IPL AND CRICKET CRAZY CLUB (SEASON 18) - Page 102

Mumbai Indians co-owner Nita Ambani revealed it was a team strategy, that included Sachin Tendulkar's insights to buy Kieron Pollard in Tuesday's auction.

By Rajarshi Gupta in Mumbai

The first round of the auctions was high on drama and unprecedented furious bidding between Mumbai, KKR, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.

Pakistan Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, who had a base price of 250,000 USD, remained unsold, surprising many in the media room.

However, given his nationality and the recent troubles between India and Pakistan, no team would have wanted to shell out money and risk on a player, whose availability would have been under the scanner.

Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and England off-spinner Graeme Swann also remained unsold at the end of the first round. Haddin would not have attracted many buyers in any case with Shiv Sena's threat against Aussie cricketers.

Kolkata made a coup with Shane Bond, the Kiwi express, who also went to a tie breaker.

South African pace sensation Wayne Parnell amassed 610,000 USD to walk into the Delhi Daredevils.

The Mumbai Indians and KKR have now exhausted their purse and will play no more part in the auctions.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting says the process of parting ways with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders was "amicable".

He added that the decision will allow him to focus more on regaining the Ashes and retaining the 2011 World Cup, to be held in the sub-continent.

KKR bought out Ponting's contract, a day before the auction for the third edition, considering he will not be available for the whole season.

Ponting, who skipped the entire second edition of the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa, was bought for USD 400,000 by Bolywood star Shah Rukh Khan's co-owned side in 2008.

"It was an amicable process. I wanted to play for the Knight Riders but I was only available for a handful of games.

For the all the right reasons, the Knight Riders are looking for players who will be available for most, if not all, of the tournament in the hope of gaining more consistency after a couple of lean seasons.

"I fully understand and accept the situation. In the end it (agreeing to the buyout) was an easy decision because it leaves me totally focused on the Ashes next summer and the World Cup. There are no distractions," Ponting told The Australian.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who will lead the Kolkata outfit in the T20 tournament, also confirmed that it was an amicable decision as the Australia captain would not have been available for many matches.

"A player like Ricky is irreplaceable. We would not have done that if he was available for the whole league. He can't play for eight to 10 matches. It was a strategic decision taken after consultation with all parties," he said.