Press Trust of India
Mumbai, Dec 15: India’s limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni emerged as the top draw in the IPL draft with the Sanjeev Goenka-owned new franchise Pune opting to pick him first for the stipulated price of
`12.50 crore here.
Dhoni’s India teammate Suresh Raina was the first preference for the other new team Rajkot, which is owned by Intex Mobiles. He will also get an identical `12.50 crore by virtue of being the first player selected by the franchise.
Seven players of the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK), including Dhoni, were picked along with three others from the Rajasthan Royals (RR), also banned from the league for two years. Pune opted for Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steve Smith and Faf du Plessis while Rajkot got Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo.
The draft pool only included players from CSK and RR, the two teams who have been barred from participation. The players not picked will now go to the general IPL auction scheduled for February 6.
Out of this lot, Rahane, Faulkner and Smith had represented RR last year while the rest belonged to CSK. Fifty players from both the suspended teams were available to be chosen in the draft.
“The salary of players as per their contract with their former teams will be protected. The upper limit will be deducted from the total purse of `66 crore. All will be put up on the website to bring transparency to the dealings,” Shukla told a media conference after the draft here Tuesday.
Another BCCI source said the salary details will be revealed on the website after the first trading window closes December 31. “Both the teams (who have each spent `39 crore) are now left with `27 crore each from the total purse to form the rest of the team,” he informed.
Meanwhile Shukla said the opening game in IPL-IX as well as the final will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai April 9 and May 29. He also said that the entire fixture for the tournament will be made after the IPL auction is completed.
Answering questions on whether Pak cricketers will be allowed to play in the event, the IPLGC chairman said that no concrete decision has been taken so far. “But then playing Pakistan in a bilateral series and having Pak cricketers to play the IPL are two different issues,” asserted Shukla. “We have to discuss with the franchisees as to whether they are open to recruit players from across the border.”
Meanwhile, Pune franchise representative Subroto Talukdar, said that what was planned by his team had been accomplished at the draft today, including the picking of Dhoni as their first choice. “We wanted Dhoni as we are a new franchise and want to build our brand and who better than Dhoni. He was an automatic choice. We have got the players we wanted,” said Talukdar.