NEW DELHI,Febrauary4,2012: Dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum was the first to be auctioned as he was bought for $900,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders followed by the Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was clinched by Chennai Super Kings for whooping $2 million in the tie-breaker. A total of 146 players will be auctioned for the available 29 slots as the auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League got underway in Bangalore. Sri Lankan master batsman Mahela Jayawardene has been bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million. The auction got a big twist just hours before the players' auction after Sahara India pulled out from the ownership of IPL franchise Pune Warriors. Sahara India has been denied replacement for injured Yuvraj Singh for the upcoming fifth edition of Indian Premier League. "It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship but our emotions were never appreciated and many genuine situations were not given due consideration at all," Sahara said. The franchises have a maximum of $2 million to spend at the auction as they bid to strengthen their line-ups ahead of the tournament which will be played between April 4 and May 27. Sahara India also requested BCCI to pass on Pune Warriors team to some other interested party immediately. The auction will be conducted by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from England who has conducted each of the previous IPL player auctions. The exceptions are Bangalore and Pune, which have already spent some money retaining their respective 'replacements', Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly. The 2012 auction happens to be the cheapest of the five so far. The purse has been tightened keeping the cricketers and vacancies in mind. A total of just 37 slots are available with all the teams put together and not more than eight Indian cricketers are in the fray. With a total purse of $16.94 million between the teams in the fray, a majority of the players are unlikely to be bid for.
