Indians struck it rich on the first day of bidding at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on Saturday, with Gautam Gambhir fetching a record $2.4 million. The left-handed opener was among four Indians to join the $2 million club at the auction for the fourth edition of the scandal-plagued tournament, along with Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma.
The top seven earners on the opening day of the two-day auction were all Indians, with Irfan Pathan, brother of Yusuf, Yuvraj Singh and Saurabh Tiwary going for more than $1 million. In contrast, at the inaugural auction in 2008 only two players - India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds - were bought for more than $1 million.
Gambhir was the first to go under the hammer in Bangalore, and was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for an amount far exceeding his base price of $200,000. He was soon joined in the exclusive bracket by all-rounder Yusuf, who was bought by the same franchise for $2.1 million. Yusuf's reserve price was $300,000.
Batsman Uthappa went to new franchise Pune Warriors for $2.1 million, while Sharma was bought by Mumbai Indians for $2 million as Indians called the shots. The prices paid to the Indian foursome easily eclipsed the previous record of England duo Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who went for 1.55 million dollars each in 2009. Pietersen, with a base price of $400,000, was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000 this time. Among other $1 million men were New Zealander Ross Taylor, Sri Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan, South Africans AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, and Australians Cameron White and David Hussey.
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