IPL Auction: Bowlers call the shots

On a day Indian Premier League franchisees took a conservative approach at the players’ auction on Saturday, team managements splurged on strengthening the bowling department, especially adding specialists to their roster.

A tug of war ensued between Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils to claim the highly-rated South African quick Chris Morris.

On the suggestion of their bowling coach Sanjay Bangar, the Preity Zinta-co-owned Kings XI Punjab broke the bank to sign T20 specialist Mohit Sharma for Rs 6.5 crore.

On paying such a hefty amount Zinta candidly admitted, “We did not expect him to go for such a price but we had to. He’s getting married and I think his wife is very lucky for him.”

Daredevils were again in a bidding war and this time it was for Caribbean spearhead Carlos Braithwaite. From a meagre Rs 30 lakh, Daredevils and the KKR battled till the price went up 13 times his base price to Rs 4.2 crore.

IPL newbies Rising Pune Supergiants began to build their bowling unit roping in Ishant Sharma (Rs 3.8 cr), Aussie fast bowler Mitchell Marsh for Rs 4.8 crores and sidelined India all-rounder Irfan Pathan (Rs 1 cr).

Gujarat Lions also spent big money to clinch experienced campaigners Praveen Kumar (Rs 3.5 crore), Dale Steyn (Rs 2.3 crore) and Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs. 2 crore).

Lions owner Keshav Bansal said, “It’s all very well planned. We want to make sure we have a strong core team. They are the players who are going to play most of the game. Most of them are all-rounders. We want a balanced team in place. We didn’t expect Praveen Kumar to go for that much but we needed that balance.”

Hyderabad surprised everyone bidding for Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rehman for Rs 1.4 crore and later added India pacer Barinder Sran (Rs 1.2 cr) to their line-up. SRH also grabbed burly Karnataka speedster Abhimanyu Mithun for Rs 30 lakh.

Former champions KKR managed to sign towering Australian pacer John Hastings (Rs 1.3 cr) and Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.6 cr).