If Sachin Tendulkar brought the bucks to the game, then the Indian Premier League (IPL) brought the millions. So, while the first ever IPL had most in a tizzy over a certain M.S. Dhoni’s million – and a half – dollar smile, the response was rather lukewarm to the $1.55 million spent on buying the English duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. This, despite the best of the attempts by Lalit Modi and his cronies to spike up the celebration around the ‘event’ called the IPL auction. Probably, next time, they could do well to sell the telecast rights of the auction too!
But cutting back to the present, and the auction day did prove to have its own share of oohs and aahs, fragmented in between the otherwise conservative day of bidding. In the end, the lavish of the party thrown by Vijay Mallya in his sprawling house in Goa would have had many more takers than the clichéd sound bytes that came out from the various quarters. Yet, it was interesting to note how some of the players picked up were on purely cricketing grounds, while some other selections were more to do with a marketing gimmick than anything else.
This piece analyses the auction and how it changed each of the team’s composition for the second season of the IPL.
Bangalore Royal Challengers: If Mallya had his way, he wouldn’t have had hesitated in picking both Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen for a couple of million bucks each and laughing off the recession in its face. Thankfully, from his team’s perspective, he didn’t have, and he had to make do with the former English skipper only. The other man, who made his way into the squad, after a rather righteous self-confession that he twiddled his thumb in nervousness, and of the broken-window-pane-and-hand fame, was Jesse Ryder from New Zealand. If the Challengers had a look of a team last year that resembled to be on a mission to the Mars to win a test match by boring the Martians with their batting, then the KP and Ryder should add the much vaunted ignition to the team. 
The excitement on bagging KP was written large on the owner’s face and while the English board did not think too much about his captaincy, Mallya’s already painted the town red by pronouncing the man as a captaincy-hopeful. Something tells me that Rahul Dravid wouldn’t have been too amused to hear this, but then such is the nature of the game that sentiments get usually thrown out of the window.
Yet, most importantly, Pietersen wouldn’t be around for more than three weeks, and that is something which the management will need to consider before crowning him as the captain.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Whether it was due to SRK not signing enough films – and in turn not generating a lot of molaah – or the world financial crisis, the usually over-the-top KKR bought only one player at the auctions, and it turned out to be the biggest surprise of the day. Mashrafe Mortaza may not disagree with Adam Gilchrist that the IPL players do get treated like cows, but by the time KKR and Kings XI Punjab had traded bids to get him in, he had been converted into a big, fat, rich cow! At a base price of $50,000, Mortaza would have given up hopes of selection when some of his more illustrious team-mates like Shakib Al Hasan were ignored by the teams. And yet, by the time, the sun had set on this auspicious day at the office, Mortaza had been valued at $6,50,000 – almost fifty million Bangladeshi takas – which by rough estimations would have been at least ten times what he may have earned in his entire playing career!
At the outset, not too many understood the rationale behind this selection, but then SRK seems to be a better businessman than what he is as an actor – and he is very good at acting – as he would have probably considered this to be an investment in case they did host a few matches in Bangladesh. Even without holding a degree in business management, SRK probably realises more about business than many of the rest and it was this very astute brain at work behind Mortaza’s selection.
Mumbai Indians: The more sensible of all the bids was made – and won – by the Mumbai Indians, who went on to bag J.P. Duminy ($9,50,000), Kyle Mills ($1,50,000) and Mohammad Ashraful ($75,000) for themselves. Duminy may have been a greenhorn with all the probability of been a flash in the pan after his performance in Australia, but the fact of the matter is that he showed equal panache with the ball and in the field. He had replaced Ashwell Prince in Australia, and he would do the same for the Mumbai team.
Mills could just prove to be that X-factor for the team, as he may end up featuring throughout the duration of the IPL and prove his worth as a bowler – he averages 25 as a bowler in ODIs – and with the willow in his hand, as a useful number seven or eight batsman. Ashraful, on the other hand, may not get too many opportunities to get into the team, and with his batting as consistent as the rains are in the Atacama desert, he would find the going very stiff for him. Mumbai may use him to rest some of the better known players of the team.
(to be concluded)