IPL is back !!!!!

The excitement and expectations from the IPL increase as the second edition approaches. The auction for the foreign players begins on the sixth of February. This year’s edition will see England being represented by Kevin Pietersen & Co for the first time, whereas Shoaib Akthar’s aeroplane celebration wil be missed due to the ban on Pakistani players. Nevertheless here is a look at some of the special moments that clearly made IPL 2008 cricket’s new avtaar.

Behind the action

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Pietersen, Clarke have costliest base price at IPL auction
England’s dethroned captain Kevin Pietersen and Australian vice captain Michael Clarke are to command the top two reserve prices of 1.35 and one million USD, respectively, during the second Indian Premier League players’ auction to be held in Goa on February 6.

England’s charismatic all rounder Andrew Flintoff’s base price has been pegged at USD 950,000 in the auction for which a final list of 43 players nominated by the eight franchisees to go under the auctioner’s hammer was announced by the IPL today.

As per the guidelines set by the Governing Council for the DLF IPL 2009, each franchisee will have a maximum purse of USD 2 million, less any amount spent on signing temporary replacements from last year to select the cricketers best suited for their team’s strategies.

A total of 15 Australians, four Bangladeshis, seven Englishmen, three New Zealanders, five South Africans, four Sri Lankans and five West Indians would go under the hammer, the IPL said.

The first IPL auction last year saw current Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni being bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping USD 1.5 million, setting the benchmark for a tumultuous day of auctioning of top players from around the world.

The second-best signing was of controversial Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds who was bought by Deccan Chargers for USD 1.35 million.

These two players were the only millionaire signings last year in the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 League.

The second edition is set to kick off on April 10.

Final list of players nominated and their base prices in USD:
Australia: Aaron Bird 45,000, Brett Geeves 45,000, Bryce McGain 50,000, Daniel Harris 50,000, Dominic Thornley 50,000, George Bailey 50,000, Jonathan Moss 50,000, Michael Clarke 1,000,000, Michael Dighton 85,000, Michael Hill 50,000, Phil Jacques 100,000, Shane Harwood 75,000, Shaun Tait 250,000, Steven Smith 75,000 and Stuart Clark 250,000.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza 50,000, Mohammed Ashraful 75,000, Shakib Al Hasan 75,000 and Tamim Iqbal 50,000.

England: Andrew Flintoff 950,000, Kevin Pietersen 1,35,000, Luke Wright 150,000, Owais Shah 150,000, Paul Collingwood 250,000, Ravi Bopara 150,000 and Samit Patel 100,000.

New Zealand: James Franklin 50,000, Jesse Ryder 100,000 and Kyle Mills 150,000.

South Africa: Gulam Bodi 100,000, J P Duminy 300,000, Morne Van Wyk 100,000, Tyron Henderson 100,000 and Yusuf Abdullah 25,000.

Sri Lanka: Chamara Kapugedara 150,000, Kaushalya Weereratne 50,000, Nuwan Kulasekera 100,000 and Thilan Tushara 100,000.

West Indies: Dwayne Smith (To be confirmed), Fidel Edwards 150,000, Jerome Taylor (TBC), Kemar Roach 50,000 and Kieron Pollard 60,000.