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Edit on 22 Feb 2008, 10:45am

A few clarifications (from this article in TOI):

Each players’ annual salary is the amount that they were bid for (pro-rated for the number of matches they are ‘available for’).

The penalty for the Jaipur team is that they will pay the difference between their spend amount, ie., $2.925m and the minimum (lower-bound) salary amount, ie., $3.3m, to the IPL. So, Jaipur should expect to be fined $375,000.

And it is true that five of the eight franchises, however, spent more than the maximum salary-cap of $5m. However, since players may be “either completely unavailable or only available for less than four of the matches in 2008, 25 per cent of the fee bid for that player in the auction will count against the $5 million purse”.

Edit End

This is the second in the continuing series on the IPL as the tournament takes shape and forms and follows Srikanth Mangalam’s post on the player auction. And the website for the IPL is now available here, although don’t be surprised if you do not find much there!

I am not sure I understand how the auction works. I thought that there was a cap on spending of $5m. If that is the case, it would appear that apart from Mumbai and Hyderabad, all teams have violated that rule:

• Mumbai Team:
  Owner(s): Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani (Indian billionaire)
  Team Cost: $US111.9 million
  Name: Undecided (Suggestion: Mumbai Mariners)
  CEO: Unknown
  Manager:
  Coach:
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $4.97125m = $3.85m + $1,121,250 to Sachin Tendulkar (icon)
  Players: [8 players] Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock, Loots Bosman, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando
  Team catchment area:
  What else does the team need?: A wicket-keeper, 2-3 middle ’steady’ order bats, 2-3 pace bowlers, an extra spinner. Has 5 overseas players (only 4 can play in any game).
  Initial comments on team: Good pace attack. Could go far. Need a few steady batsmen in the middle order.

• Bangalore Royal Challengers:
  Owner(s): United Breweries Ltd, Vijay Mallya (Indian billionaire)
  Cost: $US111.6 million
  Name: Royal Challengers
  CEO: Charu Sharma
  Manager:
  Coach: Venkatesh Prasad, Team India bowling coach (likely)
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $4.835m = $3.8m + $1.035m to Rahul Dravid (icon)
  Players: Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Cameron White, Mark Boucher, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn, Nathan Bracken
  Team catchment area: Karnataka, Goa and Services
  What else does the team need?: 2-3 middle order bats, an extra spinner, 2-3 pace bowlers, an extra spinner.
  Initial comments on team: Looks too uni-dimensional, staid and somewhat boring that does not quite fit the dashing Kingfisher brand! Needs a few more attacking middle order batsmen. Has 6 overseas players (only 4 can play in any game)
• Hyderabad Team:
  Owner(s): Deccan Chronicle
  Cost: $US107.01 million
  Name: Undecided (Suggestion: “Hyderabad Blues”, after the Nagesh Kuknoor movie or “Hyderabad Hunters”)
  CEO: P. K. Iyer
  Manager:
  Coach:
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $5,885m
  Players: Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Chamara Silva, Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Nuwan Zoysa
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: This team looks set, as is! Do not be surprised if these guys go on to win it! The team needs 2 right arm pace bowlers and a spinner or two! But one problem is that this team has upto 8 overseas players (only 4 can play in any game)
• Chennai Super Kings:
  Owner(s): India Cements
  Cost: $US91.0 million
  Name: Super Kings (a Krish Srikkanth kind of name!)
  CEO: Unknown
  Manager:
  Coach: Robin Singh, Team India fielding coach (likely)
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $5.925m
  Players: Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Michael Hussey, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, Jacob Oram, M. S. Dhoni, Albie Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: Don’t be surprised if this team meets Hyderabad in the finals! The fact that Chennai (like Hyderabad) did not have an “icon player” meant that they almost have a full team now. The team needs an opener (perhaps), a middle order bat and another paceman and then looks set! But one problem is that this team has 7 overseas players (only 4 can play in any game)
• Delhi Daredevils:
  Owner(s): GMR Holdings
  Cost: $US84.0 million
  Name: Daredevils
  CEO:
  Manager: T. A. Sekhar, Sunil Valson
  Coach: Greg Shipperd, current coach of Victoria, Australia (likely)
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $5,658,750 = $4.825 + $833,750 to Virender Sehwag (icon)
  Players: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Manoj Tiwary, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, Farveez Maharoof, Daniel Vettori, Mohammad Asif, Glenn McGrath
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: This terrific fielding unit looks a bit light on to me! The bowlers have a ’similar’ look to it. All bowlers are overseas bowlers and this could come to bite this team in the backside! One problem is that this team has 7 overseas players (only 4 can play in any game).
• Mohali Team:
  Owner(s): Priety Zinta (Bollywood Actress), Ness Wadia (Wadia Group), Mohit Burman, Karan Paul.
  Cost: $US76.0 million
  Name: Undecided (Suggestion: “Mohali Mannequins” or “Mohali Monsters” or “Mohali Marauders”)
  CEO: Unknown
  Manager:
  Coach: Tom Moody
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $5,683,750 = $4.62 + $1,063,750 to Yuvraj Singh (icon)
  Players: Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Yuvraj Singh, Simon Katich, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Brett Lee, Sreesanth
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: This looks like a terrific bowling unit! It needs a wicket-keeper and two opening batsmen! If they get good starts, expect this team to go far! An advantage is that this team has only 5 overseas players (4 can play in any game).
• Kolkata Team:
  Owner(s): Red Chillies Entertainment, Shah Rukh Khan (Bollywood Actor), Juhi Chawla (Actress) and Jay Mehta.
  Cost: $US75.09 million
  Name: Undecided (Suggestion: “Kolkatta Kingpins” or “Kolkatta Chillies” or “Kolkatta Dadas”)
  CEO: Unknown
  Manager:
  Coach: John Buchanan
  Physio:
  Event organisation:
  Player Cost: $6,072,500 = $4.98 + $1,092,500 for Sourav Ganguly (icon)
  Players: Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Tatenda Taibu, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: This also looks like a strong outfit. It will be interesting to see Ganguly captain Murali Kartik! It has two wicket-keepers (both overseas players) and that could be a luxury too many! The team has 7 overseas players (4 can play in any game).
• Jaipur Team:
  Owners: Emerging Media, Lachlan Murdoch, Manoj Badale, Suresh Chellaram.
  Cost: $67.0 million
  Name: Undecided (Suggestion: “Jaipur Jawans” or “Jaipur Jumbos” or “Jaipur Jets”)
  CEO: Fraser Castellilno
  Manager:
  Coach: Greg Chappell (most likely)
  Physio: Ian Fraser (likely)
  Event organisation: Wizcraft (likely)
  Player Cost: $2.925m
  Players: Justin Langer, Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Mohammad Kaif, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Warne, Munaf Patel
  Team catchment area:
  Initial comments on team: This team has a weird look to it! At a first glance it would seem that they have screwed up their auction! A fact substantiated by the teams’ immediate post-auction fine! Firstly, even without an icon player, this team has only 8 players in its ranks, of which 5 are from overseas (only 4 of which can play)! It has very little bowling options!
  

So that’s where things stand at the moment.

– Mohan

Well, the bidding is over, the scalps have been announced. I am reminded of the Bill Murray starrer, Groundhog Day, wherein men are auctioned to women for a one night stand. Here we are, Juhi Chawla, Preety Zeinta and the likes have won their men for several “one day sits in the shacks”…Anyway, here is the list of the winners.

 Jaipur Shane Warne (US$450,000), Graeme Smith (US$475,000), Younis Khan (US$225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$150,000), Yusuf Pathan (US$475,000), Mohammad Kaif (US$675,000), Munaf Patel (US$275,000), Justin Langer (US$200,000)

Chennai MS Dhoni (US$1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$600,000), Matthew Hayden (US$375,000), Jacob Oram (US$675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$225,000), Albie Morkel (US$675,000), Suresh Raina (US$650,000), Makhaya Ntini (US$200,000), Michael Hussey (US$350,000)

Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$550,000), Robin Uthappa (US$800,000), Lasith Malinga (US$350,000), Dilhara Fernando (US$150,000), Loots Bosman (US$175,000)

Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$450,000), Mark Boucher (US$450,000), Cameron White (US$500,000), Wasim Jaffer (US$150,000), Dale Steyn (US$325,000), Nathan Bracken (US$325,000), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (US$200,000)

Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$675,000), Scott Styris (US$175,000), VVS Laxman (US$375,000), Rohit Sharma (US$750,000), Chamara Silva (US$100,000), RP Singh (US$875,000), Chaminda Vaas (US$200,000), Nuwan Zoysa (US$110,000)

Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$700,000), Brett Lee (US$900,000), Sreesanth (US$625,000), Irfan Pathan (US$925,000), Ramesh Powar (US$170,000), Piyush Chawla (US$400,000), Simon Katich (US$200,000), Ramnaresh Sarwan (US$225,000)

Kolkata Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$700,000), Chris Gayle (US$800,000), Ajit Agarkar (US$330,000), David Hussey (US$675,000), Ishant Sharma (US$950,000), Murali Kartik (US$425,000), Umar Gul (US$150,000), Tatenda Taibu (US$125,000)

Delhi Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$625,000), Shoaib Malik (US$500,000), Mohammad Asif (US$650,000), AB de Villiers (US$300,000), Dinesh Karthik (US$525,000), Farveez Maharoof (US$225,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$250,000), Manoj Tiwary (US$675,000), Gautam Gambhir (US$725,000), Glenn McGrath (US$350,000)

The bidders sure did spring a lot of surprises. Most aussies went for much lower than expected. Symonds, expectedly became the first millionaire followed by Dhoni. Shocking winners include David Hussey, Yusuf Pathan and Mohd Kaif. The bidders certainly made informed decisions on the Indian youth brigade. There is quite an interesting story on how VVS Laxman gave up his “icon” status to allow Hyderabad to purchase Symonds.

Chennai looks a really strong team on paper followed by Kolkata and Hyderabad. I predict that Mumbai will not fair well, too many old timers in the side. Having said that we do not know the full team yet that will include the Under 19 folks as well.

Here’s to a crazy beginning to an Indian summer…

- Srikanth