M A I N   N E W S

Jackpot for Pollard, Bond
Pak players score a duck at IPL auction
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, January 19
Even before the first tickets are sold for the third edition of the Indian Premier League matches beginning March, the stars are walking away with the big bucks. West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard and New Zealand speedster Shane Bond have been snagged for a humongous $750,000 at the players’ auction held here today.

Their purse could well have been bigger but for the cap on bids imposed by the tournament organisers. The race for Pollard was a four-way photo featuring Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. The Mumbai team owned by industrialist Mukesh Ambani bagged him in a silent tie-breaker where the stakes were upped. The price for Pollard isn’t been disclosed to the public.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders bagged Shane Bond after beating Deccan Chargers in the silent bid. Deccan Chargers had to rest content with Kemar Roach from West Indies who went for $720,000, as against a base price of $100,000).

The other big scorer was South Africa’s Wayne Parnell who went to Delhi Daredevils for $610,000. The only Indian player at the auction, Mohammed Kaif was bagged by Punjab Kings XI for $ 250,000 in the second round. There were no takers for the Pakistani players this time as well. Shahid Afridi, the skipper of the T20 World Champion team who had a base price of US $ 250000 did not find a place in any of the teams thereby indicating unanimity of mind to keep out Pakistani players at the current edition of IPL as well.

Other Pakistanis who were up for grabs apart from Afridi included stars like Sohail Tanveer, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Imran Nazir, Mohammed Aamer, Rana Naved ul-Hasan. Of the 67 players who were auctioned today, 56 players remained unsold.

List of players sold at the auction: Kieron Pollard (Mumbai, $750,000), Shane Bond (Kolkata, 750,000), Kemar Roach (Deccan, 720,000), Wayne Parnell (Delhi, 610,000), Mohammad Kaif (Punjab, 250,000), Eoin Morgan (Bangalore, 220,000), Damien Martyn (Rajasthan, 100,000), Justin Kemp (Chennai, 100,000), Thissara Perera (Chennai, 50,000), Adam Voges (Rajasthan, 50,000), Yusuf Abdulla (Punjab, 50,000).