Royal Challengers Bangalore co-owner Siddhartha Mallya on paying a whopping $1 million to purchase India pacer R Vinay Kumar.

"We had Vinay in mind before the auction and I am happy that we have managed to buy him. He brings a lot of value to the team. With seven Indian players needed in the playing XI, we needed top quality players and Vinay is one of them. He has proved himself as a great T20 player in recent T20 matches against Australia. He is economical and can also bat. He is also the Karnataka Ranji team captain and off the field he is a big motivator for the local guys. It's great to bring him back to the team."

Mallya believes getting veteran Muttiah Muralitharan is also a big positive for RCB.

"I think Muralidharan was a steal for us. Getting a player of Murali's stature for such a price is really great. We have Daniel Vettori, but in case he is not available for any reason, we now have Murali. With Anil as a mentor and Dan and Murali in the side, these three can also help us in developing young spinners. Anyone with over 1000 international wickets is a great asset to the team."

Reactions of the team-owners after the IPL Players' Auction concluded in Bangalore on Friday.

Gayatri Reddy of the Deccan Chargers: "Slightly disappointed (on missing out on Ravindra Jadeja) but it is Twenty20, so its allright.

Deccan Chargers coach Darren Lehmann on why they didn't buy VVS Laxman.

"VVS is such a great player not just for Hyderabad but also for India. We have moved on and we are looking at a younger brand of cricket."

On signing up Parthiv Patel:
"Parthiv is a fine young man and a fine cricketer. We are disappointed that we did not get Jadeja but we are glad that we got Parthiv. As for why we went for him, he is an international cricketer, he is a fine bloke. And as a wicket-keeper, he also adds balance. We are happy."

India's young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja fetched the highest bid with champions Chennai Super Kings buying him for a whopping $2 million via the tie-breaker (approx Rs 9.72 crore)

Mahela Jayawardene ($1.4 million) and R Vinay Kumar ($ 1 million) who were sold to Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively were the other two players, who crossed the million-dollar mark.

However, there was disappointment for Indian veteran VVS Laxman, who found no takers in the players' auction. Similar was the case with all the top England players including the likes of Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Ian Bell as they went unsold.

23-year-old Jadeja's bidding started at $100,000 and it went all the way to $2million with equal bids from Chennai and Deccan Chargers before the tie-breaker was invoked to resolve the deadlock.

Both the franchises were asked to bid a secret amount in the tie-breaker and it was Chennai which managed to outbid Deccan.

Interestingly, Jadeja will only get $950,000 as per the contract he had signed with Kochi last year and the rest of the amount will go to the BCCI.

Some other surprise picks at the auction were West Indians Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Spinner Sunil Narine, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $700,000 after starting with a base price of $50,000. Russell was sold to Delhi Daredevils for $450,000, a massive hike from his base price of $50,000.

Other big gainers at the auction were New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum was bought for $900,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders against his base price of $400,000.

India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel was sold to Deccan Chargers for $650,000 after his bidding started at $200,000.

A total of 146 players went under the hammer with a purse of $16.94 million between the eight teams after Sahara Pune Warriors did not turn up following their decision to quit the IPL.

Some of the players who were unsold are: India's VRV Singh, England's Luke Wright, Owais Shah and Graeme Swann, Bangladeshi Tamim Iqbal, Australian pacer Peter Siddle, South Africans Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Justin Kemp and Vernon Philander, Sri Lankan Upul Tharanga, West Indians Marlon Samuels, Dwayne
Smith, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul, New Zealander Tim Southee and Ireland's Kevin O'Brien.

The list of players bought by the franchises:

Ravindra Jadeja: US$ 2 million (Rs 9.71 crore) to CSK via the tie-breaker
Brendon McCullum: US$ 900,000 (Rs 4.37 crore) to KKR
Muttiah Muralitharan: US$ 220,000 (Rs 1.06 crore) to RCB
Mahela Jayawardene: US$ 1.4 million (Rs 6.80 crore) DD
Herschelle Gibbs: US$ 50,000 (Rs 24.30 lakh) to MI
Brad Hodge: US$ 475,000 (RS 2.30 crore) to RR
Parthiv Patel: US$ 650,000 (Rs 3.16 crore) to DC
Dinesh Chandimal: US$ 50,000 (Rs 24.30 lakh) to RR
Andre Russell: US$ 450,000 (Rs 2.18 crore) to DD
Mitchell Johanson: US$ 300,000 (Rs 1.45 crore) to MI
RP Singh: US$ 600,000 (Rs 2.91 crore) to MI
Vinay Kumar: US$ 1 million (Rs 4.86 crore) to RCB
Sreesanth: US$ 400,000 (Rs 1.94 crore) to RR
Ramesh Powar: US$ 160,000 (Rs 77.76 lakh) to KXIP
Brad Hogg: US$ 180,000 (RS 87.48 lakh) to RR
Sunil Narine: US$ 700,000 (Rs 3.40 crore) to KKR
Robin Peterson: US$ 100,000 (Rs 48.60 lakh) to MI
Daniel Harris: US$ 70,000 (34.02 lakh) to DC
Kevon Cooper: US$ 50,000 (Rs 24.30 lakh) to RR
James Faulkner: US$ 190,000 (Rs 92.34 lakh) to KXIP
Azhar Mahmood: US$ 200,000 (Rs 97.20 lakh) to KXIP
Thisara Perera: US$ 650,000 (Rs 3.15 crore) to MI
Marchant de Lange: US$ 50,000 (Rs 24.30 lakh) to KKR
Darren Bravo: US$ 100,000 (Rs 48.60 lakh) to DC
Doug Bracewell: US$ 50,000 (Rs 24.30 lakh) to DD.

It seems the Mumbai Indians are done with their shopping for the day.

Shaun Pollock on Twitter: "So Perera, Peterson , RP Singh , Gibbs , Johnson it is?? Hope that the Mumbai fans are happy!!"

Some smart buys from the Mumbai Indians including the likes of Mitchell Johnson. They planned their purchases quite smartly and executed them perfectly!

The unsold players from the morning session are up for grabs now.

West Indian Darren Bravo is snapped up by Deccan Chargers for his base price of $100,000, but Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara fail to find buyers yet again.

"We get Brian Lara's replica - DARREN BRAVO :)" Deccan Chargers proudly declare on Twitter

Kiwi pacer Doug Bracewell is sold to Delhi Daredevils for his starting bid price of $50,000.

Surprisingly, England's off-spinner Graeme Swann has failed to attract any bid yet again.

The list of unsold players in this round:
J Kemp
Kevin O'Brien
Steven Smith
Ravi Rampaul
Tim Southee
Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Ajantha Mendis

Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera was another major purchase at the IPL auction when he was sold to Mumbai Indians for $650,000 after starting with a base price of $50,000

Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers were involved in a keen battle for Perera before the former sealed the deal.

South African Merchant de Lange was picked up Kolkata Knight Riders for his starting price of $50,000 but there were no takers for Australian Ben Laughlin.

Former South Africa spinner Nicky Boje and his compatriot Ryan McLaren failed to attract any bids. Australia's Moises Henriques ($50,000) also went unsold.

A look at some of the other players who were unsold:
South African Jacques Rudolph ($20,000), New Zealand's Andy McKay ($50,000), Australians Alister McDermott ($20,000), Michael Nesar ($50,000)

There will be a short two-minute break before the unsold players from the morning session will be presented again for the auction.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood has been purchased by Kings XI Punjab for $200,000.

Interestingly, Mahmood has converted to British citizenship and that is why he was included in the auction. He started with a base price of $100,000 and went for double that price.

Highly rated all-rounder James Faulkner from Tasmania has been sold to Kings XI Punjab for $190,000.

The 19-year-old is yet to play international cricket for Australia but is highly rated. He started with a base price of $100,000 and attracted bids from Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.

Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof and New Zealand's Jacob Oram remain unsold

Highly rated all-rounder James Faulkner from Tasmania has been sold to Kings XI Punjab for $190,000.

The 19-year-old started with a base price of $100,000 and attracted bids from Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.

The final leg of the IPL Players' Auction begins.

IPL CEO Sundar Raman confirms on Twitter that "There will be a short listed 34 players presented for the auction now."

The first player who was up for grabs is Australian pacer Ryan Harris with a base price of $50,000. He is snapped up by Deccan Chargers for $70,000.

There are no bids for Australian Michael Klinger, South Africans Richard Levi and Alviro Peterson. West Indian Lendl Simmons also goes unsold.

Trinidad and Tobago all-rounder Kevon Cooper has been sold to Rajasthan Royals for his base price of $50,000.

The second session of the IPL Players' Auction was set to begin at 2.45pm IST, but things are held up currently.

It seems that the first round of auction has ended and all the remaining players will have one final chance to find a buyer.

All the eight franchises have been asked to submit a list of 9 players each whom they wish to purchase. If the player they have selected has not been selected by another franchise, then they will get that player at the starting bid price or the base price. However, if two or more franchises are interested in a single player, then we will have more bidding.

IPL CEO Sundar Raman and his team are currently working out the modalities for the final round and to see if we need further bidding or not.

Meanwhile, Delhi Daredevils are delighted to have snapped up Sri Lankan star batsman Mahela Jayawardene for a massive $1.4 million.

It turned out to be an eventful morning session at the IPL Players' Auction in Bangalore.

The day started with the shocking news of Sahara Pune Warriors pulling out of the IPL after differences with BCCI over varying rules for the players' auction after their captain Yuvraj Singh was unable to take part.

Ravindra Jadeja has emerged as the top pick of the auction so far. He was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping $ 2m via the tie-breaker after Deccan Chargers also quoted the same price.

Mahela Jayawardene was the next big purchase. The Sri Lankan batsman was the second player to cross the million-dollar mark when he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a whopping $1.4 million.

India pacer R Vinay Kumar was the other million dollar purchase. He went for ten times his starting price when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a mammoth $1 million.

Vinay, who started with a base price of $100,000, played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year.



There was bonanza for wicketkeepers too.

New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum was the first player to be sold at the IPL players' auction when he was sold at a massive US $900,000 to the Kolkata Knight Riders. India's wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel fetched the highest price among the wicketkeepers when he was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000.

Meanwhile, India's batting great VVS Laxman, who failed with the bat in the Test series in Australia, went unsold.

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Meanwhile Australia's latest fast bowling sensation James Pattinson reacts on West Indian spinner Sunil Narine's sale to Kolkata Knight Riders for a massive $700,000.

"Can someone Let me know if Sunil Narine is classed as an overseas player or an Indian????," he wrote on Twitter.

"Sunil narine looks like a good choice, but won't he be playing against australia whilst the ipl is on???"

Vice-captain Harbhajan Singh, who is at the IPL Players' Auction, says Mumbai Indians are looking to sign one more player, but declined to reveal his name.

"We are looking for one more player whom we have our eye on. I can't tell you that name right now, but if we get that player we will be settled."

"We had a set plan. We knew what sort of players we wanted and we got them. We have got the players we were looking for, so we are not disappointed," he said during the lunch break.

"It would have been nice to have got Sunil Narine, but it didn't work out. We also tried to sign Brendon McCullum."

"Mitchell Johnson was a very good buy. Hope he remains fit and has a very good IPL."

"We have a very strong bowling line-up. We can play different sort of teams depending on the conditions."

Left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, who was purchased by Mumbai Indians for $600,000, expressed his delight at joining the Sachin Tendulkar-led side.

"Happy to be joining the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2012. Look forward to sharing the dressing room with the cricketing greats." he wrote on Twitter.

The next round of auction will start at 2.45pm IST.

It turned out to be a windfall for West Indies spinner Sunil Narine at the IPL Players' auction as he was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for a massive $700,000.

Narine started with an opening bid of $50,000 and immediately triggered a bidding war between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

South Africa's Robin Peterson went for his opening bid price of $100,000 to the Mumbai Indians.

England's 32-year-old off-spinner Graeme Swann, regarded as one of the best spinners in the world, did not find any takers after starting with a base price of $400,000.

Sri Lankans Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis also failed to find any buyers. Australians Stephen O' Keefe and Xavier Doherty also remained unsold.

It's lunch time now as there will be a 90-minute break before the next session begins.

Australia's 40-year-old spinner Brad Hogg was sold to Rajasthan Royals for $180,000 after starting with a base price of $100,000.

Hogg was recently recalled to the Australian Twenty20 squad after an outstanding performance in the Big Bash Twenty20 league. He had retired from all forms of cricket fours years ago before made his comeback with Twenty20 cricket in the Big Bash league.

Mumbai spinner Ramesh Powar went to Kings XI Punjab for $160,000.

India pacer S Sreesanth was bought by Rajasthan Royals for his base price of $400,000.

Sreesanth is currently recovering from an injury which forced him to miss the ongoing tour of Australia.

Sreesanth played for Kings XI Punjab in the first three seasons, before he was purchased by Kochi Tuskers last year.

Interestingly, Peter Siddle, who played a crucial role in Australia's Test series 4-0 whitewash over India, did not find any takers.

West Indian Ravi Rampaul and New Zealand's Tim Southee were unsold.

India pacer R Vinay Kumar went for ten times his starting price when he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a mammoth $1 million.

Vinay, who started with a base price of $100,000, played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year.

Delhi were also interested in getting Vinay but didn't have enough funds in their auction purse.


The 27-year-old Karnataka pacer was recently included in the Indian Test squad during their four-match series in Australia and made his debut during the third Test in Perth. Read his recent interview.

Left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh was purchased by Mumbai Indians for $600,000.

RP Singh, who played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year, started with a base price of $200,000.

The BCCI has issued a media release, stating their stand on the Sahara Pune Warriors' sudden exit from the IPL and the Indian team's sponsorship.

"We understand that Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has issued a statement in which it indicates an intention to withdraw from its involvement in Indian cricket, including as regards the Indian Premier League. We intend to contact Sahara Adventure Sports Limited as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions.

If we understand Sahara Adventure Sports Limiteds statement, it intends not to participate in the 2012 IPL Auction or in the 2012 IPL Season. During the last few days Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has requested that IPL vary its Player Regulations by allowing it to increase its Auction Purse from $1.6m to $3.4m in light of Yuvraj Singhs unfortunate illness. Whilst all within IPL and BCCI have a huge amount of sympathy for Yuvraj Singh and wish him all the best for a speedy recovery, it is unable to vary the Player Regulations.

The rules are very clear and are consistent with previous seasons: Sahara Adventure Sports Limited may take a replacement following the 2012 Auction.  Additionally, the Trading Window will re-open on 6^th February and Sahara Adventure Sports Limited will then have a further opportunity to take new players. In the first four seasons of IPL, other franchises have been obliged to cope with the periods of unavailability of their players and have taken replacements as per the regulations.

The BCCI cherishes its relationship with all the IPL Franchises. The rules are applicable to all of them."

Little known West Indian Andre Russell attracted the highest bid among the all-rounder when he was snapped up by Delhi Daredevils for $450,000.

Russell, who started with a base price $50,000, triggered a mini bidding war between Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils before the latter sealed the deal.


Interestingly, Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson attracted only a single bid and went for his base price of $300,000 to the Mumbai Indians.

The rest of the eight all-rounders failed to attract any bids.

Australia's Steve Smith, England all-rounder Luke Wright, both starting with a base price of $200,000 were unsold.

New Zealand's Doug Bracewell, England's Ravi Bopara, Ireland's Kevin O'Brien, former South African all-rounder Justin Kemp, West Indians Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith also suffered the same fate.

India's wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel fetched the highest price among the wicketkeepers when he was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000.

Patel played for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year before which he had represented the Chennai Super Kings. He had started with a base price of $200,000.

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal went to Rajasthan Royals for his base price of $50,000.

South African veteran Mark Boucher, who has previously played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, failed to attract any bids after starting with a base price of $100,000.

England's Matt Prior and Zimbabwe's Brendon Taylor also went unsold.

India's experienced batsman VVS Laxman, who started with a base price of $400,000, was not purchased by any of the franchises.

Laxman played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year, but his failure with the bat in the four-match Test series in Australia seems to have cost him a place in the IPL.

Meanwhile, Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah  Rukh Khan is feeling shy to sit in the players' auction.

Former Australian batsman Brad Hodge was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for $475,000.

Hodge, who played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year and is regarded as a Twenty20 specialist, started with a base price of $200,000.

South African Herschelle Gibbs was the first player to be sold in the second round as he was purchased by Mumbai Indians for his base price of $50,000.

Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal and West Indian Adrian Barath, who had the same base prices, went unsold. Ramnaresh Sarwan ($100,000 base price) also did not find any buyers.

England's Ian Bell with a base price of $200,000 and West Indies' young batting talent Darren Bravo also did not find any takers.

Former England batsman Owais Shah and , who played for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year, also failed to attract any bids.

Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga also suffered the same fate.

Chairman Rajiv Shukla declines to react on the Sahara Pune Warriors sudden exit from the IPL.

"It is unfortunate but we have not received anything in writing, so we cannot comment on it. They wanted certain changes in the rules but we rejected it since it would have been unfair to the other eight franchises," Shukla said.

"Unless we get anything in writing only then can we react," he added.

He believes that Pune's exit will not affect the Twenty20 tournament. "The IPL will continue, the show always goes on. The auction is going on."

Mahela Jayawardene was the second player to cross the million-dollar mark in this year's IPL players' auction, when he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a whopping $1.4 million

The veteran batsman started with a base price of $300,000. Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers went all out for the Sri Lankan captain, who was bought by Kochi for $1.5 million last year.

Earlier, India's young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was bought by Chennai Super Kings via the tie-breaker for a massive $2 million.

So that concluded the first round in the players' auction in which five marquee players were up for grabs.

Results:

Ravindra Jadeja bought by Chennai Super Kings for $2million
Mahela Jayawardene bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million
Brendon McCullum was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000
Muttiah Muralitharan was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $200,000
James Anderson went UNSOLD

India's young all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was bought by Chennai Super Kings for a massive $2 million via the tie-breaker.

Jadeja started with a modest base price of $100,000 and attracted bids from nearly every franchise.

The bidding went up to $2million as Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings quoted the same price. The auctioneer Richard Madley then invited IPL CEO Sundar Raman to invoke the tie-breaker.

According to rules of the tie-breaker, both the bidding franchises were asked to submit an amount in Indian rupees in a sealed envelope, which would then be opened by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla. The team quoting the highest amount over the $2m will win the bid and get the player.

Interestingly,  Jadeja, who was bought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala for $950,000 in the 2011 IPL Players' Auction will get the same amount this year and the surplus would go to the BCCI.

England fast bowler James Anderson, who started with a base price of $300,000, went unsold with none of the franchises interested in his services.

He becomes the first unsold player in this year's auction.

Sri Lanka's former spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $220,000 after starting with a base price of $200,000.

The 39-year-old played for Chennai Super Kings in the first three editions before signing up for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year.

New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum was the first player to be sold at the IPL players' auction when he was sold at a massive US $900,000 to the Kolkata Knight Riders.

He started with a opening base price of US $ 400,000 and attracted a strong bidding war from Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians.

Interestingly, McCullum played for Kolkata for three seasons before he moved to Kochi last season.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla throws open the floor for the IPL players' auction in Bangalore.

A total of 146 players will go under the hammer for 36 slots, he says.

The auction will be conducted by Richard Madley, who is now explaining the rules to all the existing eight franchises in the room.

Meanwhile, IPL chief Rajiv Shukla has said that the players' auction will go ahead despite the withdrawal of Sahara Pune Warriors.

In shocking news ahead of the players' auction in Bangalore on Saturday, the Sahara Pune Warriors have pulled out of the Indian Premier League.

The Indian cricket team's longtime sponsor Sahara India also ended financial ties with the BCCI.

"...after an 11-year journey as sponsors, we can say with surety that cricket has become very rich. Many rich people are there to support cricket with a strong will to do so. So, with absolute peace of mind we can exit from cricket under BCCI and are exiting with a heavy heart," Sahara India said in a statement.

"It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship but our emotions were never appreciated and many genuine situations were not given due consideration at all," the statement read.

Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya also confirmed the news on Twitter. "Looks like IPL 5 will have only 8 participating teams after the unfortunate exit of Sahara Pune Warriors," Mallya wrote.

It is believed that differences between Sahara and IPL over Yuvraj Singh's replacement sparked the move. They were also unhappy with the way Bangalore were allowed to buy Chris Gayle.

For now, no comments from the IPL or the BCCI on whether the players' auction will go ahead.