IPL Auction 2016: Pacemen see heated bidding; spinners go unsold in first round

The batting-biased nature of the T-20 game meant bowlers faced mixed fortunes at the auctions

The all-rounders were the third lot to be auctioned at the proceedings for the Indian Premier League cricket tournament later this year, starting with Manoj Tiwary (base price Rs 1 crore). Even after a bit of nudging from auctioneer Richard Madley, the teams refrained from placing bids on the Indian bowler and he remained unsold. Irfan Pathan, the fast bowler who has played 98 IPL matches and was the next player up for bids, was picked up by Pune Super Giants at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
 
Englishman Ravi Bopara remained unsold at Rs 1 crore. Sri Lankan Tillankaratne Dilshan (base price Rs 1.5 crore) too went unbid for followed by Jason Holder from West Indies (Rs 50 lakh).

 
Mumbai Indians opened the bid for Christopher Morris (Rs 50 lakh) and were promptly joined by neighbours Pune. The Knight Riders joined the race when Pune bowed out, continuing to spar with the Mumbai Indians.  The two teams were persistent in their bids until the Knight Riders bowed out at Rs 7 crore when the Daredevils entered the ring to snap up the player.
 

The Knight Riders then placed the opening bid of Rs 30 lakh for Colin Munro and acquired him at base price. Stuart Binny (base price Rs 2 crore) who was up next earned an opening bid from RCB which also was the closing bid. Darren Sammy (base price Rs 50 lakh) remained unsold. Australian Mitchell Marsh (base price Rs 2 crore) was picked up by Pune Super Giants for Rs 4.8 crore after the team engaged in a bid war with Kings XI Punjab. Thisara Perera, the Sri Lankan all-rounder remained unsold.

 
The fast bowlers were up next, starting with Dhawal Kulkarni (base price Rs 2 crore). Gujarat Lions opened the bid for the bowler and picked him up at base price. Australian Kane Richardson remained unsold at Rs 2 crore. He was followed by compatriot John Hastings (base price Rs 1 crore) who was picked up by KKR for Rs 1.3 crore.
 
Praveen Kumar who has played 97 IPL matches was up next at a base price of Rs 50 lakh. The Gujarat Lions opened bidding for the fast bowler and were joined by KKR. After raising each other aggressively for Kumar, KKR bowed out at Rs 3.5 crore, at which point the Lions snapped him up. Tim Southee from New Zealand (Rs 1 crore) saw RCB and the Mumbai Indians fight it out and finally went to the Ambani owned team for Rs 2.5 crore.

 
Indian pacer Ashok Dinda was up next (base price Rs 50 lakh) and remained unsold. Mohit Sharma (base price Rs 1.5 crore) was bid for by KXIP and KKR. The two teams indulged in some rigorous bidding, each quick to raise the other’s bid. KKR bowed at KXIP’s bid of Rs 4.8 crore at which point the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) raised the stakes to Rs 5 crore. KXIP remained persistent, raising the bid further as did SRH. However, KXIP successfully picked up the pacer at Rs 6.5 crore in the end. James Pattinson, at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore, remained unsold.

 
Spin bowlers were the next lot to be auctioned. Sri Lankan Sachitra Senanayaka (Rs was up first and remained unsold as did West Indian Veraswamy Permaul (Rs 30 lakh). Nathan Lyon (Rs 1 crore) was similarly unbid and ended up unsold as was Devendra Bishoo (Rs 30 lakh). Australian Michael Beer (Rs 30 lakh) neither did Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis (Rs 50 lakh). Rahul Sharma (Rs 30 Lakh), Sulieman Benn (Rs 30 lakh), Cameron Boyce (Rs 50 lakh), Pragyan Ojha (Rs 50 lakh) and Samuel Badree (Rs 50 lakh) all remained unsold.