Gautam Gambhir goes for a record price; Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara and Chris Gyale unsold

Bangalore : Gautam Gambhir fetched a record $2.4 million from Kolkata Knight Riders while some of the star players like Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gyale, Brian Lara, Mark Boucher went unsold during the players’ auction for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Gambhir was among four Indians to cross the $2 million barrier at the scandal-plagued tournament’s fourth edition, others being Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma.

Pathan was also bought by Knight Riders for $2.1 million, much higher than his base price was $300,000. Uthappa went to new franchise Pune Warriors for $2.1 million, while Sharma was bought up by Mumbai Indians for $2 million.

The prices paid to the four Indians was much higher than the previous record of England duo Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, who went for 1.55 million dollars each in 2009. Pietersen, with a base price of $400,000, was bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000 this time.

Among the $1 million men were New Zealander Ross Taylor, Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene, South Africans AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, India’s Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan, and Australian Cameron White.

Twelve players have been retained by their original franchises, with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni staying with the Chennai Super Kings and Shane Warne and Shane Watson sticking with the Rajasthan Royals.

Actress Shilpa Shetty, one of the owners of Rajasthan Royals, admitted that her team is hampered by the reduction in its purse due to a $2 million under-taking that was submitted to the courts.

?What cannot be cured has to be endured. Yes it is liking coming to an auction with your hands tied but we are happy to be here. The Royals have been through a lot of upheavals.

We have banked on the youth in India and we were the first to pick Yusuf Pathan (in 2008) and now he has gone for $2.1 million (to Kolkata Knight Riders). We will continue with our policy of backing youth. We are happy that we have got Ross Taylor (at $1 million). He is an match-winner,? said Shetty.

IPL chairman Chirayu Amin said that there was `no loss of face? for Ganguly, who was unsold.

?This is a reality of the game. It is extremely competitive and the choice of players is left with the owners. The IPL governing council has no say in this matter. It is unfortunate but that?s the reality of life and the unsold players will be back in the fray again after the initial rounds are over,? said Amin.

Meanwhile Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore remained non-committal about not bidding for his team?s former captain.

?We came with an open mind and went with the flow but we are happy with where we are now,? Mysore said.