IPL Auction 2016: Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh Snapped up For Big Money

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh will be up at the auctions pool for Indian Premier League season 9 taking place on Saturday. The latest auction will witness 351 players going under the hammer and that includes 230 Indian players and 121 overseas players. The 2016 Player Auction will also be the first for the two new IPL teams, Rising Pune Supergiants and Team Rajkot.

The likes of Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh and Dale Steyn will some of the big names the eight IPL teams will go after. After a fierce bidding war between Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab andGujarat Lions, Nehra is sold. Even at a full-fledged auction, the salary purse would not be much more than Rs 200 crores (after all the retentions), the money available for splurging today.

Auctions also have often tided over reputations and past year when Kolkata Knight Riders coughed up Rs. 2.40 crore for K.C. Cariappa, a mystery spinner from Karnataka, it just showed how franchises were keen to take the plunge when it came to propping up surprise-players, who have slipped under the radars of video-analysts.

Rising Pune Supergiants have won the services of Ishant Sharma at Rs 3.8 crore.

Ashish Nehra sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 550 lakh. Players like Watson, Martin Guptill, Aaron Finch, Jose Buttler and Dwayne Smith will be chased but it is likely that an Indian rather than a foreigner who will command the highest bid.

While Haddin’s base price of 1.5 crore isn’t exorbitant, it is certainly on the higher end of the spectrum.

Aaron Finch is unsold.

Perennial woodenspooners Delhi Daredevils again have the maximum purse of Rs 37.15 crore to shop from while defending champions Mumbai Indians only have a kitty of Rs 14.40 crore.

Silence all around. Guptill goes unsold in this round. Apart from a handful of players, most Indian and foreign cricketers have comparable base prices, and bidding for them would be heated.

Dinesh Karthik goes to Gujarat Lions for Rs 2.3 crore. Watson was with Rajasthan Royals, who are suspended for 2 years from the league.