Kochi buy Gambhir for $2.4m

Gambhir was snapped up for a record $2.4 million on the first day of bidding at the Indian Premier League auction.

BANGALORE: Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir was snapped up for a record $2.4 million on the first day of bidding at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

The opener was among four Indians to join the $2-million club at the auction, along with Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma. Gambhir was joined in the bracket by all-rounder Pathan, who was bought by the same franchise for $2.1 million. Pathan’s reserve price was $300,000.

Batsman Uthappa went to new franchise Pune Warriors for $2.1 million, while Sharma was bought by Mumbai Indians for $2 million. The prices paid to the Indian foursome easily eclipsed the previous record of England duo Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who went for $1.55 million each in 2009.

Pietersen, with a base price of $400,000, was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000.

Among the $1 million men were New Zealander Ross Taylor, Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene, South Africans AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, India’s Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Saurabh Tiwary, and Australians Cameron White and David Hussey.

Former captains Brian Lara and Sourav Ganguly remained unsold along with hard-hitting West Indies batsman Chris Gayle.

The annual IPL tournament revolutionised cricket when it burst on to the scene in 2008 with a high-octane blend of international star players, Twenty20 matches and Bollywood glamour.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2011.