IPL auction 2013

BREAKING NEWS: JP Duminy (Hyderabad) and Varun Aaron (Delhi) have been ruled out of the entire IPL season

England skipper Matt Prior at 200,000 USD remains UNSOLD. A total of 11.89 million USD spent on 37 players! That concludes the auction.

Martin Guptill of New Zealand, remains unsold at 100,000 USD.

Who is Christopher Morris? Chennai Super Kings $625,000

There was a moment during the IPL auction where one would have been forgiven to asume that the bidding was for either Ricky Ponting or Michael CLarke. Yet it was the unherelded Chris Morris, with a cheap base price of 20,000, who sent the franchises into a tizzy. Mumbai Indians, Hyderabad Sunrisers and Chennai Super Kings fought with their batons, with Chennai placing the winning $625,000 bid. Morris will join his fellow Saffer Albie Morkel at the most successfull side in IPL history. An all-rounder by profession Morris has played just the solitary T20 for South Africa. At 25 years of age and an IPL contract under his belt, Christopher Henry Morris is looking at a bright future.

Slow and quiet auctions this time. Happy to have Luke Pommersbach back with King's XI: Preity Zinta

Who is Kane Richardson? Pune Warriors ($700,000)

At 21 years of age Kane Richardson had a dream come true when he represented Australia in a solitary One Day International in the recently concluded series versus Sri Lanka. He was probably fast asleep  at home when the news would have filtered through to South Australia that Richardson was involved in a massive bidding war at the IPL 6 auction. The raises for the young lad came fast and large with the Pune franchise ultimately snapping the youngster for a whopping $700,000. For a player in the infancy of his career, Richardson has an opportunity to make a name on the world stage. With his notable contributions in the lower-middle-order Richardson has the makings of a stupendous T20 player. The Australian pace stock may be large, but Richardson has age on his side to become an Australian legend.

Clint McKay of Australia. Base price 100,000 USD. Unsold 

Off-spinning Lankan allrounder Senanayake, base price 50,000, goes to Kolkata for 625,000 USD after fierce fight with Chennai Indians and Mumbai. First buy for KKR today. He has 297 first class wickets in 59 matches. Played 7 ODIs for Lanka and 2 T20Is.

Bangalore new bidder at 550,000 for Morris

Farveez Maharoof of Sri Lanka first up. Base price 50000 USD. Unsold

Richard Madley starts proceedings. About 20 players will be up for grabs.

Post lunch session from 2.15 pm. More than 50 players unsold

Profile:

Now a Pune Warrior, Abhishek Nayar was born on October 3, 1983 in Secunderabad, Hyderabad. Nayar plays for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy and has been a key player to their success in past few seasons. The all-rounder averages 57.16 with the bat and 30.02 with the ball in first-class cricket. He does not quite have the pace to be a regular attacking option, but it's with his left-hand batting that he becomes a natural selection. Nayar was roped in by Mumbai Indians in the inaugural season in 2008, but was transferred to Kings XI Punjab last season.

Know more about Moises Henriques of RCB:

Henriques is considered as one of the best young talented cricketers in Australia. He supplements his bowling skills with fine middle-order strokeplay. Henriques was signed by the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders for 300,000 USD during the 2009 season. He was traded to the Delhi Daredevils in exchange for Manoj Tiwary in season 3. He was roped in by Mumbai Indians for the 4th edition. However, he has not lived up to his billing in five IPL matches he has played so far. In his 5 appearances, the 26-year-old has made just 49 runs and has scalped 3 wickets.

Ajantha Mendis - Pune: He may no longer be a 'mystery' to batsmen, but Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis possess match-winning abilities as he demonstrated at the T20 World Cup. Mendis previously played in the IPL in 2008-09 for current defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Who is Thisera Perera of Sunrisers Hyderabad?

Thisara Perera is the fourth Sri Lankan to bag a hat-trick in ODIs after Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof. Perera has established himself as one of the key players in the Sri Lanka's limited-overs side. Perera is an aggressive left-handed batsman and a right arm fast bowler. The 23-year-old has been associated with Chennai Super Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Mumbai Indians in the past.

Who is Glenn Maxwell? Mumbai's million dollar boy

Glenn Maxwell holds the record for the fastest one-day fifty in Australia's domestic history. The Victoria batsman achieved the feat when he struck a 19-ball half-century against Tasmania during 2010-11 season. Maxwell is also a handy off-spinner and a livewire on the field.

Sushanto Roy (Pune Warriors): Mendis has rediscovered himself. We definitely needed him. No call on who will be skipper. Let us pick the team first

Jaydev Unadkat going to Bangalore for 525,000 USD was a windfall for the lanky pacer. Manpreet Gony was bought for 500,000 USD by Punjab. Both bowlers commanding much more than base prices.

Glenn Maxwell remains the only millionaire so far. Mumbai have bought the young Aussie all-rounder.

While Mendis grabbed the moolah with 725,000 USD for Pune, Nayar, Unadkat and Gony have done well among the junior Indians.

Break for lunch. Lot of berths left for teams to buy. 50-odd players remain unsold.