Pune pay $1.8m for Dhoni in IPL auction

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 and gave KKR a rollicking start with a blistering 73-ball 158 in the first IPL match.

A new team from the western city of Pune paid 125 million rupees ($1.8m) for limited overs captain Dhoni for the next edition of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.

Australia captain Steven Smith was the fourth choice for team Pune and South African batsman Faf du Plessis was the next choice. This could be considered a wise move for the frnachise as they picked Jadeja, McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo.

The auction for the two newly formed franchises of IPL began on Tuesday with the Pune and Rajkot teams making a majestic entry by buying two top players from the last years IPL team, the Chennai Super Kings, which is now suspended for alleged involvement in betting.

They were allowed to choose five stars from each of the banned teams, while the remaining 40 were released into a pool for auction.

“I am very much familiar with the condition of Rajkot as I have played many matches in junior category like U16 and U19”, the 29yearold lefthanded batsman told reporters here. “Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat”, Raina tweeted.

The Pune franchise owned by New Rising, an Indian conglomerate, also roped in prolific run-getter Ajinkya Rahane and this year’s leading Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 95 million ($1.42m) and 75 million rupees ($1.12m).

Both Chennai and Rajasthan are expected to return to the IPL after their bans end following the 2017 edition. “In IPL it makes sense that team has an Indian captain. he knows local players, knows the weaknesses and strengths of local players”.