Yuvraj becomes costliest 2015 IPL auction buy

Despite being out of the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh's fortunes seem to be ever on the rise as Delhi Daredevils paid up a whopping Rs.16 crore for the all-rounder at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the eighth edition of the tournament, here Monday.

The money-spinning tournament is scheduled to start April 8 and stretch till May 24.

One of the 12 marquee players in the fray, Yuvraj, who has been out of the Indian team for a while and was ignored for the 2011 World Cup squad, was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who had picked up the Punjab-born star for Rs.14 crore last year.

Equally stunning buys were those of two uncapped domestic players -- 20-year-old Shreyas Iyer of Mumbai and Bengaluru's K.C. Cariyappa, 17 -- who struck a jackpot commanding Rs.2.6 crore, and Rs.2.4 crore, respectively, after entering the auction at a base price of Rs.10 lakh.

Iyer, who has scored two centuries for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy this season, was picked up by Mumbai Indians (MI) while off-spinner Cariyappa, yet to play a first-class game, was bought by defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after intense rounds of bidding just before the lunch break.

In all, 67, including 23 overseas players, of a possible 88 players, were sold with a total amount of Rs.87.6 crore spent.

The day began with bids for the 12 marquee players. While Daredevils bagged Yuvraj for Rs.16 crore and Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews for Rs.7.5 crore, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) picked up wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik for Rs.7.5 crore.

Sunrisers Hyderabad bought sacked England batsman Kevin Pietersen and current England captain Eoin Morgan for Rs.2.4 crore and Rs.2 crore, respectively.

Also commanding high prices were Australian opener Aaron Finch, who was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs.3.2 crore. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra was bought for Rs.3.5 crore by Daredevils.

Opening batsman Murali Vijay received a successful bid for Rs.3 crore by Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers paid Rs.60 lakh for New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson.

Among the marquee players, South African batting star Hashim Amla and legendary Sri Lankan trio of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan were left unsold.

In the post-lunch session, out-of-favour India pacer Zaheer Khan, unsold in the first round, was picked up by Daredevils for Rs.4 crore, out-bidding Mumbai Indians.

Also receiving a reprieve was another India discard, all-rounder Irfan Pathan, whom Chennai Super Kings bought at the base price of Rs.1.5 crore as there were no other bids.

Teams and their buys:

Delhi Daredevils - Yuvraj Singh (Rs.16 crore); Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka, Rs.7.5 crore), Zaheer Khan (Rs.4 crore), Amit Mishra (Rs.3.5 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs.2.60 crore), Gurinder Sandhu (Australia, Rs.1.7 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs.1.10 crore), Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy (Rs.75 lakh), C.M. Gautham (Rs.20 lakh), Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy (Rs.75 lakh), Albie Morkel (South Africa, Rs.30 lakh), Travis Head (Australia, Rs.30 lakh), Marcus Stoinis (Australia, Rs.25 lakh), Kona Srikar Bharat (Rs.10 lakh), K.K. Jiyaz (Rs.10 lakh).

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Dinesh Karthik (Rs.10.5 crore), Darren Sammy (West Indies, Rs.2.80 crore), David Wiese (South Africa, Rs.2.8 crore), Sean Abbott (Australia, Rs.1 crore), Adam Milne (New Zealand, Rs.70 lakh), Sarfaraz Naushad Khan (Rs.50 lakh), Subramaniam Badrinath (Rs.30 lakh), Jalaj Saxena (Rs.10 lakh), Shishir Bhavane (Rs.10 lakh).

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Trent Boult (New Zealand, Rs.3.80 crore), Praveen Kumar (Rs.2.2 crore), Kevin Pietersen (England, Rs.2 crore), Eoin Morgan (England, Rs.2 crore), Ravi Bopara (England, Rs.1 crore), Kane Williamson (New Zealand, Rs.60 lakh), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Rs.30 lakh), Prasanth Padmanabhan (Rs.10 lakh), Hanuma Vihari (Rs.10 lakh), Siddarth Kaul (Rs.10 lakh).

Chennai Super Kings - Michael Hussey (Australia, Rs.1.5 crore), Irfan Pathan (Rs.1.5 crore), Rahul Sharma (Rs.30 lakh), Kyle Abbott (South Africa, Rs.30 lakh), Andrew Tye (Australia, Rs.20 lakh), Pratyush Singh (Rs.10 lakh), Ankush Bains (Rs.10 lakh), Ekalavya Dwivedi (Rs.10 lakh).

Kolkata Knight Riders - K.C. Cariappa (Rs.2.4 crore), James Nisham (New Zealand, Rs.50 lakh), Brad Hogg (Australia, Rs.50 lakh), Aditya Garhwal (Rs.25 lakh), Sheldon Jackson (Rs. 10lakh), Sumit Narwal (Rs.10 lakh), Vaibhav Rawal (Rs.10 lakh).

Mumbai Indians - Aaron Finch (Australia, Rs.3.20 crore), Pragyan Ojha (Rs.50 lakh), Mitchell McClenghan (New Zealand, Rs.30 lakh), Naman Ojha (Rs.50 lakh), Abhimanyu Mithun (Rs.30 lakh), Aiden Blizzard (Australia, Rs.30 lakh), Hardik Pandya (Rs.10 lakh), Akshay Wakhare (Rs.10 lakh), Nitish Rana (Rs.10 lakh), Siddhesh Dinesh Lad (Rs.10 lakh), J Suchith (Rs.10 lakh).

Kings XI Punjab - Murali Vijay (Rs.3 crore), Nikhil Shankar Naik (Rs.30 lakh), Yogesh Gowalkar (Rs.10 lakh).

Rajasthan Royals - Christopher Morris (Rs.1.40 crore), Juan Theron (South Africa, Rs.30 lakh), Barinder Singh Saran (Rs.10 lakh), Sagar Trivedi (Rs.10 lakh), Dinesh Salunkhe (Rs.10 lakh), Pradeep Sahu (Rs.10 lakh). - IANS