Mumbai, February 20
Cricket stars, Indian and foreign, are the hottest commodities going. Very much like prized cattle at one of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s village haats, some of the biggest names in the sport were auctioned off to well-heeled celebrities on Wednesday for employment in their cricket teams later this summer.

“Icons” will get even more: The top Indian players, called the “icons” — Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh — were not put up for auction. They will play for their home cities. They will be paid 15 per cent more than the highest paid player in their team.