| IPL Auction Results Part-III |  |  |
| Pitched By Cricket360 Reporter | |
| Friday, 06 February 2009 | |
| IPL Season 2 has created history, as it has managed to sell a player from Bangladesh. It is recognition of the status that Bangladesh is slowly acquiring in the international cricket. This one single step could go a long way in the cause of cricket in Bangladesh. Kolkata Knight Riders made bid for him, as the hammer for the first round was to go down at the price of $50,000. Soon Kings XI Punjab joined into the fray, and the price for Mortaza went up to $410,000, after Preity Zinta agreed to bid for him. The bid started going back and forth between Kolkata and Chandigarh Kolkata bidding $500,000, Punjab following it up with $550,000, then Kolkata raised the bid to $600,000. Punjab did not enhance the bid so Mortaza has become the new acquisition for the Kolkata Night Riders. This bid has been the longest so far, in the current season of auctioning. The drama involved in this bid is reminiscent of the bidding involved with the bidding of Ishant Sharma as Kolkata Knight Riders had bought Ishant Sharma at the price of $950,000 last year after a series of protracted bids between Delhi and Kolkata. In terms of the percentile increase from the base price, Mortaza's bid has created history, as his appreciation is 1110% as compared to 575% for Ishant Sharma from last year. A streak of celebrations is going to follow in the hometown of Mortaza, Narail, in Bangladesh. The news would take long time to sink as a history has been created, and the first person who is accorded a status continues to be the reference point for all times to come for his followers feels Cricket360. Cricket360 also wonders, whether selection of Mortaza as a representative of Kolkata Knight Riders would eventually lead to exploration of possibilities for conducting the matches in Bangladesh as well, as Kolkata has now a local boy in the team. The other players whose fate has been decided in the auction include George Bailey, a Tasmanian batsman, for $50,000 who went to Chennai Super Kings, as there was no bidder for him and Kings XI Punjab bid for Jerome Taylor and got him at his base price of $150,000. Among the noticeable left outs include Shakib from Bangladesh who did not find a bidder though he had a fantastic year with bat and bowl, England all rounder Samit Patel and Michael Hill, who was the U-19 captain for Australia in the last World Cup. |
