Proven Test cricket players Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting's "high-risk strategy of placing the maximum Indian Premier League auction price on their heads only barely paid off as teams instead clamoured over Australia's unproven all-rounders and three pacemen well down the national team's pecking order," according to Jesse Hogan of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Clarke and Ponting "were each sold for their reserve price" of $400,000. Two young pacemen with only a single int'l appearance between them reaped A$1.15M ($1.2M) between them, despite each having set only a $100,000 minimum. South Australian Kane Richardson, whose recent one-day debut for Australia ended with him being ordered out of the attack for running on the pitch, was bought for $700,000 by Pune Warriors, while Nathan Coulter-Nile attracted a successful bid of $450,000 from Mumbai. Chennai effectively replaced one Australian left-armer, Doug Bollinger, with another on a comparable wage, Dirk Nannes for $650,000. Recent one-day debutant James Faulkner was "a beneficiary of fierce bidding competition" as he was bought by Rajasthan for $400,000, four times his base price (SMH, 2/4). The PTI reported rising Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell fetched $1M, while Abhishek Nayar and R.P. Singh also invited unexpectedly high bids. Mumbai all-rounder Nayar, who performed consistently in the domestic arena, went to Pune Warriors for $675,000, a huge improvement on his base price of $100,000. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera also fetched $675,000 from the Hyderabad Sunrisers, while Indian pacer RP Singh "managed to get a good deal from Royal Challengers Bangalore," which bought him for $400,000 (PTI, 2/3).
