Bangalore : It is surprising for the cricket fans to know that, Opener Gautam Gambhir on Saturday became the costliest cricketer in the IPL by obtaining a massive USD 2.4 million (approx Rs 11.04 crore) on the first day of the auctions with three others going for more than USD two million.
When the Bollywood stars and corporate VIP’s were locked in a bidding war, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Gambhir huge sum, breaking the previous high set recorded by the English Duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff (USD 1.55 million) in the last season.
Though Shah Rukh Khan was not personally present, his Kolkata Knight Riders, ran in the last two seasons, proved to be the big spender of the day by also buying hard-hitting all-rounders Yusuf Pathan (Rs 9.66 crore) and Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.06 crore) for the fourth edition of event to be held from April 8 to May 20.
Gambhir, who was captain of the Delhi Daredevils last season, saw his price skyrocket 12 times from his first price of USD 200,000 (Rs 92 lakh) while three other Indian players – Yusuf (USD 2.1 million), Rohit Sharma (USD 2 million) and Robin Uthappa (2.1 million) crossed the two million mark.
Irfan Pathan  who has not played in this season, was taken by Delhi Daredevils for a high amount of USD 1.9 (Rs 8.74 crore) million.
To be surprised, there were some unsold name list with former India and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly, West Indies batting star Chris Gayle and the legendary Brian Lara, who lacked the buyers.
There is still a chance for these players to get their named called off again in the second round of bidding.
The bidding trend at the auction at times appeared to defy logic but what was certain was that the franchises were willing to spend big money on the Indian players. Mahela Jayawardene was the most expensive foreign player going to Kochi at USD 1.5 million (Rs 6.90 crore).
Apart from the crickets, the Bollywood stars like Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty provided the glamour proportion while liquor baron Vijay Mallya, his son Siddharth, Nita Ambani and Nusli Wadia added the corporate atmosphere at the auction.
Cricketing brains such as Anil Kumble, Stephen Fleming, Geoff Lawson and Darren Lehmann, who have been roped in either as coaches or mentors by the franchises, helped them work out the bidding strategies.
Robin Uthappa, who has been out of national reckoning for quite some time, was bought for an astounding USD 2.1 million (Rs 9.66 crore) by Sahara Pune Warriors who opened their account by buying Yuvraj Singh for USD 1.8 million (Rs 8.28 crore approx). Pune got Yuvraj, the icon player of Kings XI Punjab till last season, after beating Team Kochi and the batsman’s former team in the bid.
Cricketer Rohit Sharma’s price of USD 2 million (Rs 9.2 crore), which Mumbai Indians paid, came as a surprise in an auction where proven T20 specialists such as Jesse Ryder, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher and Graeme Swann were unsold.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Zaheer Khan for USD 900,000 and dashing Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan for USD 650,000.
However, the Vijay Mallya-owned franchise had a prize catch in talented South African AB de Villiers, buying him for USD 1.1 million (Rs 5.06 crore). They also got New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori for only USD 550,000.
The Rajasthan Royals bought New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor for USD 1 million (Rs 4.6 crore). But what turned out to be a surprise was South African off-spinner Johan Botha being bought after a lot of bidding for USD 950,000.
Kevin Pietersen, one of the most sought after players in the second and third edition, was bought by Deccan Chargers for USD 650,000 which is comparatively less million dollar price to the previous.
Andrew Symonds, costliest players of season one, was bought for USD 850,000 by Mumbai Indians.
After the first two rounds, Team Kochi had bought the maximum five players (Mahela Jayawardene, Brendon McCullum, VVS Laxman, S Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh). Kochi was quite lucky to buy McCullum for as low a price as USD 475,000 considering his reputation as a T20 dasher.
Sahara Pune Warriors were also a gainer as they got South African captain Graeme Smith for USD 500,000 only.
Kings XI Punjab lost all major players including the Lankan duo of Kumar Sangakkara (bought by Deccan Chargers for USD 650,000) and Jayawardene (USD 1.5 million for Kochi) and Yuvraj to Pune finally were succeeded by bidding for former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist for USD 900,000.
There were some more surprises after the lunch break with the young Saurabh Tiwary bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 1.6 million (Rs 7.36 crore). Punjab also spent USD 1.4 million (approx Rs 6.34 crore) on Australian David Hussey.
South African speedster Dale Steyn, who put Indian batsmen during the recent drawn Test series, was bought by Deccan Chargers for USD 1.2 million (Rs 5.5 crore). Australia’s injury-plagued speedster Brett Lee went for his base price of USD 400,000 to Kolkata after failing to invite a bid for quite a while in the auction.
South Africans were hot picks at the auction with Steyn’s pace partner Morne Morkel going to Delhi at USD 475,000.