By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Local batsman Ishan Kishan bagged a $2.02-million deal, overseas spinners were largely snubbed and the auctioneer collapsed on stage on an eventful opening day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction on Saturday.
IPL giants Mumbai Indians bought back explosive batsman Kishan for 152.50 million Indian rupees ($2.02 million) after staving off competition from Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Holders Chennai Super Kings forked out 140 million rupees to keep seamer Deepak Chahar, while twice champions Kolkata Knight Riders bought India batsman Shreyas Iyer for 122.50 million rupees.
The auction was halted after auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed on stage during the bidding in a Bengaluru hotel.
“The IPL auctioneer had an unfortunate fall due to Postural Hypotension during the IPL auction this afternoon,” the league said in a statement.
“The medical team attended to him immediately after the incident and he is stable.”
Broadcaster Charu Sharma stepped in to continue the auction and the league’s 10 franchises demonstrated their appetite for homegrown spinners after the lunch break.
Three years after Ravichandran Ashwin ran out Jos Buttler when the England batsman had backed up in an IPL game, the duo will be seen playing together for Rajasthan Royals.
Buttler is one of the three players Rajasthan had retained.
Australia test captain Pat Cummins returned to Kolkata for 72.50 million rupees, a hefty cut from the 155 million he drew last year.
Australian duo David Warner and Mitchell Marsh will play under compatriot Ricky Ponting who is the head coach at Delhi Capitals.
Overseas spinners including Adam Zampa of Australia, South African Imran Tahir, England’s Adil Rashid and Bangladesh spin all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan went unsold.
They can still be sold if franchises nominate them for Sunday’s auction.
Six hundred players have registered to fill 217 places for this year’s tournament which will begin in the last week of March.
($1 = 75.3188 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Clare Fallon)
