English Cricketer Kevin Pietersen Goes For $1.5M In Indian Premier League Auction

Cricketer Kevin Pietersen "has been bought" by the Indian Premier League Delhi Daredevils for £880,000 ($1.5M) in the IPL auction in Bangalore, according to the BBC. The 33-year-old Surrey batsman, "who had been expected to fetch a higher price, is available for the full tournament after being discarded by England." Pietersen's "was the third highest price on the first day of auctions." India's Yuvraj Singh "was bought for a larger sum" of £1.37M ($2.3M) by Royal Challengers Bangalore. A total of 514 players "will be up for sale for the seventh edition of the IPL" (BBC, 2/12). In London, James Crabtree wrote "as the final hammer fell on the first day of its annual player auction, the lucrative Indian Premier League cricket tournament delivered a clear confirmation of its moneymaking clout," as its eight teams splashed out $34M, three times higher than last year. Yet "while the auction easily exceeded financial expectations, the IPL’s hopes for a trouble-free run into the controversial but highly profitable annual event unravelled earlier this week, when a report from India’s Supreme Court detailed allegations of illegal betting and corruption during the 2013 contest" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/12).  The HINDUSTAN TIMES reported five players -- Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Pietersen, Glen Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson -- "bagged million-dollar contracts even as the eight franchise teams pointedly ignored Sri Lankan and English cricketers" on the opening day of the IPL players' auction (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 2/12).