5.06 pm: that's it boys and girls, the IPL 2015 Player Auction is over. Had excitement every now and then, but by and large it was pretty slow. Hopefully the action in IPL 2015 will make up for that when it begins in April.
Do stay with IBT India for more coverage of this auction, including the full player sold and unsold list.
The complete list is HERE
That's it from me, though. Have a nice evening everyone!
5.04 pm: The last player at the IPL 2015 Player Auction is SV Trivedi, and Rajasthan Royals buy him for Rs 10 lakh.
5.03 pm: CSK buy Eklavya Dwivedi for Rs 10 lakh. Akash Bhandari then goes unsold.
5.02 pm: Aiden Blizzard is on his way back to Mumbai Indians, who buy the batsman for Rs 30 lakh.
5.01 pm: Juan Theron is bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 30 lakh. Nathan Reardon is then unsold.
5.00 pm: Sanga is brought back again. Rs 1 crore the base price, and again no bids. This is ridiculous to snub a legend like this for three times. Absolutely ridiculous!
5 pm: Final session begins
4.48pm: A total of 63 players have been bought now. Nearly Rs 90 crore spent, says Sundar Raman.
One final session to go, and Raman has requested the franchises to give three names each. Will take a while to polish the list now. But the end is in sight!
4.46 pm: Poonam Poonia (you gotta bid for him with that name, surely!), nope no bids. Joel Paris next, and no bids for him either at the base price of Rs 30 lakh.
4.44 pm: PG Dake has no bids coming in, while Samad Fallah and Pankaj Jaswal areunsold. B Singh Saran goes to RR for Rs 10 lakh. Jaskaran Singh, Ishwar Choudhary, K Waingankar are all unsold.
4.41 pm: Aniket Choudhary has no buyers, Umar Nazir also stays unsold. Prashanth Parameswaran, the Kerala fast bowler, has no bids and is unsold, while Vikas Tokas goes the same way. Y Chudasama is another player who is unsold. KK Jiyaz gets a Rs 10 lakh bid from DD and he goes to Delhi Daredevils. Gurvinder Singh and Rajwinder Singh are unsold.
4.38 pm: Nuwan Kulasekara is unsold at a base price of Rs 50 lakh. Siddharth Kaul is bought by SRH for Rs 10 lakh. Amit not-the-leg-spinner Mishra does not get a bid and remains unsold, while Pradeep Sangwan, who has had a couple of decent seasons before in the IPL, also cannot find a buyer. Australian Andrew Tye gets a bid from CSK for Rs 20 lakh and he goes to the Chennai Super Kings for Rs 20 lakh.
4.35 pm: Abhimanyu Mithun bid for by Mumbai Indians, still disappointed at losing their home player Zaheer to DD, and MI get the Karnataka fast bowler for Rs 30 lakh. Munaf Patel, former India fast bowler, has no bids coming in. Munaf is unsold.
4.33 pm: Zaheer Khan is back. Rs 1 crore bid from Mumbai Indians, his former team, and DD comes in as well. A ding-dong battle between the two this, quickly up to Rs 1.5 crore, and then moves up again all the way to Rs 4 crore. Zaheer Khan, who went unsold in the first round of auction, is sold to the Delhi Daredevils for Rs 4 crore.
4.25 pm: Yogesh Golwalker is bought by KXIP for Rs 10 lakh. Ankit Kushwah is unsold, as is namesake Ankit Shastri. SV Trivedi cannot find a buyer, and the same goes for Vinay Choudary. Avinash Yadav can't find a Rs 10 lakh bid from any side, while Pratyush Singh is bough by CSK for Rs 10 lakh.
4.22 pm: Kshitiz Sharma is unsold, while B Indrajith also remains on that list. Hardik Pandya is cool enough for an MI bid, and he goes to the Mumbai Indians for Rs 10 lakh. Varun Sood has no bids at Rs 10 lakh, while Paul Valthaty (remember him?) is unsold. That century can only carry him so far. Krunal Pandya is the next on the unsold list, while Raiphi Vincent Gomez has no bidders either.
4.18 pm: MI are taking quite a few of these players, and they buy another -- J Suchith – for Rs 10 lakh. Rohit Dahiya is unsold, Prasanth Padmanabhan gets a bid from Sunrisers Hyderabad, and is sold to SRH for Rs 10 lakh. Swarupam Purkaystha, even that wickedawesomename cannot induce a bid, while Dinesh Salunkhe is sold to RR for Rs 10 lakh.
4.15 pm: No bids for Suneel Raju, while Vaibhav Rawal goes to KKR for Rs 10 lakh. No paddles raisedfor Gurinder Singh, while Australian Marcus Stoinis gets a couple of bids – from CSK and DD. Delhi Daredevils take Stoinis for Rs 25 lakh.
4.12 pm: Pardeep Sahu goes to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 10 lakh. Harpreet Singh and Akash Bhandari have no bidders, though. Siddhesh Lad then getsa bid from MI for Rs 10 lakh and he goes to MI for that price.
4.10 pm: Ashok Menaria, once such a great hope for Indian cricket, gest no bids at Rs 10 lakh. A little sad that. Shrikant Munde and Rush Kalaria are unsold. Nitish Rana goes to Mumbai Indians for Rs 10 lakh.
4.07 pm: No interest for Azhar Mahmood. Albie Morkel, though, gets a bid from DD at Rs 30 lakh. Morkel goes to DD for Rs 30 lakh. Compatriot Robin Peterson, however, remains unsold.
4.05 pm: Irfan Pathan isbought back, and CSK make a bid. Base price is Rs 1.5 crore, and Irfan Pathan goes to CSK for Rs 1.5 crore.
4.04 pm: Kona Srikar Bharat is one of the few players bought – Delhi Daredevils get him for Rs 10 lakh.
4.03 pm: Sujit Nayak is another player unsold, as is Prashant Chopra and Nikhil Gangta. Craig Simmons, the Australian veteran, has no chance either and is unsold with no bids at the base price of Rs 20 lakh. Arjit Gupta then comes in and is ignored at Rs 10 lakh, as is Robin Bist, the experienced batsman. Praful Waghela is another unsold.
4 pm: Australian Travis Head gets an opening bid from Delhi Daredevils for Rs 30 lakh. Head sold to DD. Nice headline that isn't it. Akhil Herwadkar though is unsold, along with Prashant Naik.
3.58 pm: Taruwar Kohli cannotchange the scene either, and Eklavya Dwivedi cannot induce a bid either. Ankeet Bawane is then let go by the eight IPL teams, but namesake Shishir Bavane gets a bid in, and Bavane goes to RCB for Rs 10 lakh.
3.56 pm: Young wicketkeeper Smit Patel comes up, but no bids forthcoming for Rs 10 lakh. Manprit Juneja is also overlooked. Michael Klinger is then ignored as the bidding comes to a stop again.
3.54 pm: T Suman comes back and remains unsold, and Ankush Bains is next with CSK making an opening bid. Bains goes to CSK for Rs 10 lakh.
3.53 pm: Sheldon Jackson. Finally we have a bid! CSK bid for Jackson, the uncapped player, and then KKR come in with Rs 15 lakh. Sheldon Jackson sold for Rs 15 lakh. First sale of the afternoon session.
3.51 pm: Luke Ronchi next, at Rs 39 lakh, and again, no bids. Ridiculous stuff this. Ronchi is definitely worth the punt at Rs 30 lakh. Aiden Blizzard also remains unsold.
3.50 pm: Brad Hodge also gets no bids. Ross Taylor also remains unsold. Why did the franchises bring them back then, one wonders!
3.49 pm: Michael Carberry is brought back and he remains unsold as well. Alex Hales also remains unsold at Rs 1 crore, very surprising.
3.48 pm: Kumar Sangakkara is back. However, no bids coming in again at Rs 1 crore. Sangakkara remains unsold.
3.47 pm: Accelerated auction process it is going to be. That means the IPL franchises have selected the players they want to go under the hammer.
3.45 pm: Auction is about to start again
3.27 pm: "We got Michael Hussey as cover for our batting lineup," says CSK coach Stephen Fleming. "We were a little short in cover last season, and if one of our top four loses form, Hussey is a perfect option to come in." Hussey was bought for Rs 1.5 crore by CSK this morning.
3.16 pm: Muralitharan, the new bowling coach of SRH, talking on Sony Six, says the Sunrisers are pretty happy with their buys (and they should be too), having covered all bases.
3.12 pm: Just a few minutes to go before the auction restarts after lunch. it could get interesting when the IPL franchises decide to bring back some of the unsold players – plenty of big names there, and it will be interesting to see who comes back eventually.
Before, that, however, there will be a few more uncapped players going under the hammer. Let's see if there are more KC Cariappa and Shreyas Iyer's among them.
1.55 pm: 156 players auctioned and only 39 bought so far today. Nearly 80 crore spent in total.
No bad, not astounding either. But that is what you expect from the IPL franchises now, who are a lot smarter and cautious when it comes to spending money on players.
It is Lunch now, see you for the afternoon session at around 3.15 pm, when the accelerated auction will begin.
1.51 pm: Shadab Jakati, a CSK regular not too long ago, Bhargav Bhatt and Rahul S Shah are unsold.
1.50 pm: Big buy here. KC Cariappa sets a bidding war between DD and KKR. Cariappa is smiling all the way and is sold to KKR for Rs 2.4 crore. Big pressure to perform on the leg-spinner now.
1.46 pm: Ali Murtaza Mihir Hirwani are unsold and Akshay Wakhare gets a bid from Mumbai Indians. Wakhare sold to MI for Rs 10 lakh.
Sarabjeet Ladda is unsold.
1.43 pm: The last set before Lunch now. Spinners it is.
1.43 pm: Rahul Shukla, Amit Mishra (no, not that one), Pradeep Sangwan and Siddhart Kaul have no takers and therefore are all unsold.
1.40 pm: Bowlers set now.
Andrew Tye, Basil Thampy, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Sreenath Aravind, HS Sharath are ignored and unsold. Dominic Muthuswamy gets a bidding war going. MI and DD going for the bowler, who is yet to make an appearance in the IPL. From Rs 10 lakh to Rs 75 lakh and Dominic is sold to DD for Rs 75 lakh.
1.36 pm: Sumit Narwal sold to KKR for Rs 10 lakh. Shrikant Mundhe, Ashok Menaria, Robbie Frylinck, Irishman Kevin O'Brien (associate players are termed as uncapped) are unsold. Jalaj Saxena getsa bid from RCB, and is sold to the franchise for Rs 10 lakh.
1.31 pm: Jesal Karia and Ramdayal Punia is unsold, and Kevon Cooper has no takers either. Aditya Garhwal receives an interest from Rajasthan Royals, and KKR also come in. Garhwal sold to KKR for Rs 25 lakh.
1.28 pm: Uncapped all-rounders now.
1.27 pm: KB Arun Karthik, Amit Paunikar, Ankush Bains (surprisingly) are unsold. Nikhil Naik gets the bidding going, though. MI and KXIP go for the 20-year-old wicketkeeper, KXIP buys Nikhil Naik for Rs 30 lakh.
Smit Patel and Sushant Marathe then go unsold.
1.23 pm: Ben Dunk, Davey Jacobs, Shreevats Goswami are unsold, while CM Gautam gets a bid of Rs 20 lakh from DD. Gautam sold to DD for Rs 20 lakh.
1.20 pm: Wicketkeepers now
1.20 pm: S Naushad Khan, at 17 is the youngest player at the IPL 2015 Auction, and RCB and MI bid for the young batsman. From the base price of Rs 10 lakh, Naushad Khan is bought by RCB for Rs 50 lakh.
1.18 pm: Mohnish Mishra is unsold as well, while Debabrata Das also has no bidders. Aiden Blizzard is unsold and so are Yogesh Nagar and Paras Dogra.
1.16 pm: T Suman next. No bidders and Suman is unsold, as is Sheldon Jackson.
1.14 pm: Hanuma Vihari. Former teamSRH open the bidding and Vihari is sold to SRH for Rs 10 lakh.
1.13 pm: Shreyas Iyer first up. Base price of Rs 10 lakh, quickly goes up to Rs 1.8 crore with MI and KKR bidding hard. Then comes Delhi Daredevils with a late bid, which only cranks the pirce up that bit more.
These teams have clearly scouted him closely and want him desperately. Shreyas Iyer sold to DD for Rs 2.6 crore. The uncapped player auction is clearly going to be a lot more fun.
1.06 pm: The Auction is back from the break. Uncapped players now, batsmen first set
12.58 pm: Another small break now. The auction has slowed down considerably. It will now be about the uncapped set, hopefully there will be some interesting buys for the young Indian players.
12.57 pm: Ashton Agar is picked, but no takers for the young Aussie. Agar is unsold. Might as well say no altogether. Seekkuge Prasanna, Carlos Brathwaite, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Vaughn Van Jaarsveld, Elton Chigumbura, Justin Ontong and Christopher Barnwell are all unsold.
Capped players they might all be, but understandably no takers at all.
12.52 pm: Last set of capped players now. All-rounders it is.
12.50 pm: Dirk Nannes, Nuwan Kulasekara, Hamish Bennett, Peter Siddle, Dhammika Prasad and Krishmar Santokie join the packed-to-the-seams unsold list.
12.46 pm: Fast bowlers section now. The first player drawn is Thilan Thushara (yeah like he was ever going to be picked) and he is unsold. Lonwabo Tsotsobe is unsold as are Suranga Lakmal, Sudeep whatever-happened-to-him Tyagi. Shaun Tait is also ignored.
12.42 pm: Jonathan Carter, Nathan Reardon, Doug Bracewell, Grant Elliott and Anton Devcich are all unsold. Very frugal bidding going on now.
12.38 pm: All-rounders list now. Suraj Randiv is unsold, as is fellow Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof. Farhaan Behardien, who is currently with the South Africa squad at the World Cup, is another player unsold, while the same goes for Joginder Sharma, the man who bowled that final over at the 2007 World T20.
12.35 pm: Surprising this, as L Balaji, is snubbed. Balaji goes unsold. Another former India international – RP Singh – also piques no interest. RP Singh is unsold.
12.33 pm: Ben Laughlin is unsold.
12.31 pm: Gurinder Sandhu, the Indian-origin fast bowler who made his debut recently for Australia, has a base price of Rs 30 lakh. Rajasthan Royals open the bidding at Rs 30 lakh, and Delhi Daredevils come in. From Rs 30 lakh the bidding between the two IPL franchises goes along nicely up to Rs 1.7 crore. Sandhu is sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1.7 crore.
12.29 pm: The fading Ravi Rampual has no takers at Rs 50 lakh. Rampaul is unsold. Doug Bollinger, the Aussie left-armer, is priced out really at Rs 1 crore. Bollinger joins the growing unsold list.
12.26 pm: Kyle Abbott gets a bid of Rs 30 lakh from CSK, and Abbott is sold to the Chennai Super Kings.
12.25 pm: Fast bowlers set now. Sheldon Cottrell first up, and not surprisingly, no bids forthcoming, Cottrell is unsold. Juan "Rusty" Theron a T20 expert is also unsold, despite a decent base price of Rs 30 lakh. Mitchell McClenaghan, the New Zealand international, is sold at the base price of Rs 30 lakh to RCB.
12.21: Experienced Australian David Hussey has no buyers at Rs 1 crore and is unsold.
12.19 pm: Veteran Johan Botha is unsold, priced out really at Rs 1 crore. Azhar Mahmood, eligible as he is playing with an English passport, also has no bids. Mahmood is unsold. South African Robin Peterson is also unsold.
12.18 pm: Sachitra Senanayake, who has only just remodelled his action and come back to international cricket is seen to be too stiff at the base price of Rs 1 crore. Senanayake is unsold.
12.17 pm: Albie Morkel, once one of the best all-rounder around in limited-overs, is ignored as well at a fair price of Rs 30 lakh. Albie Morkel is unsold.
12.16 pm: Nathan McCullum is unsold, and so is Jeevan Mendis.
12.13 pm: David Wiese first, RCB make an opening bid of Rs 30 lakh. DD come in to rival RCB. The bidding goes all the way up to Rs 2.8 crore for the South African all-rounder, absolutely nuts! Wiese sold to RCB for Rs 2.8 crore.
12.10 pm: Back now. All-rounders set.
12.04 pm: "Looking forward to playing under Gary Kirsten," says Yuvraj Singh to Sony Six. Yuvraj is the biggest buy so far in this IPL 2015 Player Auction, with Delhi Daredevils buying him for Rs 16 crore.
11.59 am: Five-minute break now, before auction action resumes. Pretty sedate action in the second phase, as the IPL sides hold onto their money, having spent big on the marquee players.
11.58 am: Abhinav Mukund is not picked up and is unsold, and the same goes for Aussie Callum Ferguson, who is also unsold.
11.57 am: The classy Lahiru Thirimanne is next, and there are no bids for the Sri Lankan. Thirimanne is also unsold. Tough crowd this!
11.55 am: Hamish Rutherford also has no takers at Rs 50 lakh, and is unsold. Richard Levi, who used to be feared at one time for his T20 exploits, has no bids forthcoming and Levi is unsold. Venugopal Rao, the Indian veteran, is also ignored and unsold as is the more high-profile Darren Bravo, another one who goes under the unsold category.
11.52 am: Batsmen now. Dean Elgar first, an Elgar is unsold.
11.51 am: The final spinner in the set is Brad Hogg, the Chinaman bowler. KKR, the quietest team at the auction so far, comes in with an opening bid of Rs 50 lakh and Hogg is sold to KKR.
11.50 am: Ajantha Mendis is also unsold, as is Aussie Cameron Boyce and Sri Lankan Akhila Dhananjaya.
11.47 am: Not too surprising as Nathan Lyon has no bidders at Rs 1 crore. Lyon is unsold. Michael Beer also goes the same way and is unsold.
11.46 am: Only one bid for Rahul Sharma, and he is sold to CSK for Rs 30 lakh.
11.45 am: Thought for a moment he would get no bids due to his action problems. Mumbai Indians bid Rs 50 lakhs, the base price, and that is all she wrote. Ojha sold to MI for Rs 50 lakhs.
11.43 am: Spinners now. Pragyan Ojha first up.
11.42 am: Adam Milne next. At Rs 30 lakh, he could be a real bargain. Tremendous pace the youngster has, and RCB come in at the base price. Somebody surely needs to bid here, Milne has pace to burn, and CSK come in. Royal Challengers Bangalore not giving up, though, and Milne is sold to RCB for Rs 70 lakh.
11.39 am: Former CSK man Ben Hilfenhaus is next.CSK don't bid at base price of Rs 1 crore, and Hilfenhaus is unsold.
11.38 am: Sean Abbott, the man who must have gone through some serious turmoil late last year is next. RCB open the bid at Rs 50 lakh. Mumbai Indians come in and RCB seem determined to land Abbott, who has pace and skill and could be a great asset to any of the IPL teams. Sean Abbott sold to RCB for Rs 1 crore, at double his base price.
11.35 am: Karnataka pacer A Mithun is surprisingly unsold.
11.35 am: Holy Moly no bid for Zaheer. Zaheer Khan is unsold!
11.34 am: Zaheer Khan now!
11.33 am: Munaf Patel is unsold. No takers at the base price of Rs 50 lakh.
11.32 am: Jaydev Unadkat now. CSK and DD go head to head for the left-arm pacer. From Rs 50 lakh the bidding goes to Rs 1.1 crore. Unadkat sold to DD for Rs 1.1 crore.
11.28 am: Trent Boult is bid for by Mumbai Indians and RCB. Boult's pace and wicket-taking ability will be in handy, and both teams clearly want the New Zealander. From Rs 50 lakh the bidding goes up to Rs 3 crore as MI and RCB fight for the fast bowler. Great stuff this! RCB think they have Boult for Rs 3 crore, and then comes SRH with a bid. That ups the price to Rs 3.8 crore.
Boult sold to SRH for Rs 3.8 crore.
11.20 am: Pankaj Singh now. Rs 30 lakh the base price and no bids as Pankaj Singh is unsold, a little surprising that.
11.20 am: Pankaj Singh now. Rs 30 lakh the base price and no bids as Pankaj Singh is unsold.
11.19 am: CSK and SRH go for him. From Rs 50 lakh all the way up to Rs 2.2 crore and Fleming and CSK say they have had enough and Praveen is sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
11.17 am: Praveen Kumar is first up, and he is unsold.
11.16 am: Fast bowlers set coming up.
11.16 am: Laxmi Ratan Shukla now. SRH open the bidding for Shukla at the base price of Rs 30 lakh and Shukla is sold to SRH.
11.14 am: Wayne Parnell next. No takes, and Parnell is unsold.
11.13 am: RCB open the bidding at the base price of Rs 1 crore, and Delhi joins in – of course they do! Back and forth they go, as both teams seem to want Sammy. All the way to Rs 2.8 crore in the blink of an eye. Sammy sold to RCB for Rs 2.8 crore.
11.11 am: Darren Sammy is up next now.
11.10 am: Chris Morris next. Rajasthan Royals open the bidding at Rs 50 lakh, and Delhi Daredevils join the bidding. Goes all the way up to Rs 1.4 crore, and Rajasthan Royals buy Morris.
11.08 am: Irfan Pathan next. Bidding to start at Rs 1.5 crore, and such is the stock of the all-rounder at the moment, that there are no bids for him. Irfan Pathan is unsold!
11.06 am: Ravi Bopara is bid for by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bopara sold to SRH for Rs 1 crore.
11.05 am: Tillakaratne Dilshan is next up. Dilshan is also unsold, with nobody willing to spend Rs 1.5 crore on him.
11.04 am: Marlon Samuels is unsold at Rs 1.5 crore.
11.03 am: KKR and RR start the bidding for Neesham. Neesham sold to KKR for Rs 50 lakh.
11.02 am: All-rounders now, and James Neesham is first up.
11.01 am: Zimbawean Brendan Taylor goes unsold as well in the set of wicketkeepers.
11 am: Kusal Perera is up as a wicketkeeper here, and no bids coming in. Kusal Perera is unsold, and so is Denesh Ramdin.
10.58 am: Luke Ronchi next. Ronchi has been tremendous for New Zealand of late, so he might be worth a punt at Rs 30 lakh. But, nope, nobody goes for him and Ronchi is unsold. Morne Van Wyk is also unsold.
10.57 am: Wicketkeepers next, with Matthew Wade going under the hammer. No takers there, and he is unsold.
10.56 am: Michael Carberry, unsurprisingly, goes unsold
10.55 am: Cheteshwar Pujara is ignored at base price of Rs 1 crore. No takers for the Test team regular.
10.54 am: Rs 1.5 crore base price, and bang comes in CSK to take their former player back. CSK let Hussey go at the last auction, and the left-hander played for MI. Hussey goes back to CSK, sold for Rs 1.5 crore.
10.52 am: Michael Hussey is next
10.52 am: Rs 30 lakh base price is bid by RCB and Badrinath is sold to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
10.51 am: First Indian in this group and it is S Badrinath. Rs 30 lakh base price.
10.50 am: Cameron White goes the same way and is unsold
10.49 am: Alex Hales comes up for bidding. No takes for Hales, as he is also unsold
10.48 am: Ross Taylor next. He is also unsold!
10.48 am: No bids for Hodge, he is unsold
10.46 am: And we're back! Brad Hodge is the first player
10.45 am: DD only have a little under Rs 13 crore remaining from the near Rs 40 crore now, while SRH are sitting pretty with nearly Rs 17 crore to spend. It's going to be an interesting, perhaps not as exciting, bidding process now. Plenty of good players to come. Will someone please take a big punt on Darren Sammy, that man is seriously underrated!
10.34 am: In Nelson West Indies are crashing to defeat against Ireland.
Get the Live Scorecard for the West Indies vs Ireland World Cup match HERE
10.32 am: DD coach GaryKirsten talking about his buys. Happy with Yuvraj, even if they paid a huge premium, while Kirsten is also looking forward to working with Angelo Mathews, who also went for a huge fee of Rs 7.5 crore.
10.28 am: IPL teamsgoing mad for Yuvraj again, who went to Delhi for Rs 16 crore in this first phase of the auction. MI will be happy to have bought Finch, while SRH have bought some tremendous players for little money. Kane Williamson for Rs 60 lakh, Eoin Morgan for Rs 1.5 crore and KP for Rs 2 crore is some good business.
10.26 am: That's it for the marquee list of players for the IPL 2015 Player Auction. A 20-minute break now, and we will be back!
10.25 am: Morgan sold to SRH for Rs 1.5 crore.
10.24 am: No early bids for Morgan, the England ODI skipper. And no bids coming in late either, or is there, as SRH make a late, late bid for Morgan at the base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
10.23 am: Eoin Morgan is up for bidding
10.22 am: Finch sold to MI for Rs 3.2 crore!
10.22 am: MI and DD go bid for Finch and from the base price of Rs 1 crore the bidding goes all the way up to Rs 2.8 crore. Gary Kirsten gives his opinion as MI hold Finch at Rs 2.8 crore. DD goes for it, and the bid goes past the Rs 3 crore-mark.
10.18 am: Finch started with a hundred at the World Cup for Australia, and Mumbai Indians, who need an opener, open the bidding, with DD joining in.
10.17 am: Next up – Aaron Finch
10.17 am: Goes past the Rs3 crore mark and SRH are standing firm over their player. Amit Mishra sold to DD for Rs 3.5 crore.
10.15 am: Mumbai Indians and SRH now go back and forth after RR drop out. Mishra was released by Sunrisers, don't forget. Might turn out to be a smart move, if they get him for a lesser price.
Mumbai Indians thinking about increasing the bid near the Rs 2 crore mark, but SRH aren't hesitating and it goes to Rs 2 crore. MI drop out, but DD come in and the bidding process continues, much to Mishra's delight.
10.12 am: bidding starts at Rs 1 crore. Nobody blinking early here and then comes Dravid with that raising of the handle for Rajasthan Royals. Mumbai Indians join in the fun. Madley tries to get in another bid from RR, and Dravid relents with a bid of Rs 1.2 crore. Mumbai Indians look like they really want Mishra, though, and they aren't holding back either.
10.11 am: Amit Mishra is next
10.10 am: RCB buy Karthik for Rs 10.5 crore!
10.10 am: DD pull out and in comes SRH with a surprise bid. Goes past Rs 10 crore now, Karthik is happy! VVS Laxman, Tom Moody and Mutthiah Muralitharan are there for SRH in the auction, btw.
10.08 am: RCB start the bidding at Rs 2 crore. Karthik was released by DD this time, and CSK join the bidding with RCB. CSK have only around Rs 5 crore to throw around, while RCB have plenty. CSK can't bring Karthik back to his home state, though, as RCB and DD go on with the bidding.
Going up quickly here as RCB and DD go head-on for Karthik (seriously!). RCB have it right now at Rs 9.5 crore.
10.05 am: Dinesh Karthik is next
10.05 am: The bid starts at Rs 2 crore. Somebody surely will bid for him as he will be available throughout the IPL. And SRH start the proceedings with a bid of Rs 2 crore. SRH are the only bidders and KP goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 2 crore!
10.03 am: Kevin Pietersen comes in now!
10.02 am: Sanga'a great mate Mahela Jayawardene is next and he is also unsold!
10.01 am: Last player out of the marquee list is Kumar Sangakkara. No early bids for him and no late bids either as Sangakkara goes unsold.
10 am: Yuvraj sold to DD for Rs 16 crore.
9.59 am: Madley asking RCB to make a decision. And that dude with the laptop in front of him continues his conversation with Mallya. RCB make the Rs 15.5 crore bid, but DD straight back with a bid of Rs 16 crore. Man, Yuvraj is laughing watching this!
9.58 am: RCB thinking about increasing the bid from Rs 15 crore, taking a bit of time here is Vijay Mallya and the rest. A guy with a laptop in front of him seems to be having an animated conversation with Mallya. If RCB bid now, they will be paying Yuvraj Rs 1.5 crore more than they would have had to had they retained him. Insane stuff this, absolutely insane!
9.56 am: They will apparently as the bidding goes well past Rs 10 crore. Yuvraj making more money here, and RCB have upped it to Rs 13.5 crore. Crazy, considering they let him go at Rs 14 crore. Amazingly ridiculous stuff happening here. Delhi Daredevils going all out for Yuvraj, bid Rs 14 crore, and RCB going crazy here with a bid of Rs 14.5 crore.
They had him for Rs 14 crore and let him go!
Delhi Daredevils bid Rs 15 crore
9.53 am: Delhi Daredevils come in as KXIP stall. But Rahul Dravid is bidding big for his former India teammate. Rajasthan Royals drop out, though, and Delhi have Yuvraj at Rs 5 crore. And, bang swoops in RCB with a cheeky late bid. Surely they won't go long for Yuvraj again, will they?
9.52 am: RR and KXIP go for the left-handed slugger. Remember he was released by RCB this season, after buying him for Rs 14 crore in last year's player auction.
9.50 am: Yuvraj is next
9.50 am: But the bidding stops at Rs 60 lakh. SRH get Williamson for Rs 60 lakh, what a bargain!
9.49 am: You have to be bonkers not to bid for Williamson. And a bid comes in for the first time today from Sunrisers Hyderabad. Williamson is in insane form at the moment and even if he might not be available for the entire IPL, you buy him, plain and simple.
RCB joins in the bidding.
9.48 am: Kane Williamson is up next
9.47 am: RCB drop out, after thinking long and hard. Mathews goes to DD for Rs 7.5 crore!
9.46 am: Mumbai Indians open the bidding for the Sri Lanka skipper at Rs 1.5 crore. DD joins in. Mathews will be a great asset to any team with his all-round skills, including leadership. MI and DD clearly want Mathews in their side. Ricky Ponting is giving advice for the Mumbai Indians here. Nice to see him, what a player he was!
Going way up now, as both teams don't let up. Remember, DD have a lot of money to play with, MI only have about Rs 10 crore in their purse. DD think they have Mathews at Rs 4.2 crore, but RCB come in with a Rs 4.5 crore. Goes past Rs 6 crore now, as RCB with a purse of Rs 20 crore ponder a big bid. The bid goes to Rs 7 crore with RCB, and DD go up to Rs 7.5 crore.
9.41 am: Next up is Angelo Mathews
9.40 am: MVijay is next up. CSK start the bid at Rs 50 lakhs for him. KXIP join in and CSK and Kings XI go back and forth. It goes all the way up to Rs 1.1 crore and Stephen Fleming says no more bids for CSK. Kings XI with the bid, and in comes RCB. Back and forth they go to Rs 2.2 crore with KXIP, leaving RCB with plenty to ponder. Then it goes to Rs 2.6 crore, with Kings XI again with the bid. RCB not letting up, though. Going past Rs 3 crore here. Preity Zinta is not letting up on Vijay, she clearly wants him in her team.
RCB stops the bid at Rs 3 crore, the player goes to KXIP for that price! Vijay to KXIP
9.36 am: No bid for Hashim Amla. Crazy! Amla is unsold, no bids coming at Rs 2 crore.
9.35 am: And Richard Madley is here folks! The first player is about to be drawn as the auction us underway. Hashim Amla it is who goes under the hammer first.
9.34 am: IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal gives a little speech and also congratulates India for their win over Pakistan as well as wishing luck for the rest of the World Cup. Nice and short he keeps it, well done!
9.33 am: No right to match option here confirms Sundar Raman. So, Delhi, SRH and RCB really need to bid astutely here.
9.32 am: The under fire Sundar Raman is talking now,giving thebasic setup for the IPL 2015 auction. 751 players will be auctioned he says, with 350 to be auctioned today. The unsold players from today will be available as replacement for injuries and also players not on this current list. Man, 350 player to be sold! That's a lot!
9.29 am: That man Richard Madley will soon walk in and start banging his gavel.
9.28 am: The owners are in the ballroom of the ITC Gardenia in Bangalore. Time for the auction guys!
9.26 am: Pretty impressed by Aakash Chopra here. He has done his research, and studied up on the squads. Knows them inside out, while the host well.....
9.23 am: In Nelson, Ireland are looking really good. Ed Joyce and Paul Stirling are looking pretty good, keeping up with the run rate, with the score now on 144/1 in 24 overs. Ireland need another 161 from 26 overs – a win for the Irish is definitely on!
9.16 am: For those with half an eye on the World Cup match between West Indies and Ireland, the Irish are doing pretty well in their chase of 305 – they are currently on 129/1 in the 23rd over.
Get the Live Scorecard for the West Indies vs Ireland World Cup match HERE
If you fancy watching it online, Live Streaming information for the match is HERE
9.13 am: running through some of the big players up for grabs – apart from Amla, Yuvraj, KP, you also have the likes of Darren Sammy, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (not kidding), Angelo Mathews, Eoin Morgan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and, of course, the in-form man in world cricket at the moment – Kane Williamson.
The team that gets Williamson will be getting a great player, someone who can turn into your most important batsman and an absolute IPL superstar.
9.07 am: Sony Six Live preview coverage has begun, with Aakash Chopra donning the expert's hat, while the show is being hosted by that IPL Xtraa Innings dude.
8.55 am: IPL right now sounds like a faraway thing, that is somewhere way back in the minds, but nowhere near prominent to be bothered about, doesn't it?
Well, the latest player auction of the IPL 2015 is about to take centre-stage (well, as much of a centre-stage as is possible with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 going on) in Bangalore.
Several big names are vying for big bucks, including Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla, to name a few, with the Delhi Daredevils, yet again, set to be the big spenders in this auction.
They have to the tune of Rs 40 crore available, having released 13 players from last season, showing just how desperate the Delhi Daredevils are to resurrect their franchise and get them amongst the contenders for the IPL title again.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and RCB will be the other teams heavily involved in this auction, having released big-name players as well, including Aaron Finch, Darren Sammy (both SRH) and Yuvraj Sing (RCB).
The likes of CSK, Rajasthan Royals and KKR are unlikely to spend too much money, with their teams looking pretty settled, but the latter will know the importance of strengthening your team while on top.
8.50 am: Hello everyone, welcome to IBT India's live coverage of the IPL 2015 Player Auction. Kinda pointless it feels now aye, but the IPL mist go on, and after India's ridiculously impressive win over Pakistan at the World Cup on Sunday, the IPL will now look to ride on the coattails of that thunder. Let's hope it is fun (of course it will be once it warm-up, it is the auction after all, where players get sold for big money and those paddles go up and down like a fan from the 1500s).
Get the Live Streaming Option for the IPL 2015 Player Auction HERE