IPL: Year-End Sale Splits Old Pals Mahendra Singh Dhoni emerged top draw in the IPL draft with the Sanjeev Goenka-owned franchise of Pune opting to pick him first for the stipulated price of Rs 12.5 crore on Tuesday.

IPL: Year-End Sale Splits Old Pals

Published: 16th December 2015 03:58 AM

Last Updated: 16th December 2015 03:58 AM

MUMBAI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni emerged top draw in the IPL draft with the Sanjeev Goenka-owned franchise of Pune opting to pick him first for the stipulated price of Rs 12.5 crore on Tuesday.

Dhoni’s India teammate Suresh Raina was the first preference for the other new team Rajkot, which is owned by Intex Mobiles. He was also bought for Rs 12.5 crore for being the first player selected by the franchise.

Seven players of the suspended Chennai Super Kings, including Dhoni, were picked along with three from Rajasthan Royals, also banned from the league for two years. Ajinkya Rahane was the second choice for Pune, while Rajkot opted for Ravindra Jadeja in the same position. Both cost the teams Rs 9.5 crore per year.

Rajkot team owner Keshav Bansal (left) and Pune’s representative Subrata Talukdar in Mumbai | PTI

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was picked by Pune as third choice for Rs 7.5 crore. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was Rajkot’s third choice. In the fourth spot, both teams opted for Australians with Steve Smith going to Pune and James Faulkner (both Rs 5.5 crore) going to Rajkot. Pune opted for South African batsman Faf du Plessis as their fifth and final player, while West Indian Dwayne Bravo was Rajkot’s pick. Both cost Rs 4 crore. The draft pool included players from Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the two suspended teams. The players not picked will now go to the general auction scheduled for February 6. IPL-9 will be held from April 9 to May 29.

After being the first pick of the Rajkot team, limited-over specialist Raina in all likelihood will be the favourite to lead the new franchise. Not only has Raina led India sporadically in limited-over matches in Dhoni’s absence, he also led Chennai Super Kings at times. “Excited to play for the beautiful vibrant city — Rajkot in  @IPL. Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat,” Raina tweeted.

While Pune have a simpler choice to make of selecting Dhoni the captain, the Rajkot franchise will certainly look at Raina. While local boy Jadeja is also in the team, he has never been touted as captaincy material. The only other contender for the top job could be New Zealand captain McCullum, who led KKR in the second season of the IPL. However owners over the years have looked mainly at top Indian players as captains.

Asked about his feelings, Raina said he would be competitive but at the same time would not lack “sportsman spirit” when pitted against his former captain.

“I am very much familiar with the condition of Rajkot as I have played many matches in junior category like U-16 and U-19,” the 29-year-old left-hander said. Asked about Jadeja, Raina said, “Jadeja is a local boy. Both of us are familiar with conditions here and we will use this to our advantage.”