MUMBAI: The IPL auction ahead of the sixth season turned out to be a lavish affair with nine franchises spending $11.89 million on 37 players with 24-year-old Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell leading the pack with a $1 million purchase by Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians.

The Sunday?s auction came alive with a bidding war between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad for Maxwell, who was the only person to get a seven figure deal. Sun TV-owned franchise applied the brakes at $975,000 which saw Mumbai Indians getting Maxwell for $1 million.

Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis went to Pune Warriors for $725,000. Unknown Australian pacer Kane Richardson went for $700,000 to the same team.

In contrast to Maxwell?s good fortune, more experienced Australian players Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, also the two marquee players at the auction, went at their base price of $400,000 to Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors India respectively.

South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who has played only one T20, was taken by Chennai Super Kings for $625,000. Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake whose base price was $50,000 went to the Kolkata Knight Riders for $625,000.

Uncapped Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile got $450,000 from Mumbai.

Among the Indian cricketers who did well Abhishek Nayar, who last played for Kings XI Punjab, went to Pune Warriors for $675,000. Sunrisers paid $500,000 for Manpreet Gony and Royal Challengers Bangalore paid $525,000 for Jaydev Unadkat.

The Sunrisers picked up six players. Royal Challengers Bangalore picked up seven players, Mumbai and Chennai bought five players each. Shah Rukh Khan?s Kolkata Knight Riders and Preity Zinta?s Kings XI Punjab bought two players each. Delhi Daredevils bought three players.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the franchises wanted to only fill specific slots in their squads. He also said that the next IPL auction would see 350 to 400 players being traded.

"It?s not a full-fledged auction. The franchises this time only wanted to fill the places in the squads. It?s not like it has gone down and all. Next year we will have a full-fledged auction where in there will be over 350 to 400 players in fray," Shukla said.

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries-owned Indiawin Sports, the company that holds franchise rights for Mumbai Indians, has posted a net loss of Rs 3.9 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2012 and could break even in FY?13.

The company?s turnover stood at Rs 1.7 billion during the season 4 of IPL, higher than Chennai Super Kings? (CSK) Rs 1.4 billion. The running costs are, however, more than CSK?s which has achieved break-even status.

Indiawin has narrowed its fiscal loss while upping its revenue. For the fiscal ended 31 March 2011, the company had posted a net loss of Rs 154.2 million on a turnover of Rs 1.12 billion.

The company had total assets of Rs 1.34 billion in FY?12 compared to Rs 652.8 million a year ago. Negative reserves were at Rs 906.1 million, from Rs 900.22 million in FY?11.

Total liabilities stood at Rs 1.34 billion while it had a capital of Rs 26.5 million.

RIL, which has 98.3 per cent stake in Indiawin Sports, had bought the IPL Mumbai franchise for $112.9 million for a period of 10 years. Teesta Retail owns 1.7 per cent stake.

The major revenue stream for IPL franchises include income from central sponsorships and central broadcasting besides team sponsorships, gate receipts, in-stadia advertising, merchadise sales and media tie-ups.

Major cost heads are franchise fee, players salaries, travel costs, team promotion, stadium fess and other administration costs.

For Mumbai Indians, the franchise fee per year is $11.19 million while the IPL has fixed salary cap for players at $9 million. Other costs go up or down from season to season.

Last year, the franchise had Hero Honda (now Hero MotoCorp) as team sponsor, MasterCard as founding sponsor, and Bridgestone as team sponsor while Royal Stag, Kingfisher, Loop Mobile, Coca Cola, adidas, Dheeraj Realty and Air India were the official partners.

This year Mumbai Indians has roped in a new sponsor, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, which has come as associate sponsor. It has also inked a licensing pact with Disney to launch co-branded merchandise products.

The merchandise revenue of Mumbai Indians is expected to climb in comparison to last year?s revenue of Rs 50-60 million.

Mumbai Indians, despite its loss in qualifiers, is also expected to rake in the moolah from gate receipts due to record spectator turnout for all its home matches.

The franchise has made significant gains due to meticulous focus on nurturing a core team under Sachin, strong fan engagement efforts, sponsorship and merchandising.

Reliance Industries had bought the Mumbai franchise for $111.9 million in 2008. The franchise was valued at $57.1 million by brand valuation firm Brand Finance in 2011.

MUMBAI: The Mukesh Ambani owned IPL franchise Mumbai Indians has added five cricketers - Apoorva Wankhede, Sujit Nayak, Rahul Shukla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sushant Marathe - to their list of players for the fifth season which starts on 4 April.

Shukla returns to Mumbai Indians after being part of the squad for IPL 2010, while the other four have been picked up by the franchise for the first time.

Earlier during the transfer window, the franchise brought in wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik and left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. During the auction it bought Herschelle Gibbs, Mitchell Johnson, Robin Peterson, RP Singh and Thisara Perera.
 

MUMBAI: Top players from expelled Kochi Tuskers Kerala dominated the proceedings at the IPL players auction on Saturday in Bangalore.

Ravindra Jadeja, who has time and again proved his worth as allrounder, was the most sought after player with Chennai Super Kings eventually buying the youngster following a tie-breaker with Deccan Chargers. Jadeja had a base price of $100,000.

Both the franchises had bid $2 million before the tie-breaker was enforced to decide who will get the player. In the tie-breaker, both teams enter the bid amount in a secret ballot following which the team with highest bid gets the player. The final amount Jadeja got was not disclosed.

Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene was secured by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million on a base price of $300,000. Swashbuckling New Zealand batsmen Brendon McCullum was bought by his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000.

Both Jayawardene and McCullum were part of KTK for season four of the tournament.

R Vinay Kumar, another KTK players, too went back to his previous franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore after the team team bid $1 million to secure his services.

RP Singh and S Sreesanth were bought by Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals for $600,000 and $400,000 respectively. While Singh $400,000 went for more than his base price, Sreesanth was sold for his base price.

Indian players who remained unsold were middle-order veteran VVS Laxman and Punjab medium pacer VRV Singh.

Three South African players found their way into the IPL teams. Herschelle Gibbs went to Mumbai Indians for $50,000, while spinner Robin Pietersen and pace bowler Marchant de Lange were taken by Mumbai Indians and KKR respectively.

Marchant who had made a sensational test debut for SA landed his first IPL contract.

Australia?s Bard Hodge was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $475,000, while Mitchell Johnson went for Mumbai Indians for his base price of $300,000. Australian spinner Brad Hogg went to Royals and his compatriot James Faulkner was snapped up by Kings XI Punjab.

Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel will don Deccan Chargers jersey, while spinner Ramesh Pawar will be back to his previous franchise Kings XI Punjab.

Spin sensation Muttiah Muralitharan will now play for Royal Challengers Bangalore after being bought by them for $220,000. His compatriot Thisara Perera struck big with Mumbai Indians finally managing to have him for $650,000.

West Indies players were also in demand at the auction as several of them managed an IPL contract. Spinner Sunil Narine was bought by KKR, keeper Dinesh Chandimal went to Royals, all-rounder Andre Russell was grabbed by the Delhi Daredevils and pacer Kevon Cooper was snapped up by Mumbai Indians.

In all, 25 players from across the world were bought by the franchises, with MI and RR bidding successfully for five players each. DD, KKR, KXIP and DC snapped up three players each while RCB took two.

Former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood became the only player from that country to play in IPL 2012 after Kings XI Punjab bought him for $200,000.

CSK used their entire purse of $2 million in their successful bid for Jadeja.

MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) today announced the fifth transfer of the 2012 Trading window.

Andrew McDonald, the fast-medium bowling allrounder from Australia, will move from Delhi Daredevils to Royal Challengers Bangalore, for the 2012 season of the tournament. The all-rounder is leading the Melbourne Renegades in the ongoing Big Bash League in Australia.

Royal Challengers Bangalore team manager Avinash Vaidya said, ?All-rounders are a priceless asset and we are pleased to add Andrew to our squad. He has excelled with bat and ball in different formats. We have no doubt that he will make a big difference to our prospects in the coming IPL season."

GMR Sports head cricket TA Sekar wished the 30-year-old McDonald who played six matches for Delhi Daredevils, scoring 76 runs and taking five wickets the very best. "He would fit in well with the Royal Challengers Bangalore,? he said.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said, ?The process of player-transfers during the Trading Window is gaining in momentum, and we are likely to see more action in the days leading up to 20 January 2012, when the first part of the trading window will close?.

McDonald will move to Bangalore where he registered his most memorable performance in a T20 match on Indian soil where he claimed four Royal Challengers Bangalore wickets for 21 runs in a Champions League match for Victoria on 15 October, 2009.

The following trades have been confirmed earlier:

Dinesh Karthik from Kings XI Punjab to Mumbai Indians; R Satish from Mumbai Indians to Kings XI Punjab;
Harmeet Singh from Deccan Chargers to Kings XI Punjab; and Kevin Pietersen from Deccan Chargers to Delhi Daredevils.