Bengaluru: Veteran Australian all-rounder Shane Watson commanded the highest bid of Rs.9 crore from Royal Challengers Bengaluru while star batsman Yuvraj Singh was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs.7 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here on Saturday.
Watson, who has represented Rajasthan Royals (RR) every year since joining them in the inaugural edition in 2008, was bought by Vijay Mallay-owned RCB for Rs.9.5 crore from a base price of Rs.2 crore.
This is first time that Watson has featured in the IPL auction since the inaugural editon in 2008. He is the only player to win the player of the tournament award twice. But his deal was annulled after the Rajasthan and Chennai franchises were suspended for two years after the IPL was hit by a match fixing corruption scandal.
Yuvraj on the other hand, will make the move to Hyderabad from the Delhi Daredevils, who had bought him last year for Rs.16 crore. The veteran southpaw has been bought for a much reduced price this year, with the Sunrisers shelling out Rs.7 crore for his services. Yuvraj had a base price of Rs.2 crore.
The Daredevils have replaced Yuvraj with South all-rounder Christopher Morris, who has been bought for the same price as the Indian star. The 28-year-old had a base price of Rs.50 lakhs.
Among other big buys, medium pacer Mohit Sharma went for Rs.6.5 crore to Kings XI Punjab, while Hyderabad splurged Rs.5.5 crore for veteran left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra.
Delhi bought young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson and West Indian batsman Carlos Brathwaite for Rs.4.2 crore each. Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh went to new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs.4.8 crore.
Mitchell joined England star Kevin Pietersen, who was picked up for Rs.3.5 crore. The duo will join India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at Pune.