Indian Premier League teams down to business after bidding frenzy

Indian Premier League teams down to business after bidding frenzy


NEW DELHI - A day after their frenetic spending bonanza, Indian Premier League franchises got down to the pragmatic business of running their teams on Thursday, with two months until the competition begins.

Having created new cricket millionaires in Wednesday's player auction, owners must now turn to organizing their teams on the field and off ahead of the April 18 start of the Twenty20 competition.

Calcutta emerged as the biggest spender at the auction with a total of US$6,117,500. The spending reflected the glamour associated with Bollywood film star part-owner Shah Rukh Khan.

Fans in Calcutta were excited at the prospect of seeing Australia skipper Ricky Ponting and Pakistan pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar line up alongside former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Ganguly was pleased with the players Calcutta acquired in bidding, with promising India bowler Irfan Pathan, West Indies opener Chris Gayle and New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum as its other significant purchases.

"The team we've got is fine, you don't need too many batsmen in Twenty20 cricket," Ganguly was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.

The excitement in Calcutta prompted concert performer Usha Uthup to preview her team song on independent New Delhi Television.

Franchise owners spent nearly $42 million on procuring 75 players at the auction.

India's Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni attracted the maximum bid - of $1.5 million - from the southern Chennai team.

His fee attracted the most headlines. "Chennai pays King's ransom for Dhoni" said the front-page headline in The Economic Times, India's widest-circulated business paper.

Dhoni's parents seemed concerned about the massive salary distracting their son, currently leading India's team in a limited-overs tri-series in Australia.

Dhoni's father Pan Singh wanted the India skipper to "keep his feet firmly on the ground."

"More than the monetary aspect, it's important that he lives up to the expectations of his fans, supporters and the country," Singh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times newspaper's website.

Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mohali all went over the spending cap of $5 million but are expected to dip below that maximum once they juggle the non-availability period of some players.

However Jaipur faced a different problem, as it fell short of the mandatory minimum bidding amount of $3.5 million.

Jaipur spent $2,925,000 in buying eight players and will now be penalized by the IPL. It will have to deposit the difference with the IPL governing board.

Shrugging off the setback, Jaipur's executives turned to the brand-building business. It contracted a leading advertising agency to position its brand prominently among fans.

Jaipur spent most on Indians Mohammad Kaif and Yusuf Pathan, topping the amounts laid out for former Australia superstar Shane Warne and current South Africa captain Graeme Smith. That differential was repeated throughout the auction, with owners eager to spend heavily on Indian players in the hope of wooing fans, with foreign players largely going cheaply.

Behind Dhoni, the next highest amount was spent by Hyderabad on Australia allrounder Andrew Symonds $1.35 million, with veteran Sri Lanka opener Sanath Jayasuriya went to Mumbai for $975,000.

Ganguly was not up for bidding as he was among the five cricketers termed "icon" players, who are to represent their home cities and get a premium on top of their salaries. Ganguly's price for the six-week event was $1.092 million. Ace Indian players Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag were the others in the "icon" category.