy Robin Uthappa. Although Bangalore sold Zaheer Khan, they are boosted by the availability of Nathan Bracken, injured through the first season. However, like Pietersen, he might be available only for a limited period. Though the attack will be led by Dale Steyn, there are a few doubts over Bangalore’s ability with the ball. Anil Kumble is unlikely to play and Praveen Kumar is their only current India international on the flat tracks of the subcontinent.

Probable XI: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Kevin Pietersen/ Ross Taylor 5 Virat Kohli, 6 B Akhil/ Jacques Kallis, 7 Mark Boucher/ Shreevats Goswami (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9, 10 Nathan Bracken/Vinay Kumar, 11 Dale Steyn.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The big boost for Kolkata is the availability of explosive New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum – who scored the most famous Twenty20 century in last year’s tournament opener – for the whole season. Chris Gayle was unfit last time around and Kolkata will bank on his all-round abilities to help them build early momentum before he leaves for national duty. Mashrafe Mortaza, a popular signing at the auction, could find it hard to fill Umar Gul’s shoes but Ajantha Mendis could be their ace. Ishant Sharma flopped last season but he has vastly improved his skills for the limited-overs game in the past year. Also in the mix are local lad Ashok Dinda, who impressed last season, and former India internationals Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik, one of the key bowlers in Middlesex’s successful Twenty20 campaign.

While Ricky Ponting and allrounder David Hussey may be called on for national duty, fellow Australians Brad Hodge and Moises Henriques, the young New South Wales allrounder, will fill the breach. Cheteshwar Pujara, considered by many to be an India prospect, could well be a value addition.

Probable XI: 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Chris Gayle/Brad Hodge, 3 Sourav Ganguly, 4 David Hussey/ Moises Henriques, 5 Cheteshwar Pujara, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Shukla, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Deccan Chargers

They finished bottom last season but their moves this time don’t inspire much optimism. Deccan’s batting woes were well documented – Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris failed to make an impact – but their bowling was the weakest in the competition. RP Singh was unable to repeat his ICC World Twenty20 heroics, while Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa posed little threat. This time, Deccan brought Fidel Edwards and another West Indian, the allrounder Dwayne Smith, having signed Australian allrounder Ryan Harris before the auction. Edwards is quick but he can be an expensive gamble in the Twenty20 format. Good news for Deccan will be left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha’s impressive tour of Sri Lanka with India.

In the batting department, only Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao performed well last season. Deccan will be keeping close tabs on Andrew Symonds. If his exclusion from the Australian side is prolonged, Symonds could be available for the entire season, a much-needed boost for the side. Whether VVS Laxman, who was replaced as captain, will be a regular in the team this year remains to be seen.

Probable XI: Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 D Ravi Teja, 3 Andrew Symonds/Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Venugopal Rao 6 Dwayne Smith/ Scott Styris, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Chaminda Vaas/Nuwan Zoysa/Fidel Edwards, 10 RP Singh, 11 DP Vijaykumar.

Kings XI Punjab

Punjab, semi-finalists last season, are largely sticking to the line-up that helped them succeed last year. Their only signings this season are West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor and England allrounder Ravi Bopara. Opener Shaun Marsh could be away on duty for Australia and that would be a concern for Punjab, with Brett Lee and James Hopes also set to miss out. They bid frantically for Mortaza, perhaps to ensure having a bowler available for the entire season. A surprising fact that emerged at the auction was that Ramnaresh Sarwan was not on a three-year contract with Punjab – he remained unsold at this auction. What could be worrying, though, is the form of Sreesanth, whose fortunes too have been on the wane since he picked up an injury during the tournament last season. Punjab’s Indian bowlers had done the trick last season, and their team could suffer if that is not the case this time.

Probable XI: 1 Shaun Marsh/ Luke Pomersbach 2 James Hopes/ Sunny Sohal, 3 Kumar Sangakkara/ Uday Kaul (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Ravi Bopara/ Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava/ Sohal 7 Karan Goel 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh/ Brett Lee.

Chennai Super Kings

Imposing is the word that best describes Chennai’s squad after the second auction. A team modelled around Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has the inspirational Andrew Flintoff – commanding a higher salary than Dhoni – and Matthew Hayden is also available for the full tournament. Hard-hitting allrounder Albie Morkel, Man of the Series in Australia recently, is another of the team’s key players, and the embarrassing wealth of talent shows in the fact that Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacob Oram have been overshadowed. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits. Chennai’s third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Another big plus is that barring Flintoff and Hussey, all their foreign recruits are available for most of the season.

Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/ S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath.

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi no longer have Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, but their line-up is even more dangerous this season because of David Warner and the England duo of Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood. Delhi have reason to be pleased with their homework before the Goa auction; their scouts had been lurking around Australia and they have brought in potential impact players. Warner’s sensational Twenty20 international debut against South Africa whet the appetite and there are other hopefuls from Australia in allrounder Andrew McDonald, who too debuted for Australia after joining Delhi, and left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes, an out-and-out Twenty20 specialist.

	Dirk Nannes is a handy addition to a formidable Delhi Daredevils pace attack © Getty Images

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are undoubtedly the most potent opening combination in the tournament, while Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori bring the experience to the bowling. The likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik have been in good touch so far this year. With most of their foreign players free for tournament, the only headache for Delhi could be getting their XI right.

Probable XI: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan/ Owais Shah, 4 Manoj Tiwary/ David Warner, 5 AB de Villiers/ Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Rajat Bhatia/ Paul Collingwood, 7 Daniel Vettori 8 Amit Mishra/ Ashish Nehra, 9 Farveez Maharoof/ Yo Mahesh, 10 Dirk Nannes/ Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Rajasthan Royals

The inaugural champions managed to work out a winning formula under the guidance of Shane Warne, and expect more of the same this year too. Their Indian players were not the best of the lot, but Warne turned them into a formidable unit, and found two highly successful foreign recruits in Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. Tanvir is unavailable and Watson doubtful due to Australia’s schedule and fitness worries, but Rajasthan have found adequate replacements at the auction. Shaun Tait is tailor-made for Twenty20, capable of short bursts of quick bowling, and Tyron Henderson, one of the surprise picks at US$650,000, has been highly successful for Middlesex. It will be a tall order to match Watson’s heroics from last season, but Henderson is an impact player in this format. The team will also be boosted by the availability of Morne Morkel and Justin Langer. Both missed the inaugural edition due to their commitments with English counties.

Dimitri Mascarenhas could also fill in as an allrounder but Rajasthan’s main worry would be Graeme Smith. His might undergo surgery on his elbow after Australia’s visit to South Africa, which could put his IPL participation in doubt. Nonetheless, the champions have proven themselves with lesser-known names.

Probable XI: 1 Graeme Smith/Niraj Patel/ Justin Langer 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Mohammad Kaif,, 4 Shane Watson/ Tyron Henderson/ Dimitri Mascarenhas 5, Yusuf Pathan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Shaun Tait/ Morne Morkel, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai made three buys in the auction. JP Duminy was snapped up for a whopping $950,000, while Mohammad Ashraful could be a steal for the Twenty20 format at $75,000; in between, fast bowler Kyle Mills, who will help compensate for the missing Shaun Pollock. Zaheer Khan, on current form, is a vital addition to cover up for the South African’s bowling skills. In another swap, Mumbai sold Ashish Nehra and brought in Delhi’s Shikhar Dhawan, a move to compensate for Uthappa’s departure. Dwayne Bravo, a successful replacement player for the team last year, was given a permanent deal. Two other key signings also came before the auction. They are limited-over specialists from the English county circuit, allrounders Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren – a Kolpak player South Africa wanted to get back after their ODI losses in England last year.

The team has three Sri Lankans in Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, all of whom are available for the entire tournament. Mumbai were unlucky last time to miss Sachin Tendulkar, who was injured, and Harbhajan Singh – banned for his infamous slap – for the bulk of the tournament. If they manage to get it right, they would perhaps be able to do justice to Mumbai’s tag of domestic giants.

Probable XI: 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 & 5 Dwayne Bravo/ Ryan McLaren/ JP Duminy/ Graham Napier, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Lasith Malinga/ Dilhara Fernando/ Kyle Mills.

Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo

List of players sold

February 6, 2009

Seventeen slots were filled in over two hours of the 2009 IPL auction in Goa. Here is a list of the players who have been bought at the auction (base price in brackets; all numbers in US$):

Pool A
Shaun Tait to Rajasthan Royals 375,000 (250,000)
JP Duminy to Mumbai Indians 950,000 (300,000)
Andrew Flintoff to Chennai Super Kings 1.55 million (950,000)
Kevin Pietersen to Bangalore Royal Challengers 1.55 million (1.35 million)

Pool B
Fidel Edwards to Deccan Chargers 150,000 (150,000)
Owais Shah to Delhi Daredevils 275,000 (150,000)
Paul Collingwood to Delhi 275,000 (250,000)

Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin and Chamara Kapugedara were unsold.

Pool C
Tyron Henderson to Rajasthan 650,000 (100,000)
Ravi Bopara to Kings XI Punjab 450,000 (150,000)
Thilan Thushara to Chennai 140,000 (100,000)
Jesse Ryder to Bangalore 160,000 (100,000)
Kyle Mills to Mumbai 150,000 (150,000).

Ashwell Prince, Phil Jaques, Andre Nel, Luke Wright and Nuwan Kulasekara were unsold.

Pool D
Dwayne Smith to Deccan Chargers 100,000 (100,000)
Jerome Taylor to Punjab 150,000 (150,000)
Mohammad Ashraful to Mumbai 75,000 (75,000)

Samit Patel, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne van Wyk, Steven Smith, Ashley Noffke, Gulam Bodi and Daren Powell were unsold.

Pool E
Tamim Iqbal, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain, James Franklin, Aiden Blizzard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Michael Klinger, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Prasanna Jayawardene and Dominic Thornley were unsold.

Pool F
Mashrafe Mortaza to Kolkata Knight Riders 600,000 (50,000)
George Bailey to Chennai 50,000 (50,000)

Yusuf Abdulla, Daniel Harris, Kemar Roach, Aaron Bird, Michael Dighton, Michael Hill and Brett Geeves were unsold.