Rising

: - India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been bought by the Chennai team for a whopping USD 1.5 million after the first round of bidding for players for the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The first round of bidding took just over an hour and those on the block included Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Shoaib Akhtar among others.

Among the foreign players, Australia's Adam Gilchrist has gone to the Hyderabad team for USD 700,000, while former team mate Shane Warne has commanded a price of USD 450,000 from the Jaipur team.

Wily offie Muttiah Muralitharan will also join Dhoni in the Chennai team for USD 600,000.

Bollywood actor Preity Zinta and co-owner Ness Wadi have bid for Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene for their Mohali team for USD 475,000.

Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has been lapped up by the Kolkata team for USD 425,000.

Each of the eight teams is allowed to spend a maximum of five million dollars to buy their players.

The second round of bidding will start at 1230 IST.


Second round

In the second round, Sanath Jayasuriya has commanded the highest price of USD 975,000 from Mumbai. Harbhajan Singh will also join him in the same side for USD 850,000.

Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara joins his skipper Jayawardene in the Mohali team for USD 700,000, while India's Test captain Anil Kumble joins his city team of Bangalore for USD 500,000.

Glenn McGrath and Yousuf have been pushed into the reserve team and will come up for auction later.

Third round

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been the costliest player to be bid for in the this round with Hyderabad paying USD 1.35 million, second only to Dhoni's bid.

His skipper Ricky Ponting has gone to Kolkata for USD 400,000, while Brett Lee joins Mohali for USD 900,000 and Matthew Hayden joins Chennai for USD 375,000.

Among the New Zealanders, Daniel Vettori joins Delhi for USD 625,000; Jacob Oram goes to Chennai for USD 675,000 and Brendon McCullum goes to Kolkata for USD 700,000.

Meanwhile, Michael Hussey has been pushed to the reserve pool of players.

Pre-Bid

On Wednesday, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and big business houses will be among those who bid hundreds of thousands of dollars to shop for 77 of the world’s greatest cricketers in what could be a historic auction.

Auctions for eight Indian Premier League T20 teams will start at a Mumbai five-star hotel from 1100 IST and is expected to go on late in to the evening.

Icon players Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata), Rahul Dravid (Bangalore), Yuvraj Singh (Chandigarh) and Virender Sehwag (Delhi) will not be auctioned. The players will get 15 per cent over the highest paid player in their team.

Chairman Lalit Modi told reporters in Mumbai that the auctions will be conducted by Christie’s, New York to ensure a smooth process. There are 25 Indians, 13 Australians, 11 Sri Lankans, 11 South Africans, eight Pakistanis, five New Zealanders, three West Indians and one Zimbabwean on the list.

First to come under the hammer will be Shane Warne followed by MS Dhoni, Adam Gilchrist and Shoaib Akhtar.

Icon players Dravid and Ganguly have already reached the Hilton Towers, Nariman Point in Mumbai. No player apart from icon players will be allowed in. Both the veterans are already strategising teams on how to go about shopping for their players.
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Fourth round

South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has emerged as the most expensive player in this round of bidding with the Bangalore team bidding USD 900,000 for him.

Other Proteas players who went under the hammer in this round were: Graeme Smith (USD 475,000 - Jaipur) and Herschelle Gibbs (USD 575,000 - Hyderabad).

Among the Indian players, S Sreesanth commanded USD 625,000 from Mohali, while his senior partner Zaheer Khan went to Bangalore for USD 450,000.

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle went to Kolkata for 800,000; while former Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming joined Chennai for USD 350,000.

There were four Pakistan players in this round of bidding. Hyderabad won Shahid Afridi for USD 675,000, while Delhi paid the same amount for Mohammad Asif.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik too joined Delhi for 500,000; while Younus Khan was bid at USD 225,000 by Jaipur.


FiFth round

India's Dinesh Karthik won the highest bid of USD 525,000 from the Delhi team in this round, while Zimbabwe's Tatendu Taibu had no takers and was pushed to the reserve list.

Mark Boucher joined Kallis in the Bangalore team for USD 450,000; while AB de Villiers joined Delhi for USD 300,000.

Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel was picked up by Chennai for USD 325,000 while Pakistan gloveman Kamran Akmal joined Jaipur for USD 150,000.

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