INDIAN stars Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan were snapped up for more than $2m (£1.28m) each at the Indian Premier League auction on Saturday (January 8), smashing the record price paid for an IPL player.
Left-handed opener Gambhir was the first player to go under the hammer for the scandal-plagued tournament’s fourth edition, bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.4m (£1.54m), far higher than his base price of $200,000 (£128,667).
Gambhir was soon joined in the exclusive bracket by all-rounder Pathan, who was snapped up by the same franchise for $2.1m (£1.35m). Pathan’s reserve price was $300,000 (£193,000).
The prices paid easily eclipsed the previous record price paid for the England duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who went for $1.55m (£997169) each in 2009.
Pietersen, with a base price of $400,000 (£257,334), was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000 (£418,167.79) this time.
Among the $1 million men were New Zealander Ross Taylor, Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene, South African AB de Villiers and India’s Yuvraj Singh.
Former West Indies captain Brian Lara and a host of England’s Ashes heroes were also among 353 players up for grabs at the two-day auction in Bangalore.
Lara and England paceman James Anderson were among 21 cricketers with the highest reserve price of $400,000 for a three-year contract.
Other foreigners on offer included Australians Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee, South Africans Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori.
Proceedings at a luxury hotel in the IT hub of Bangalore, presided over by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from Britain, began at 11:00 local time (0530 GMT).
Twelve players have been retained by their original franchises, with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni staying with the Chennai Super Kings and Shane Warne and Shane Watson sticking with the Rajasthan Royals.
Some top cricketers have opted out of the IPL’s fourth season, including the Australian trio of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson, and former India captain Anil Kumble.
Pakistan’s cricketers continued to miss out on the IPL bonanza after none of them was included for the auction.
