Jadeja attracts highest bid, no takers for Laxman

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the biggest draw for the franchises with Chennai Super Kings buying him for a whopping Rs 9.72 crore but struggling veteran VVS Laxman found no takers in the players' auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League held in Bangalore on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, whose base price was $100,000, went to Chennai after the tie-breaker clause was invoked when two teams -- CSK and Deccan Chargers -- bid the maximum (USD two million) for the Saurashtra player.

Both the franchises were asked to bid a secret amount in the tie-breaker and it was Chennai which managed to outbid Deccan in the final round.

But the cricketer himself will be paid $950,000 as per the contract he had signed with the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year and even the secret amount that was bid on him by Chennai would go into the BCCI coffers.

Jadeja was supposed to be the highlight of the auction, and it turned out to be, with almost all franchises placing their bids on the all-rounder.

Ironically, just two years ago, he was handed a one-year IPL ban after trying to negotiate a deal with Mumbai Indians while still on contract with Rajasthan Royals.

Laxman, in contrast, expectedly remained unsold after a string of poor performances on the tours of England and Australia.

Laxman started his IPL stint as Deccan Chargers captain in 2008 but at 37 right now, age and reputation of being a Test specialist could also have been factors for the franchises' snub.

Among others who went unsold in the auction were England's James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior, West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo and South Africa's Mark Boucher.

Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, incidentally the KTK captain last season, was also a big draw going to Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million (approx Rs 6.8 crore).

Jayawardene will, however, get $1.5 million as per his contract last year.

A total of 146 players went under the hammer with a purse of $16.94 million between the eight teams after Pune Warriors did not turn up following Sahara's decision to give up on the franchise's ownership.

Each team had a maximum cap of $2million, which Chennai exhausted by spending on Jadeja.

Other big gainers at the auction were New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum was bought for $900,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders. McCullum's base price was $400,000.

Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who was with Chennai Super Kings and Kochi in the previous editions, was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $220,000 (approx. Rs 1.06 crore).

South Africa's veteran opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs, who was released by Deccan Chargers, fetched $50,000 (approx. Rs 24 lakh) from Mumbai Indians, while Australian batsman Brad Hodge was taken by Rajasthan Royals for $475,000 (approx Rs 2.3 crore).

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal was turned out to be a bargain buy for Rajasthan Royals, who bought him at his base price of $50,000.

Another big gainer in the auction was Karnataka pacer R Vinay Kumar who was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping $1million against a base price of $100,000.

Pacers R P Singh and S Sreesanth, who were part of India team not so long ago, were bought by Mumbai Indians for $600,000 and by Rajasthan Royals for $400,000 respectively.

Their base prices were $200,000 and $400,000.

RP Singh was bought by now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala for $500,000 in the IPL auction last year while Sreesanth had fetched $900,000.

Off-spinner Ramesh Powar was bought by Kings XI Punjab for $160,000 against a base price of $100,000 while Australian Brad Hogg was sold to Rajasthan Royals for $180,000 against a base price of $100,000.