Two of England’s cricket stars became the most costly players in the Indian Premier League. Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen where bought for £1.1 million each at the auction in Goa.
Flintoff was bought buy Chennai whilst former England skipper Pietersen is going to be playing for Bangalore. The amounts will be paid to the players as salary, and will be based on the amount of games that they play.
Other England players to be bought in the auction include, Ravi Bopara to Kings XI Punjab for $450,000, Former England skipper Paul Collingwood for $275,000 while Owais Shah went for $375,000 both joined Delhi.
There were no bids for England’s other two players in contention at the auction, Sussex batsman Luke Wright and Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the previous transfer record during the 2008 IPL auction, when Chennai bought the India captain for £1.04 m.
Last year the England players where not involved in the IPL auction due to international commitments and this year they will be restricted to half the tournament because of the home Test series against the West Indies in April and May. The 2009 IPL season will be held from 10 April to 29 May.
This is the second year of the Indian Premier League, which is a Twenty20 cricket competition that was set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
There are eight franchises, not like clubs or county’s in England but more like the way sport is done in North America. The Eight Franchises in the IPL are,
Mumbai Indians
· Royal Challengers Bangalore
· Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
· Chennai Super Kings
· Delhi Daredevils
· Kings XI Punjab
· Kolkata Knight Riders
· Rajasthan Royals
Last year the winners of the first IPL where the Rajasthan Royals who beat Flintoff’s new side Chennai Super Kings in the final.
The IPL is shown on Setanta, and this year English Cricket fans will be able to watch the tournament with a lot more interest than in the previous year, with the likes of Flintoff and Pietersen taking part.
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