Indian Premier League is set to kick off its second season in April and already it has started creating ripples, a reflection of which was seen in the auction held a few days back.
The auction rubbished all claims of a downturn in the economy as large sums of money was used to buy players. The two individuals who hogged limelight at the auction were Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff who were auctioned for a monumental figure of Rs .7.56 crores each surpassing the bar set by MS Dhoni last year.
Well, the host of players who were auctioned this year conveys one thing is sure-there would be fireworks and certain teams would sport a different look, thanks a new battery of players. One such team would be Bangalore Challengers who failed to create too much of a flutter with their so called ‘test’ team lineup last season. But with Kevin Pietersen in their ranks, the team would look to redefine their team!
Even Mashrafe Mortaza from Bangladesh too was up for grabs and was picked up for a $600,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders. JP Duminy who had a fantastic series recently was picked up for $950,000 by Mumbai Indians who also took Andrew Flintoff in their ranks. Now Mumbai Indians would have the likes of Jayasuriya, Tendulkar, Flintoff and Duminy in their side and would be a formidable outfit in the tournament.
Some of the other international players who would look to create a splash and would be the ones to watch out for are:
Ravi Bopara (England) would be playing for Kings XI Punjab. He would be alongside Yuvraj Singh and Co.
Delhi Daredevils has made an addition to their batting lineup by picking up Owais Shah (England) who would be looking to score some runs with Virender Sehwag and others.
Also to be seen would be his teammate, the experienced, Paul Collingwood who would add some solidity in the middle order in the team
Rajasthan Royals, have picked up Shaun Tait, the fast bowler from Australia. His inclusion in the side would boost the team’s chance of defending their title!
All said and done, this edition of IPL would have its share of firecrackers and promises a lot for all the cricket fans around the world. You could catch all the action at WittySparks’s IPL section.
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Source: Names and numbers – Hindustan Times