While the IPL 2010 auction only produced two bids in excess of the player cap of US $750,000, the IPL franchises already had a bevy of expensive cricketers. West Indies all rounder Kieron Pollard and New Zealand pace bowler Shane Bond were the only two additions to the list of well-paid players on the IPL books. The auctions for the previous editions fetched higher prices because no cap was implemented then. Therefore, we do not have a good idea of how expensive Pollard and Bond really are. However, we can still identify the most expensive players in the league.
In the first two editions of the Indian Premier League, five players had icon status. This status allowed them to be compensated 15% more than the highest played player in their team. Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were the five designated players. Although the icon concept would not be used in 2010, it is very safe to say that these players are among the most expensive in the league.
Andrew Flintoff (England), Kevin Pietersen (England), Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Andrew Symonds (Australia) are the millionaires in IPL 2010. In 2008, Dhoni fetched a price of US $1,550,000.00, while Symonds cost $1,350,000.00. In the 2009 auction, Flintoff and Pietersen became the most expensive IPL players, as they each fetched $1,550,000.00. Given that the silent bids for Kieron Pollard and Shane Bond in 2010 were unknown, Pietersen and Flintoff remain the most expensive IPL players.
Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka ($975,000), Irfan Pathan ($925,000), Brett Lee ($900,000) of Australia, Jacques Kallis ($900,000)of South Africa and Ishant Sharma ($950,000) are the players in the $900,000 - $1,000,000 bracket. Considering the profile of players like Kallis and Lee, the franchises got a bargain in the process. Ishant Sharma might not be as celebrated a player as Kallis, but he fetched a higher amount from the bidding process.
Other players who have substantial contracts in the IPL are:
RP Singh ($875,000)
Harbhajan Singh ($850,000)
Robin Uthappa ($800,000)
Chris Gayle, West Indies ($800,000)
Kieron Pollard, West Indies ($750,000 + silent bid balance)
Shane Bond, New Zealand ($750,000 + silent bid balance)
Rohit Sharma (750,000)
Many other players earned contracts beyond their initial or base price in their respective IPL auctions. This article highlighted those with contracts worth a minimum of $750,000.00. Rumour has it that Kieron Pollard's contract cost Mumbai Indians in excess of US $1,000,000.00. Given that he had four franchises bidding for his services in 2010, it is quite likely that the tall six-hitter is much closer to the top of the list than his $750,000.00 suggests.
Andre V is a freelance writer from the Caribbean. He is also a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association and an avid cricket fan.
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