Star England [ Images ] players Kevin Pietersen [ Images ] and Andrew Flintoff [ Images ] on Friday became the most expensive players of the Indian Premier League [ Images ] after being sold for a whopping $ 1.55 million (appr Rs 7.35 crore) in the second edition, getting Rs 1.35 crore more than what Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] got in the first edition.

The hard-hitting Pietersen, who was England's captain till recently, was bought by Bangalore Royal Challengers [ Images ] while Flintoff went to Chennai Super Kings [ Images ] at the auction which was beamed live by most television channels.

Bangalore Royal Challenger, who had finished at the bottom half of the high-profile League in the inaugural edition, spent most of their total amount of $ 1.95 million on the highly talented Pietersen who had base price of $ 1.35 million.

Flintoff, another former England captain, expectedly got a good bidding and will now feature in the same team as Dhoni who is the captain of Chennai Super Kings.

Among other players first to be auctioned, Australia's [ Images ] Shuan Tait was purchased by title holders of the inaugural edition Rajasthan Royals [ Images ] for $ 375,000 while upcoming South African batsman Jean Paul Duminy went to Mumbai Indians [ Images ] for $ 950,000.

West Indian paceman Fidel Edwards [ Images ] was bought for his base price of $ 150,000 by Deccan Chargers [ Images ]. England's Owais Shah [ Images ] and Paul Collingwood [ Images ] were bought by Delhi Daredevils [ Images ] for $ 275,000 each.

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi [ Images ] said that the contracts of all the auctioned players will be for two years.

Owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers Vijay Mallya [ Images ] said he was always keen to get the services of Pietersen as he would add value to the team.

"I was always keen to get Pietersen. He would be a superb addition to the team. We had a list of players before the auction and KP topped that list. We needed to strengthen our batting and I was prepared to pay more for him," Mallya said.

"It is a worthwhile investment and ensure the balance that we wanted in our team", he said.

South African all rounder Tyron Henderson was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $ 650,000 (appr Rs 3.18 crore), a massive jump from his base price of $ 100,000.

Australian opener Phil Jaques went unsold alongwith South African batsman Ashwell Prince [ Images ]. Australian paceman Stuart Clark, who had a base price of $ 250,000 also failed to attract a buyer in the initial round of auctioning.

Another Australian Luke Wright [ Images ] also went unsold with the bidders not showing much interest on the Australians who were up for auction. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara [ Images ] was bought by Kings XI Punjab [ Images ] for $ 450,000 (appr Rs 2.20 crore), far beyond his base price of $ 150,000.