IPL 6 Auction: Mumbai Indians Grab Ricky Ponting
Cricket legends Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar are due to appear in the same team after Mumbai Indians made a successful bid for the former Australia skipper in the auction for the sixth edition of the IPL. Ponting was grabbed by MI in a bid of $400,000 that opened proceedings at the auction.
It will be interesting to see whether the pair – who have over 50,000 international runs between them — appear at the top of the MI batting order. Ponting’s recent retirement from international cricket will make him available for the duration of the tournament and MI can look forward to banking on the Aussie legend’s batting as well as fielding as they bid for their ever title in the annual competition.
Sachin Tendulkar will be back at the helm with Harbhajan Singh, who skippered the team last year, expected to concentrate solely on his bowling inputs.
Other star players at the auction, such as Michael Clarke, Johan Botha and RP Singh, attracted respective bids of $400,000, $450,000 and $400,000 from their successful buyers, Pune Warriors, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, while Jesse Rider was snapped by Delhi Daredevils for $260,000.
Luke Pomersbach went to Kings XI Punjab for a bid price of $300,000 after a bidding war between Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani and her Kings XI counterpart, Preity Zinta. MI consoled themselves by buying Phil Hughes for $100,000.
Pomersbach played for KXIP during the 2008 and 2009 seasons before moving to RCB, where he was involved in a controversy last year after being accused of molestation at a five star hotel. The matter is said to have been settled out of court.
All-rounders did well at the auction and Aussie Glenn Maxwell led the pack when MI bid $1,000,000 for him, while RCB grabbed Moises Henriques for $300,000 and Rajasthan Royals made James Faulkner their own with a successful bid of $400,000. Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy joined Hyderabad Sunrisers after the new outfit bid $600,000 and $400,000, respectively, for the international all-rounders. Abhishek Nayar, Mumbai’s former batting star, went to Pune warriors for $675,000 following a bidding war by several teams out to buy him.
Among fast bowlers, Dirk Nannes got the best deal when Chennai bought him for $600,000. Unadkat ($525,000), Pankaj Singh ($150,000) and Ravi Rampual ($290,000) all joined the RCB stable. Manpreet Gony ($500,000; KXIP), Fidel Edwards ($210,000; RR) and Sudeep Tyagi ($100,000; HS) were other fast bowlers who found buyers.
Among spinners sold on the day, Ajantha Mendis took home a whopping $725,000 bid by Pune Warriors, while Nathan McCullum went to HS for $100,000.
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About the Author (Author Profile)
Jinxatious is the Chief Editor of SportingAttitude.com
An avid writer, on an eclectic range of subjects, he brings to bear editorial experience garnered with a national newspaper in South-East Asia. He also has sportscasting experience, as a cricket commentator, and his passion for sport extends beyond Cricket, to Football, Tennis, and Olympic Sports.
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