Bengaluru: Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and West Indies batsman Chris Gayle became the first two players to be unsold in the first round of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held in Bangalore on Saturday.
Both Ganguly and Gayle were part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous three editions of the tournament.
Sahara Pune Warriors bought Robin Uthappa for Rs. 9.66 crores and South African captain Graeme Smith for Rs. 2.30 crores.
Mumbai Indians bagged the services of Rohit Sharma for Rs. 9.02 crores and former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds for Rs. 3.91 crores.
Australian Twenty20 captain Cameron White was sold to Deccan Chargers for Rs 5.06 crores.
Deccan Chargers also bagged Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara for Rs.3.22 crores.
Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers bought New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori for Rs. 2.50 crores.
Former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist was sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 4.14 crores, while Rahul Dravid was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 2.3 crores.
Kochi IPL team bought Sreesanth for Rs. 4.1 crores, Brendon McCullum for Rs. 2.2 crores and V.V.S. Laxman for Rs. 1.8 crores.
Former West Indies captain Brian Lara and a number of England’s Ashes heroes are among 350 players up for grabs at the auction.
Lara and England bowler James Anderson are among 21 cricketers with the highest reserve price of 400,000 dollars for a three-year contract, with the cash-rich Delhi and Mumbai teams likely to engage in a fierce bidding war.
The tournament, to be held from April 8 to May 22, is expected to feature 10 teams after Indian courts overturned the expulsion of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.