The IPL09 Player Auction saw plenty of action and drama yesterday in Bangalore with little known players bagging multi-million dollar deals while big players currently in red hot form being ignored by the franchises. With the two new franchises, Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions, joining the party it was a high adrenaline, mind numbing and jaw dropping exercise.
Let us look at the Top 5 Costliest Picks from the IPL Player Auction
Shane Watson (RCB): 9.50 Crore
Shane Watson was the star player for the Rajasthan Royals side and he was one of their main weapons and reasons for success. He recently showed his prowess against India in the third T20 at Sydney where he muscled his way to 124* from just 71 balls and served a timely reminder to those who thought that he was past his sell by date.
He is a high impact player and somebody who can change the course of any match with either the bat or the ball in his hands. Watson was brought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore team for a whopping 9.5 Crores and he will join a top order already brimming with champion players in Gayle, Kohli and De Villiers. Now that is one scary batting line up to bowl to and the impact of just having those big names on your roster will scare the opposition away.
Pawan Negi (DD): 8.50 Crore
Pawan Negi played under Dhoni at the Chennai Super Kings and made quite an impression on the Indian skipper so much so that Dhoni pushed for his inclusion in the Indian 15 man squad for the ICC WT20 event to take place in March-April this year. Negi scored 116 runs last season at an impressive strike rate of almost 160 and also took 6 wickets in the 10 matches that he played.
That the Delhi team shelled out 8.5 Crores for a player whose base price was just 30 lacs defies any logic whatsoever and it remains to be seen if Negi can now justify his high price tag with performances in the coming IPL.
Chris Morris (DD): 7 Crore
Chris Morris played for Chennai Super Kings initially and then represented the Rajasthan Royals last year. He is a death over specialist with the ability to bowl yorkers at will and also has a lot of variations of pace to befuddle the batsmen. He is also a very capable lower order batsman with a strike rate in excess of 150.
He had a base price of only 50 lacs but such is a dearth of good all-rounders in world cricket that they are the hottest picks for any team and hence such a high price was shelled for this South African!
Yuvraj Singh (SRH): 7 Crore
Yuvraj may look like a spent force to most Indian fans but he still commands a lot of respect from his peers and he was snapped up by the Sun Risers Hyderabad team for 7 Crore. While that figure may be less than half of what he got last year (16 Crore) but still it put Yuvi in the top 5 buys in this IPL auction.
The fact that he can bat, bowl and is a safe fielder only adds to his overall persona and he is still perceived as a genuine match winner by many.
Mohit Sharma (KXIP): 6.50 Crore
Mohit Sharma was an important player for the Chennai team and he was their go to fast bowler whenever Dhoni needed a wicket. He had a successful IPL season in 2013 when he picked up 23 wickets in 15 matches.
Mohit has a good time with the champion Chennai team and he bowled well both at the start and then at the death. Kings XI Punjab will be going that he can carry over his from down South to North!
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
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