Bengaluru, Feb 16 (IANS): Left-hand all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik were sold for big bucks in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held here Monday ahead of the eighth season.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews and Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra also fetched big money in the auction.
Yuvraj was picked up by Delhi Daredevils for a stupendous Rs.16 crore. Karthik was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a Rs.10.5 crore.
All-rounder Mathews, currently in World Cup duty where they lost their opening match against New Zealand Saturday, was picked up for a Rs.7.50 crore by Daredevils which also took in Mishra (Rs.3.5 crore) and pacer Zaheer Khan (Rs.4 crore).
New Zealand bowler Trent Boult was another big signing of the day, going for Rs.3.80 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad, which also picked up England captain Eoin Morgan for Rs.1.50 crore.
Sacked England batsman Kevin Pietersen was also snapped up by Hyderabad for Rs.2 crore while Australian batsman Aaron Finch, who scored a superb match-winning century against England in the World Cup Saturday, was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) for Rs.3.2 crore.
Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was also bought by Mumbai for 50 lakh.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked up veteran left-arm spinner Brad Hogg for Rs.50 lakh. Another experienced Australian Michael Hussy was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs.1.50 crore.
Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy went to RCB for Rs.2.8 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, winners of the first edition of IPL in 2008, bought South African all-rounder Christopher Morris for Rs.1.40 crore.
The auction process heated up when a bidding war between RCB and Daredevils saw Yuvraj's price skyrocket.
Finally, the Delhi franchise bid a whopping Rs.16 crore for the batsman, who was left out of the India squad for the World Cup.
RCB had let go of Yuvraj, the most expensive buy of the last IPL auction, after buying him for Rs.14 crore the last time around. Daredevils, which finished bottom among eight teams in the 2014 IPL, were the most active team of the auction, accounting for three of the five most expensive buys of the auction.
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Murali Vijay with a base price of Rs.50 lakh was bought by Kings XI Punjab for Rs.3 crore.
Earlier, South African batsman Hashim Amla, with a base price of Rs.2 crore, was the first player to go under the hammer but remained unsold.
Amla, who is currently on national duty with South Africa in the World Cup, averages an incredible 55.93 in 108 One-Day Internationals (ODI) played.
Several other famous cricketers found no takers when their names came up for auction including Sri Lankan batting trio of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Indians Irfan Pathan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Munaf Patel, West Indies' wicket keeper Denesh Ramdin and all-rounder Marlon Samuels and Australia's batting duo of Cameron White and Brad Hodge all went unsold.
They were expected to be presented for auctioning later.