Australia’s Glenn Maxwell is million-dollar catch at IPL-6

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell fetched a whopping $1 million (Rs 5.3 crore) in the players’ auction for the sixth edition of the IPL here today.

The 24-year-old Maxwell was bought by Mumbai Indians after a close fight with Hyderabad Sunrisers. The bid started at $200,000. Maxwell, a promising player, is rated high.

"We wanted a young all-rounder, Glenn bowls spin, he is a great fielder. It is Sachin's decision to be captain or not. Ricky and Sachin are two great players in our team who will be a great inspiration to youngsters," said Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani explaining the rationale for the million-dollar bid.

Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka has been picked up by Pune Warriors for $725,000. Mendis' bid is the second highest so far.

Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar went to Pune Warriors for $675,000 (Rs 3.5 crore), a huge improvement on his base price of $100,000.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera too got Rs 3.5 crore from Hyderabad Sunrisers, while Indian paceman R.P. Singh was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore), against his base price of $100,000, after a heated bidding war with Rajasthan Royals.

South African all-rounder Johan Botha was bought by Delhi Daredevils for $450,000 (Rs 2.3 crore) against his base price of $300,000.

Marquee players

Australian captain Michael Clarke was sold at his base price of $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore) to Pune Warriors. There was no other bidder.

Similarly, Ricky Ponting, another marquee player, too didn’t generate much interest and was picked up by Mumbai Indians at his base price of $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore). Ponting was the first player to go on the block.

Price is not the key: Sun Risers

Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), with an opening bid of $50,000, was picked up by Sun Risers for 675,000. Perera was Sun Risers first buy in an IPL auction.

Srikanth of Sun Risers said they were keen on developing a team for future with all-rounders, on Thisara, Sammy and Nathan Mccullum. Price is not the key and filling a specific slot is important.

Sushanto Roy of Pune Warriors said Mendis will be their mystery bowler and captaincy to Clarke is something they are thinking of.

Thirty seven players were bought in the auction today with $11.8 million spent totally. All franchisees have a total fund of $12.5 million. Of the 216 players registered for auction, 108 were shortlisted. Of these, 51 have already played in previous IPL. The list mostly comprised South Africans and Australian players. Royal Challengers bought the most players at 7, Sunrisers 6, CSK and Mumbai Indians, five each. Delhi Daredevils bought two, Pune Warriors four and Rajasthan Royals three. KKR and Kings XI Punjab bought two each. The auction was conducted by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from London. The auction was a low key affair, with players bought in this auction available only for the tournament in April this year. Teams will undergo a major change next year.

The rest

Australia's James Faulkner, who started bid at $100,000, has been sold to Rajasthan Royals for $400,000.

Jeevan Mendis of Sri Lanka was sold to Delhi Daredevils for $50,000.

Batsman Christopher Morris, South Africa, has been bought by Chennai Super Kings for $625,000 (base price $20,000).

Christopher Barnwell, West Indies all-rounder, has been sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $50,000.

Sachitra Senanayake of Sri Lanka was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for $625,000. (The first buy for KKR at this auction).

Spin bowlers: Nathan Mccullum of New Zeland has been sold to Sun Risers for $100,000. Jaydev Unadkat has been sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $525,000. RCB has also picked up Pankaj Singh, bowler, for $150,000.

West Indian Ravi Rampaul has been bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $290,000. Manpreet Gony has been bought by Kings XI Punjab for $500,000.

Fidel Edwards was sold to Rajasthan Royals for $210,000. Indian fast bowler Sudeep Tyagi, who did not get any bids first, was brought back to bid with Sun Risers at $100,000. He was sold to Sun Risers at $100,000.

Chennai Super Kings bought Australian fast bowler Dirk Nannes for $600,000.

New Zealand's Jessie Ryder has been bought by Delhi Daredevils for $260,000 while West Indies' Darren Sammy went to Sun Risers for $425,000.

Australian Moises Henriques (base price $100,000) has been sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $300,000.

Australian player Luke Pomersbach, who started bid at $50,000, was sold to Kings XI Punjab for $300,000 after a heated fight between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI.

Australian Philip Hughes was sold to Mumbai Indians for $100,000.

Australian Ben Laughlin was sold to CSK for $20,000 while Australian fast bowler Kane Richardson went to Pune Warriors for $700,000.

Australian pace bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile was bought by Mumbai Indians for $450,000.

A few unsold players were called back into bid at close of session. Jacob Oram who didn't attract any bid in the morning session was picked up by Mumbai Indians for $50,000.

Quinton de Kock of South Africa was bought by Sunrisers for $20,000. Daniel Christian to Royal Challegers Bangalore for $100,000.

Akila Dananjaya was sold to CSK for $20,000 while Clinton McKay went to Sunrisers for $100,000.

CSK picked up Jason Holder for $20,000 while KKR bought Ryan of South Africa for $50,000.

Kushal Janith Perera of Sri Lanka went to Rajasthan Royals for $20,000.

Unsold players:

There were no takers for New Zealand's Scott Styris, Australian fast bowler Ben Cutting and Josh Hazlewood.

Australian batsman Travis Birt, Ben Rohrer, South Africa's Henry Davids and Ireland's Kevin O' Brien too found no takers.

Among the all-rounders, there were no bids for Ravi Bopara of England.

Australian Mathew Wade, the first of the wicket keepers to go on the block, did not find any taker.

Others who didn’t get any bids were: Time Paine; Matt Prior of UK; Denesh Ramdin (West Indies); Dane Vilas (South Africa); Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka); Australian player Aaron Finch; Sri Lankan player Upul Tharanga; and New Zealand's Martin Guptill.

Farveez Maroof of Sri Lanka; West Indies' Darren Bravo; South African player Herschelle Gibbs; Spin bowlers Cameron Boyce (Australia); Permaul (West Indies); Doug Bollinger; and Rory Kleinveldt of South Africa were unsold.

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