Asian Window

17 foreign players sold for $450,000 on an average as eight IPL teams spend a total of $10.06 million. Ravi Krishnan in Mint:

Panaji: A Bangladeshi fast bowler went for 12 times his reserve price. A 34-year-old domestic South African player got six times his base price. And two others, both former England captains, became the world’s highest-paid cricketers. The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) second round auction on Friday in one of Goa’s priciest hotels seemed unaware of any slowdown.

England’s Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were signed for $1.55 million (Rs7.55 crore) a year each, topping the $1.5 million the India Cements Ltd-promoted Chennai Super Kings bid for India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni last year. Flintoff will play for the Chennai franchise and Pietersen for the United Breweries Ltd-owned Bangalore Royal Challengers.

[Photos: Vijay Mallya and Preity Zinta]

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