By IANS,
Bangalore: Cricketing heavyweights Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly were again ignored by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Sunday.
The teams were given a chance to recall players of their choice from the ‘Unsold’ basket after the entire auction list of 353 players finished. But hopes of any dramatic call back of the trio in the last session were dashed.
Auctioneer Richard Madley called the name of 28 players in the final session. The three players were in the top bracket of marquee players of $400,000 base price and teams were already feeling the heat Sunday after the money splurge on the opening day.
Among the 13 players bought in the session, Mohammad Kaif and Murali Kartik were the only Indians who attracted the franchises.
Left-arm spinner Kartik was picked by Pune Warriors for $400,000.
The day’s last auction, that of former India player Kaif, was filled with drama.
After being ignored for the second time in the auction, he was put under the hammer, courtesy a special request by Pune team, for his base price of $100,00. But surprisingly Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers jumped in the fray and eventually Challengers grabbed him for $130,000.