Cricketers Auctioned; Dhoni, Symonds rake in millions

It’s happening cricketers are being auctioned. All the action is taking place under the purview of Indian Premiere League (IPL) and I am updated on this news by NDTV 24×7, India’s best news channel.

India One-day and Twenty20 captain MS Dhoni was sold for USD 1.5 million, the highest bid so far at the on-going Indian Premier League auctions in Mumbai. Dhoni was bought by Chennai.

Later in the day, Hyderabad bought Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds for USD 1.3 million, the second biggest bid of the day.

The first two rounds of auction are over. Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka drew the next biggest bid, of USD 975,000 from Mumbai.

Top Australian players Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist also drew some big bids. Warne was sold to Jaipur for USD 450,000 which was his base price.

Gilchrist will now be the face of the Hyderabad team, who bought him for USD 700,000.

The eight team franchise owners of the IPL will bid through the day for 77 international cricketers who are up for grabs.

A few of the early arrivals for the bidding, who arrived at the Hilton towers included Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia. It’s a first of its kind, as the cricketers are auctioned off.

I will update this space as soon as NDTV 24×7 updates me further. The fantastic news channel is available in the US only through DirecTv.