Pakistani all-rounder Shahid
Afridi has become the most expensive player in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier
League auction. Dhaka Gladiators bid US $700,000 for the leg-spinning
all-rounder, who was the target of all six teams competing in the new
competition.
Afridi, however, will only
be available for the final two days of the opening BPL campaign as he will be
on national team duty against England
in the United Arab Emirates.
"Shahid Afridi was bought for $700,000 dollars, the highest in the BPL
auction, by our team Dhaka Gladiators," team spokesman Minhaz Khan told
Agence France-Presse.
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| Sahid Afridi |
Hard hitting West Indies batsman Chris Gayle was sold to Barisal
Burners for $551,100 and Marlon Samuels to Duronto Rajshahi for $360,000.
according to live telecast by private Channel 9 Television.
West Indian Kieron Pollard
was sold to Dhaka Gladiators for $300,000 and Bangladeshi allrounder Nasir
Hossain for $200,000 to Khulna.
Ex-Pakistani captain Shoaib
Malik and West Indies batsman Dwayne Bravo
each landed $150,000.
Other notable names include
Muttiah Muralitharan ($100,000 to Chittagong Kings), Brad Hodge ($140,000 to
Barisal Burners) and Sanath Jayasuria ($110,000 to Khulna Royal Bengals).
A total of 111 overseas
players and 80 local cricketers were put on auction with teams given a maximum
budget of $2million and able to buy no more than eight overseas players. Seventeen
foreign players were put on auction with a base price of $100,000 including Sri
Lankan greats Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, New Zealander
Scott Styris and Zimbabwe
captain Brendan Taylor. Stuart MacGill, the former Australia leg-spinner, was one of
36 players auctioned with a base price of $50,000. He was sold to Dhaka at the base price.
Bangladesh internationals Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal,
Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees and Alok Kapali had been
selected as icon players for six franchises and were excluded from auction.
Game On, an Indian company,
bought the rights of the first six editions of BPL for around $44 million
dollars last year. Six franchises were bought by Bangladeshi companies with a
minimum price of one million dollars.
Some International Players Auctioned for BPL T20
Pakistan
Shoaib Malik (Chittagong $150,000)
Kamran Akmal (Sylhet $100,000)
Rana Naved-ul Hasan (Dhaka $100,000)
Sohail Tanvir (Sylhet $100,000)
Saeed Ajmal (Dhaka $100,000)
West Indies
Dwayne Bravo (Chittagong $150,000)
Chris Gayle (Barisal Burners $551,100)
Marlon Samuels (Duronto Rajshahi $360,000)
Kieron Pollard (Dhaka $360,000)
Australia
Brad Hodge (Barisal $140,000)
Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya (Khulna) $110,000)
Muttiah Muralitharan (Chittagong
$100,000)
South Africa
Herschelle Gibbs
(Khulna for
$100,000)
