rounder Ravindra Jadeja was sold for $2 million at the Indian Premier League auction in Bangalore Saturday, but a host of big-name stars missed out. Reigning IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, owned by Indian cricket chief Narayanaswamy Srinivasan, bagged the 23-year-old Jadeja after an intense bidding war with Deccan Chargers. Jadeja joins Indian colleagues Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma in the $2-million-a-year bracket in the money-spinning Twenty20 league. Just 25 of the 144 foreign and Indian players who had thrown their hat in the ring found favour with the franchises in the auction, which was restricted to players not already aligned to any team. Among the chief gainers were Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million, and Indian seamer Vinay Kumar, who fetched $1.0 million from Royal Challengers Bangalore. New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum went to Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000, while 41-year-old Australian spinner Brad Hogg was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for $180,000. Former Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood, who now holds a British passport, will play for Kings XI Punjab for $200,000. A bigger surprise, however, was the list of players who missed out. There were no takers for England's James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell, Matt Prior and Ravi Bopara, despite their team being the No. 1 Test side and also the reigning world Twenty20 champion. Veteran Indian batsman Venkatsai Laxman, struggling to retain his place in the Indian Test team, was also unsold. Even in-form Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle was ignored. Jadeja, Jayawardene, Kumar and McCullum belonged to the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers franchise, which played in last year's tournament before it was thrown out of the IPL in September for non-payment of dues. The franchises used the auction to fill their quota of 11 foreign stars in the 33-man squads allowed for each club ahead of the fifth edition of the IPL which will be played between April 4 and May 27. The auction was held in the shadow of the withdrawal of the Sahara group, sponsors of Team India and owners of the Pune Warriors franchise, from their association with Indian cricket earlier Saturday. Sahara, which cited a “one-sided emotional relationship” with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its decision, did not take part in the auction. Sahara India announced Saturday it will end its sponsorship of the national team. The sponsorship contract was not due to expire until next year but Sahara said it will only stay on for a few months while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finds a replacement. Sahara had been paying 3.34 crore rupees ($670,000) for each Test, one-dayer and Twenty20 game. The announcement was made through a press release only an hour before the scheduled start of an IPL players' auction. “We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI,” Sahara India said in the release. This year's IPL will be played from April 4 to May 27.
