Batsmen came at a premium at the IPL auction - Dinesh Karthik will be smiling all the way to the bank -- with the only surprise coming in at the fact that none of the eight IPL franchises chose to bid for the in-form Ross Taylor.
Here is a summary of how the bidding process went during the second lot of the IPL 7 player auction.
George Bailey: Kings XI Punjab opened the bidding, and Madley was about to gong that hammer, before the Delhi Daredevils decided to come in. but the Kings XI did eventually get their batsman for Rs 3.25 crore.
Darren Sammy: The Delhi Daredevils and the Rajasthan Royals go head to head, before that wily old man Vijay Mallya raised the paddle for RCB. However, the Daredevils won the bid at Rs 3.5 crore, only for the Sunrisers to use one of their Right to Match cards to ensure the West Indies all-rounder would stay in Hyderabad.
Faf Du Plessis: Mumbai Indians, still needing a possible opener, went in for the South African tyro, with the Delhi Daredevils rivalling the defending IPL champions. The Daredevils yet again won the battle, but a little surprisingly, perhaps, CSK used their lone Right to Match card to keep their player at Rs 4.75 crore.
Dinesh Karthik: Delhi Daredevils, needing players, came out firing again, with the Sunrisers determined to get a wicketkeeper/batsman capable of batting anywhere in the order.
The Delhi Daredevils took the bidding to over Rs 10 crore, before KKR raised their paddle to bump up the price a little more. The Daredevils did get their man, though, at a premium Rs 12.5 crore, with the Mumbai Indians, with a smile on their faces, choosing not to use the Right to Match card.
Brendon McCullum: The big guns of the IPL - CSK and the Mumbai Indians - decided to go into battle for the New Zealand skipper, who on his day, can bring any bowling lineup to tears.
CSK have added a ridiculous attacking weapon into their lineup at a not-so-massive price of Rs 3.25 crore, with KKR choosing not to bring that Joker into play.
Michael Hussey: Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils resume battle, with MI finally getting that experienced yet ridiculously effective opener in the mould of whoever-did-not-bid-for-me-will-regret-it Hussey.
Amit Mishra: Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and RCB bump up the price from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4.75 crore, with the Daredevils winning the bid. However, the Sunrisers use their second Right to Match card to take back the stats-say-he-is-pretty-good-in-the-IPL leg-spinner.
Zaheer Khan: Two of the India pacer's former teams begin the bidding process with RCB and Mumbai determined to bolster their bowling resources. The Sunrisers also gave a shot at taking the India veteran, but the bowler finally landed back in Mumbai at Rs 2.6 crore.
Ross Taylor: The I-score-runs-for-fun-now batsman, who terrorised India in the ODI series, went unsold.
Aaron Finch: Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals began the bidding, with the former looking locked to get their man at Rs 2 crore. But the Sunrisers decided to change the script a bit by coming in, with the bidding process then catching fire all the way from the base price of Rs 1 crore to Rs 4 crore, with the Australian opener, who on his day can belt the bowlers to all parts of the ground, going to the Sunrisers Hyderabad - a top three of Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Finch awaits .
Cheteshwar Pujara: Kings XI started at Rs 1.5 crore, with Delhi, as they did for pretty much every player, coming in to challenge. Kings XI, however, got the I-can-score-runs-in-the-shorter-format-as-well Pujara for a rather low Rs 1.9 crore.
JP Duminy: Neighbours RCB and Sunrisers went toe-to-toe, with, inevitably, Delhi, who started the auction without a single player in their squad, coming in. The Daredevils made a reasonably astute buy at Rs 2.2 crore, with the Sunrisers unable to match having used up both their cards already on Sammy and Mishra.
Robin Uthappa: Another player and another bid from the Delhi Daredevils, with KKR this time rivalling them. From a base price of Rs 2 crore, the bidding went up all the way to Rs 5 crore, with the 2012 IPL champs coming up trumps.
With the Pune Warriors India now defunct, there was no Right to Match option.
Brad Hodge: The Australian veteran has saved Rajasthan's skin many a time in the last few seasons, so it came as no surprise when the Royals opened the bidding. RCB bumped up the price a little with Rahul Dravid and co. getting their man at Rs 2.4 crore.
Shaun Marsh: Time went by, and just when Madley was about to bang that gavel to signal the player unsold, the Royals raised the paddle at the base price of Rs 2 crore. Kings XI Punjab came in at Rs 2.2 crore, and Marsh went back to his former team at a rather low amount, it must be said - maybe his injury problems came back to haunt him.
Manoj Tiwary: Delhi Daredevils resumed normal services, by raising that oft-used paddle for the base price of Rs 2 crore. The Sunrisers came in to rival the bid, with the inevitable price rising to RS 2.8 crore. KKR chose not to match the bid, leaving the Daredevils another player heavier.
Dwayne Smith: The West Indian has won plenty of games for the Mumbai Indians, and was instrumental in their wining the IPL title last season. MI kept the paddle on the table, with RCB and Delhi taking up the bidding.
From Rs 1.5 crore the price rose to Rs 2.2 crore, before Kings XI came in, which again bumped up the price to Rs 3.75 crore with Preity Zinta's team holding the aces. CSK, though, silent for a long time, jumped into the bandwagon, winning the bid at Rs 4.5 crore, after MI decided not to use the joker.
