England aces in IPL record
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 07, 2009 00:00
PANAJI - England players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff fetched $1.55 million each at the Indian Premier League player auction Friday, setting a record for the highest amount paid for a player in the Twenty20 competition.
Flintoff was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings, which last year set the previous record of 1.5 million for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Bangalore's Royal Challengers secured Pietersen.
Bangalore's owner Vijay Mallya said he was prepared to pay more for Pietersen.
"It was a very worthwhile investment," Mallya told reporters after the first round of bidding.
"Team balance was important and Kevin was certainly important in maintaining that balance."
England players were not involved in the IPL last year, but have now been permitted by the England and Wales Cricket Board, or ECB, to play for the first three weeks despite a clash with its own domestic season.
South African J.P. Duminy, who starred in his nation's recent successful tour of Australia, was sold for $950,000 to Mumbai Indians, more than three times his reserve price.
Australia paceman Shaun Tait was the first player auctioned, going to defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000, where he will join former Australia teammate Shane Warne.
The prices are for each year of two-year contracts. Last year, the teams had to sign contracts for three years at bid prices. Cricketers will get paid on a prorata basis depending on their availability for the duration of the six-week tournament. The 2009 IPL season will be held from April 10 to May 29. While England players will only be available for the opening weeks, Australian players will only join late after national team duty. This year's auction is different from that in 2008, when teams went out to pick their entire squad.
Now, they only have to top it up with a few players or fill in vacancies caused by non-availability of some cricketers. Players are allowed to miss IPL matches only due to injury or if they have to represent their national teams.
Bangalore's owner Vijay Mallya said he was prepared to pay more for Pietersen.
"It was a very worthwhile investment," Mallya told reporters after the first round of bidding.
"Team balance was important and Kevin was certainly important in maintaining that balance."
England players were not involved in the IPL last year, but have now been permitted by the England and Wales Cricket Board, or ECB, to play for the first three weeks despite a clash with its own domestic season.
South African J.P. Duminy, who starred in his nation's recent successful tour of Australia, was sold for $950,000 to Mumbai Indians, more than three times his reserve price.
Australia paceman Shaun Tait was the first player auctioned, going to defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000, where he will join former Australia teammate Shane Warne.
The prices are for each year of two-year contracts. Last year, the teams had to sign contracts for three years at bid prices. Cricketers will get paid on a prorata basis depending on their availability for the duration of the six-week tournament. The 2009 IPL season will be held from April 10 to May 29. While England players will only be available for the opening weeks, Australian players will only join late after national team duty. This year's auction is different from that in 2008, when teams went out to pick their entire squad.
Now, they only have to top it up with a few players or fill in vacancies caused by non-availability of some cricketers. Players are allowed to miss IPL matches only due to injury or if they have to represent their national teams.