There is outrage in Pakistan over the exclusion of Pakistani cricket players from the latest IPL auction. But where was this sense of ‘outrage’ in the aftermath of 26/11, writes Rajdeep Sardesai in the Hindustan Times. Competitive rage is easy to manufacture in the context of Indo-Pak relations.
Indo-Pak cricket, like diplomatic relations between the two countries, suffers from schizophrenia. Rewind to January 1999 when a Chennai crowd gave a standing ovation to Wasim Akram’s men after they had just beaten India. Six months later, the two countries met again in a world cup match against the backdrop of the Kargil war and fans of both sides abused each other. In 2004, we were treated to a Pakistani crowd singing, “Balaji, zara dheere chalo” every time he ran in to bowl. Eight years earlier, I had watched a Karachi crowd hurl bottles on the field when their team lost to India in a dramatic last over. Two years ago, Sohail Tanvir was the toast of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL). Today, Tanvir and his other Pakistani teammates find themselves unwanted by their IPL owners. more
At the IPL auction, English stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff go for $1.55 million apiece. Cricinfo has the details
Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, the England stars, were sold for US$ 1.55 million each at the IPL auction on Friday, making them the highest-paid cricketers in the Twenty20 league. However, it was Mashrafe Mortaza, the 25-year-old fast bowler from Bangladesh, who stole the show in Goa after attracting a winning bid of US$ 600,000 from the Kolkata Knight Riders that was exactly 12 times his base price of US$ 50,000.
The other stars of the auction were JP Duminy, the South African batsman, who was bagged by Mumbai Indians for US$ 950,000 (base price: US$ 300,000), and most unexpectedly, Tyron Henderson, the Middlesex allrounder, who was bought by Rajasthan Royals for US$ 650,000, which was over six times his base price of US$ 100,000.
more
For a list of players sold, click here.
Results of the second round of the IPL auction:
Group A:
Dimitri Mascarenhas (England/Hampshire) – USD 100,000 – Jaipur
Shane Watson (Australia/Queensland) – USD 125,000 – Jaipur
James Hopes (Australia/Queensland) – USD 300,000 – Mohali
Luke Pomersbach (Western Australia) – USD 50,000 – Mohali
Misbah Ul Haq (Pakistan) – USD 125,000 – Bangalore
Group B:
Brett Geeves (Tasmania) – USD 50,000 – Delhi
Salman Butt (Pakistan) – USD 100,000 – Kolkata
Sohail Tanveer (Pakistan) – USD 100,000 – Jaipur
Morne Morkel (South Africa) – USD 60,000 – Jaipur
Abdur Razzaq (Bangladesh) – USD 50,000 – Bangalore
Group C:
Ashwell Prince (South Africa) – USD 175,000 – Mumbai
Kyle Mills (New Zealand) – USD 150,000 – Mohali
Ross Taylor (New Zealand) – USD 100,000 – Bangalore
Mohd Hafeez (Pakistan) – USD 100,000 – Kolkata
Under 19 players (sold by draft):
Pradeep Sangwan – Delhi
Virat Kohli and Srivast Goswami – Bangalore
Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal – Mohali
Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey – Mumbai
Ravindra Jadeja and Taruwar Kohli – Jaipur
Napoleon Einsten, Abhinav Mukund and Viraj Kadbe – Chennai
Iqbal Abdulla and Sidharth Kaul – Kolkata.
Read the full Associated Press story here
Seventy nine cricketers to eight franchises in the Indian Premier League go under the hammer today. The Times has the story:
The last time Richard Madley was in the newspapers for a cricket auction, he was handling the sale of a collection of ties and saucy seaside postcards once owned by Brian Johnston. Today’s auction is rather less frivolous. When Madley, a lifelong Glamorgan supporter, starts work in the ballroom of the Oberoi Hilton in Bombay, $40million (about £20million) will be at stake.
Madley, an auctioneer with Dreweatts, the British firm, will handle today’s sale of 79 cricketers to the eight franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the new Twenty20 competition that will start on April 18, and anticipation has become feverish.
“I’ve just been mobbed outside the hotel,” Madley said yesterday. “They say that cricket is a religion here, but it appears to be a bit more than that.”
more
And for all the dope on IPL, Hindustan Times has a dummies guide:
What is the IPL ?
The Indian Premier League is a professional twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and backed by the International Cricket Council.
Franchises
The IPL works on a franchise-system based on the American style of hiring players and transfers. These franchises were put for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own the team, representing each city. The auction took place on January 24, 2008 and the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction went on to fetch $723.59 million.
more
