38 Australians signed !

No doubt Australian cricket is still of high standard. The Sheffield Shield pacers bowl at 145 kph normally. As many as 38 Aussies were signed in IPL Auction IV. Some say this is due to the influence of the six Australian coaches - Darren Lehman, Dave Whatmore, Michael Bevan, Geoff Lawson, Geoff Marsh, Shane Warne - but then it was talent that was signed. 20 South Africans were also signed and it is said the the Southern Hemisphere got its due at last !


Each team is allowed 40 cr to buy players and Kochi has already bought for 35 cr INR. So the ten teams have almost spent 350 cr totally for signing 112 ace players. The Pathan brothers pocketed more than 20 cr, but then this is a great compensation for their service to cricket. Both are class allrounders.

Rohit Sharma proved that he is worthy of crores as he blasted 53 against SA.

The unknown Aussie, Daniel Christian, was swallowed by DC for $ 900,000.

Since the format is T20, all long handles were welcomed and there was reserve about sheet anchor role batsmen. Indian pacers shone, with Dinda ( $ 375,000 ), U Yadav ( $ 750,000 ), M Patel ( $ 700,000 ), L Balaji ( $ 500,000 ), V Kumar ( $ 475,000 ) and Gony ( $ 290,000 ). Also Ajit Agarkar, A Mithun, J Unadkat & S Tyagi.

Chennai was smart enough to fill 18 slots, while Rajastan Royals could only sign 8 players and are now left with only $ 800,000. They have to hire still 18 more players ! They will now have to get their players from the Indian domestic pool, known as the " uncapped players".

The concept of icons was replaced by the concept of young star performers. Youngsters who create a fan base and huge spectator interest. Icons like Ganguly and S Jayasurya were ignored for fresh young available talent. So also the retired Brian Lara. Also H Gibbs, Chanderpaul and J Oram !

The Auction was telecast on all national channels and all commentators were vociferous about " Youth, the Twenty Twenty Format and the team's plan for the future ", which is more or less the correct approach. The retired cricketers, or the about to retire cricketers did not have much demand from the corporates.

Match winners, who win the game singlehandedly, like Y Pathan, Gambhir, B Lee, Kallis etc were given prominence. Also bits and pieces men or all rounders who can perform multi tasks.

Less Englishmen can be explained by the fact that England's top performers find it difficult to grapple between IPL and the domestic season and international fixtures.

Doeschate from Holland was a surprise inclusion and smaller teams can find solace in that inclusion.

Those bid for second thoughts included Jesse Ryder of NZ, Theron of SA, Adam Vogues and Henriques from Australia, and D Mascarenhas and M Lumb of England. Ganguly and Jayasurya were not fancied because of their age and Chris Gayle beacuse of his availability problems.

The Indian corporate have much to celebrate. They will control some of the best cricketing talent available for six weeks this summer season !