IPL 2016 Player Auction as it happened: Watson, Negi, Yuvraj and Nehra bag good deals

The IPL 2016 Player Auction is done and dusted. The auction clearly showed that the teams had come with their homework done well as they bid for players, who exactly fit their bill.

[Get the updates squads of all eight teams HERE]

[Get the complete list of sold and unsold players HERE]

Shane Watson and Pawan Negi were the two highest-earners with Rs 9.5 cr and Rs 8 cr respectively. Other players such as Yuvraj and Nehra, who were both bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad, were sold for Rs 7 cr and Rs 5 cr respectively.

However, there were some huge surprises in the auction and one of the biggest shocker was when Martin Guptill, who is in terrific form, was not bid by any team.

However, teams did spend their money wisely as can be witnessed from the number of domestic players picked by the franchises. With all the teams looking fairly well balanced, one cannot wait for the ninth edition of the IPL to begin, which starts in April.

That is it from me, folks!!!!

5:56: Mahipal Lomror is bid by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 10L and wins the bid with the base price itself.

5:55: Kshitiz Sharma's name is there to be bid. But no takers? Is this a joke or what? Auctioneer Madley is mad as he had categorically asked the teams to only provide names that they would bid and here we are with Sharma going unsold.

5:54: Akhil Herwadkar is sold to Rs 10L to Delhi Daredevils.

5:53:  Farhan Behardien, who has a base price of Rs 30L, is sold to KXIP as they were the only team to bid for the player.

Only 4 players in the last phase of the auction.

5:45: Teams can submit a maximum of three players, who they want to bid once again in the auction. So that means a maximum of 24 players (8 teams x 3 players) can be made available by teams in the 2016 IPL Player Auction. See you in a while.

5:42: RCB gets Vikas Tokas for Rs 10L.

5:41: Baltej Singh is unsold.

5:40: Delhi bids Rs 10L for Chama Milind and gets their player.

5:39: Fast bowler Rishi Arothe is unsold.

5:38: Saurabh Kumar is unsold.

5:37: Jaskaran Singh sold to RPS for Rs 10L.

5:36: Navdeep Saini is unsold.

5:34: Bharghav Bhatt is unsold. Australian Adam Zampa receives a bid from RPS for the opening bid of Rs 30L and he will play for RPS this season. Pankaj Jaisal is unsold.

5:32: RCB bids for V Malik and gets the player for Rs 20L.

5:31:RPS bid for Scott Boland, who becomes their player for Rs 50L.

5:30:Parvinder Awana is unsold.

Australian Ben Laughlin is also unsold. 

5:29: Delhi opens the bidding for Joel Paris with an opening bid of Rs 30L and gets the player.

5:28: Pragyan Ojha and B Hendricks are unsold.

5:27:RCB gets Samuel Badree for Rs 50L. Only one bidder.

5:26: Kane Richardson, who has a base price of Rs 2cr, receives a bid by RCB and no one bids further. RCB gets Richardson for Rs 2cr.

5:25: Ashok Dinda. The former KKR bowler only gets one bid for Rs 50L and is sold to RPS. James Pattinson is unsold.

5:23: Jaydev Shah receives the opening bid of Rs 20L from Gujarat Lions and is sold. Delhi gets Pratyush Singh for Rs 10L, which was the opening bid.

5:20:Delhi gets SK Ahmed with an opening bid of Rs 10L.

5:18: Gurinder Singh is unsold. KXIP bids for Swapnil Singh with an opening bid of Rs 10L and he will play for Punjab's team this season.

5:17: Mumbai bid for Deepak Punia with an opening bid of Rs 10L and gets their player.

5:16: Ravi Jangid and Mahipal Lomror are unsold.

5:15: Krunal Pandya receives the opening bid from Mumbai for Rs 10L, and Delhi is into the race to sign the player as well. Mumbai looks dead serious with this player's bid and so does Delhi. This is interesting now as it has reached Rs 1cr. They are not stopping as Delhi and Mumbai are battling it out. Mumbai gets the player for Rs 2cr.

5:11: Pardeep Sahu, who has a base price of Rs 10L is bid by KXIP. They are the only bidder so they get their man for Rs 10L.  

5:10: Mumbai and RCB going for KP Kamath, who had a base price of Rs 10L. Finally there is some bidding on a player. This is what the auction should be all about. RCB does not want to bid further. SRH comes into the scene now and it is SRH vs Mumbai and it has reached 1cr. Mumbai bags the player for Rs 1.4cr.

5:04: Manan Sharma is bought by KKR for Rs 10L. It was the opening bid. Baba Aparajith sold to RPS for 10L

5:02: Akshay Karnewakar goes for Rs 10L to RCB. Akshdeep Nath is bid by Gujarat Lions for Rs 10L and is sold. Rohan Prem is unsold.

5pm: Shabad Jakati receives an opening bid of Rs 20L and is sold to Gujarat Lions for the same.

4:59: Rahul Twetatia is unsold.

4:58: Rajagopal Satish, who has a base price of Rs 20L, is bid byKKR for the same and is sold.

Vijay Shankar sold for Rs 35L to SRH

4:57: Delhi and RCB are bidding for Praveeen Dubey. RCB gets Dubey for Rs 35L as Delhi says no further bid on the player.

Syed Mohammad goes unsold.

4:57:Padmanabhan remains unsold.

4:56: Andre Tye sold to Gujarat Lions for 50L as SRH pulls out of the bid. Off-spinner Nathan McCullum is unsold. 

4:55: Sean Abbott remains unsold. SRH get Ben Cutting for base price of Rs 50L. Chris Jordan is unsold.

4:54: Thisara Parera sold to RPS for Rs 1cr. No other teams put their bid.

4:54: Jason Holder - Delhi and KKR want the all-rounder. who will get the lanky man from West Indies? KKR gets the player for Rs 70L.

4:52: Armaan Jafeer goes to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 10L. No other teams bid for the 17-year old.

4:51: Vijay Wankhade, Prashant Gupta are unsold

4:49: Ales Ross is unsold.

4:48: Evin Lewis is unsold.

4:47: Arun Karthik is unsold. Mumbai bid for Jitesh Sharma and is sold for Rs 10L.

4:45: Cameroon Bancroft goes unsold. Peter Handscomb sold to RPS for Rs 30L.

4:42 Lions bid for Umang Sharma for Rs 10L, is sold.

4:41: SRH bid for T Suman with Rs10L and gets sold.

4:39: Sam Billings, receives a bid from Delhi Daredevils for Rs 30L and is sold. M Rahim is unsold.

4:37: Australian Usman Khawaja, the star of the recently concluded Big Bash League, is unsold. Is this really happening? Unsold and Unsold....Come on...

4:35: George Bailey, surprisingly, is unsold.Mike  Hussey is also unsold. WHat is going on? Teams are not bidding for star players.

4:34 Hashim Amla is also unsold.

4:33: Martin Guptill. Team should bid now. He is unsold. Are u kidding me? How can teams turn a blind eye on the opener batsman?

4:32: Lions bid for Aaron Finch at Rs 1cr and the Australian will play for Gujarat this season.

4:30:Here we go.

4:26: KKR have maximum purse while Mumbai Indians have least. An interesting phase of the auction is in store. Here is a look at the purse left for all teams.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 13.25 cr)

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 13.05 cr)

Gujarat Lions (Rs 12.55cr)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 9.42 cr)

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Rs 9.35 cr)

Rising Pune Supergiants (Rs 8.20 cr)

Delhi Daredevils (Rs 7.35 cr)

Mumbai Indians (Rs 4.90cr)

4:20: With teams having splurged in the auction so far, they will have to use their money wisely and should only bid for those those players, who fit the jigsaw puzzle perfectly.

3:50: Delhi Daredevils may have got Negi for mega money, but they need to get a quality opener, who can provide flying start in the initial overs. With Finch and Guptill unsold, Delhi should sign one of them.

3:43: 21 players sold in the last 90 minutes and an astronomical sum of money has been thrown at these players. Ah, did I mention Pawan  Negi, who was bought by Delhi for Rs 8.5 crores. Mindboggling.

3:35: The accelerated process to take shape next. This is going to be interesting as franhcises can go for players, who has been unsold in the auction so far. They need to fill out a form and submit names of those players, who they want  in the auction once again. Martin Guptill and Aaron Finch are sure to be present in the list.

See you in a while.

3:36: Karanveer Singh goes unsold.

3:35 KC Cariappa receives opening bid from RCB and Kings XI comes into the picture finally. Preity Zinta in some discussion on the table and they increase their bid. RCB also does the same. We are approaching the crore mark. However, Kings XI Punjab get Cariappa for Rs 80L

3:31: Bhargav Bhatt goes unsold.

3:30 M Ashwin. Bidding between RCB and RPS and things are looking interesting, with teams going for the player. They are just increasing their bid on a consistent note and we reach Rs 4 cr. RPS gets the player for Rs 4.5cr.

3:27: R Shah goes unsold. Lions bid for Sarabjeet Ladda and  they seal the deal for Rs 10L.

3:26: Shivil Kaushik. Opening bid seals the deal. Lions get Kaushik for 10L.

3:25: Hardik Patel is unsold. Pravin Tambe the leg-spinner, receives a bid from Gujarat Lions for Rs 10L. Delhi comes into the picture and bids, but Lions get the player for Rs 20L

3:22: Adam Zampa goes unsold.

3:21: Uncapped bowlers will be out of the hat and the first name is KK Jiyas, who goes unsold.

3:20: S Trivedi goes unsold. Pawan Suyal also goes unsold.

3:19 pm: Ankit Rajpoot â€“ RPS and KKR getting into the act. Some serious bidding for the player by both teams. KKR looks confident. For 1.5cr, the player goes to KKR.

3:17: Ishwar Pandey – RPS opens the bid of Rs 20L and takes the player with them.

3:16: A Aswin Crist is unsold. Rahul Shukla is also unsold.

3:15: RCB and DD going in for Nathu Singh, who has a base price of Rs 10L. We are approaching crore as both teams are engaged in a small meeting on the table. They exceed their bidding amount further and have reached 2 cr. Nathu must be already smiling where he is at present (must be glued to the idiot box). Another team talk on Delhi's table. Mumbai Indians enter the fray with another bid and takes the player for Rs 3.2 cr.

3:07: V Malik goes unsold. VP Singh is unsold. H Singh Bansal is also unsold. These uncapped bowlers are unlucky .

3:05: C Stephen goes unsold. Dominic Joseph is unsold.

Bowlers now

3:03: Pradeep Sangwan with a base price of Rs 20L, is sold to Gujarat Lions for the base price.

3pm: Pawan Negi. Opening bid from Pune for Rs 30L. Delhi competing against Pune for the all-rounder, who has been picked for India World T20 squad. Pune and Delhi want the player desperately as they are increasing the bid and it has reached a maximum of Rs 8.5 cr, which is the last amount and the player goes to Delhi.

2:53: Irish all-rounder, Kevin O'Brien goes unsold.

Kevon Cooper from West Indies is unsold.

2:52: Ankit Sharma. Pune bids for Rs 10L, which is the opening bid and RPS gets the player.

2:51: Padmanabhan goes unsold.

2:50: Former Rajasthan Royals player, Deepak Hooda, is bid by KKR. Lions get into the act and it is heating out there for Hooda, who played some good innings last year. It is Lions vs Riders and now SRH enters into the fray. The stakes are getting higher. Wow, reaches Rs 4cr and SRH get the player for Rs 4.2cr.

2:47: Iqbal Abdulla receives a opening bid from RCB for Rs 10L and goes to the franchise.

2:46: Dishant Yagnik is unsold. Manvinder Bisla, who has a base price of Rs 10L, surprisingly, also goes unsold.

2:44: Ankush Bains is unsold.

2:43: Aditya Tare, who has a base price of Rs 20L, receives a bid from SRH and is followed by Mumbai Indians. Tare goes to SRH for Rs1.2 cr.

2:41: CM Gautam is unsold.

2:38: Pinal Shah, wicket-keeper batsman's name is out from the hat. Goes unsold.

2:37: Eklavya Dwivedi, yet to make an IPL, is bid by Gujarat for Rs 20L. SRH enters into the fray. Battle between Lions and SRH. Serious bidding for some uncapped players. LIons get the player for Rs 1 cr.

2:33: Rishabh Pant, the U-19 player receives bid from RCB and Mumbai Indians. He is an explosive batsman. Huge bidding for the stylish batsman, who is Sehwag on the making (if I can add) .Oh wait, Delhi comes into the picture with 1.9 cr bid and grabs the player.

2:29: Ishan Kishan, who has a base price of 10L, receives a bid from Gujarat and Pune, sold to Pune. Rs 35L

2:26: T Suman with a base price of Rs 10L goes unsold. Aiden Blizzard also unsold.

2:24: Paras Dogra. Gujarat get the player for Rs 10L

2:22: Himanshu Rana goes unsold. Debabrata Das, who has a Rs 10L as base price is also unsold. Uncapped players –not much takers, as expected.

2:20: Mithun Manhas, who has a base price of Rs 30L, is unsold. Ankeet Bawane also goes unsold.

2:18: Karun Nair up now. RPS and Delhi Daredevils start the bidding process - bit of war to begin with for the former Royals batsman. Gujarat Lions gets into the act, but the player receives another bid from SRH as well. This is interesting. From 10 lakh it has reached 4 crores. Delhi is not giving up at all, seems to be hell bent and the player despite competition won the bid with Rs 4 cr.

2:15: Uncapped batsmen from the hat now. Sachin Baby, who receives the opening bid of Rs 10 lakhs from RCB and goes to the Bengaluru franchise.

2:15pm: Auctioneer Richard Madley is ready for the post-lunch session. Her we go.

2:09pm: The first half of the 2016 IPL Player Auction witnessed some surprises like Martin Guptill, who was unsold. On the other hand, franchises went all out for a number of players to bolster their respective squads. Shane Watson has been the costliest buy so far with RCB digging deep into their pockets with Rs 9.5 crores for the Australian. Watson will join the likes of Chris Gayle, Ab de Villiers and Virat Kohli in RCB camp to make them one a formidable batting line up in the IPL.

1:55: We are just 20 minutes away from the second half of IPL 2016 Player Auction. I, Ashim Sunam, will be bringing you all the updates from the mega auction.

1.08 pm: The first phase, as it always is, was fun, with a few interesting and big-money buys. Then it went into an unsold contest, with the vast majority of the players finding no takers. We will have the accelerated auction in the afternoon session, with the players who were unsold possibly coming back in as well. Surely, Guptill and Finch should get a look in.

That is it from me Deepak Vikraman. Ashim Sunam will see you through to the end of the auction. Back in about 50 minutes.

1.05 pm: Lunch break now, The auction will continue at 2.15 pm.

1.02 pm: Shannon Gabriel, Dushmantha Chameera, Hardus Viljoen, Mthokozisi Shezi, Tino Best, Jackson Bird, Scott Boland are unsold. No takers for Boland as well.

1.01 pm: The final set before lunch. Fast bowlers.  Taskin Ahmed is first and he is unsold.

12.59 pm: Dilshan Munaweera, Christopher Barnwell, Seekkuge Prasanna, George Worker and Dasun Shanaka are all unsold as well.

12.57 pm: Dilruwan Perera is unsurprisingly unsold, justlike Narsingh Deonarine, Henry Davids and Siriwardene.

12.56 pm: Soumya Sarkar might have been a good buy, but nope, no takers and the Bangladeshi is unsold.

12.54 pm: Shaun Tait surprisingly has no takers and is unsold. Pankaj Singh is also unsold along with Nuwan Kulasekara, Ben Laughlin and Krishmar Santokie.

12.52 pm: Bowlers now and Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Parwinder Awana and Sudeep Tyagi are all unsold.

12.49 pm: Shehan Jayasuriya, Rayad Emrit, Anton Devcich, Johan Botha, Ashton Agar all join the unsold list.

12.45 pm: Jeevan Mendis, Vernon Philander and Juan Theron are all unsold.

12.44 pm: Farhaan Behardien is first up and there is no bid, so the South African is unsold. Nathan McCullum is also unsold.

12.43 pm: All-rounders set now.

12.43 pm: The two South Africans -- Dean Elgar and Reeza Hendricks -- are unsold.

12.41 pm: Travis Head sold to RCB for Rs 50 lakh.

Head was brilliant in the BBL and RCB and Pune start the bidding. It doesn't go too far, from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakhs and RCB bad the Australian.

12.41 pm: Marlon Samuels is unsold, and then we have Travis Head.

12.40 pm: Cameron White, at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore is too steep, and the Australian is unsold. Tamim Iqbal is the next to go unsold.

12.38 pm: Lahiru Thirimanne is unsold, so is Richard Levi.

12.37 pm: Another batsmen set now.

12.37 pm: Munaf Patel is unsold. Beuran Hendricks is also unsold.

12.35 pm: RP Singh (remember him?). Opening bid is the closing bid and RP Singh is sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 39 lakhs.

12.34 pm: Abhimanyu Mithun gets an opening bid from SRH. And Mithun is sold to SRH for Rs 30 lakhs.

12.33 pm: Barinder Sran sold to SRH for Rs 1.2 crore.

Pune open the bidding at Rs 50 lakh. After a while the Gujarat Lions come in, and the bidding naturally goes up for the left-arm fast bowler, who did pretyy well in Australia recently. RPS drop out at Rs 85 lakh, but the Lions get competition from SRH. Sunrisers Hyderabad get the India international.

12.30 pm: Barinder Sran next.

12.29 pm: Kyle Abbott sold to KXIP for Rs 2.1 crore.

Kyle Abbott next and RCB start the bidding, with KXIP joining in. Fleming and Pune not making a move so far for the former CSK man. It is between KXIP and RCB, with the bidding going up to Rs 2.1 crore from Rs 30 lakhs. RCB drop out and KXIP get the South African fast bowler.

12.24 pm: Jaydev Unadkat sold to KKR for Rs 1.6 crore.

Jaydev Unadkat, who was on a tear in the Ranji Trophy, next. The opening bid is from KKR, with the Gujarat Lions coming in as well. Lions drop out at Rs 60 lakhs. SRH come in to challenge KKR and the price rises to Rs 1.6 crore. KKR have the player.

12.19 pm: Mustafizur Rahman sold to SRH for Rs 1.4 crore.

Bangladesh players are rarely bid for by IPL franchises, but Mustafizur Rahman gets a bid from the Sunrisers Hyderabad to open, before RCB also join in the bidding fun. From a base price of Rs 50 lakhs, the bidding goes to Rs 1.4 crore, and RCB decide against continuing the bid. SRH get the Bangladesh youngster.

12.18 pm: Abhishek Nayar is unsold. Fast bowlers now. Joel Paris first up and he is unsold.

12.16 pm: Marcus Stoinis sold to KXIP for Rs 55 lakhs.

There is a bid for Marcus Stoinis, and it is made by the Rising Pune Supergiants. Kings XI Punjab come in and the price rises from Rs 30 lakh to  55 lakhs.

12.14 pm: James Neesham is unsold. Sean Abbott is also unsold.

12.12 pm: Carlos Brathwaite sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 4.2 crore.

And we finally have some action as Carlos Brathwaite induces a bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils. The bidding goes from Rs 30 lakh all the way to Rs 3.2 crore. Crazy this auction is, really crazy. Imagine Guptill and Finch going unsold and Brathwaite going for more than ten times his base price. Needs and everything aye. 

12.08 pm: Grant Elliott is another all-rounder who goes unsold.

12.07 pm: Wayne Pranell, unsurprisingly, is unsold. Ben Cutting is also unsold.

12.06 pm: Chris Jordan is a good player, but no interest and the England international is unsold.

12.06 pm: Doug Bracewell is also unsold.

12.05 pm: Second set of all-rounders. Andrew Tye is first up. Tye is unsold.

12.03 pm: Nic Maddinson, Owais Shah and Abhinav Mukund are unsold.

12.02 pm: No takers for the batsmen again, and Adam Voges is unsold.

12.01 pm: David Hussey is also unsold. As is Darren Bravo.

12.01 pm: Joe Burns is the first player out and the Australian is unsold.

12 pm: At the stroke of noon, we are ready to start the third phase of the auction. Batsmen set now.

Brad Hodge, the Gujarat Lions coach: It was difficult for us only having five players, we have to fill a number of slots. We did amazing in the draft, we have five match-winners, but it is about getting the right players now. We need a few spinners. I can't wait to get involved in this team and team up with Suresh [Raina]. Use the wise heads of [Brendon] McCullum there. 

Stephen Fleming the Pune coach: It is exciting, it is a good challenge [to take over a new team]. The challenge is to get a core group together, so that we can challenge. There are a couple of holes for us to fill. There are some bowling options to fill, really happy with what we have done, but we have a some way to go. I am surprised Guptill was not picked, and also Finch, but I think they will come in later on.

11.43 am: A 15-minute break now.

11.42 am: Pragyan Ojha also goes unsold. Hmm, really not interested in the spinners are they.

11.40 am: Michael Beer, Ajantha Mendis, Suliemann Benn, Rahul Sharma, Cameron Boyce and Samuel Badree are unsold all as well. No takers for the spinners.

11.36 am: Spinners set now and the first player out of the bag is Sachitra Senanayake. The Sri Lankan is unsold.

11.34 am: James Pattinson is the final name out of the set and the Austrtalia is unsold.

11.33 am: Mohit Sharma sold to KXIP for Rs 6.5 crore.

Expectedly, there is interest in Mohit as KXIP and KKR go into a bidding war. The price rises from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 4.2 crore. There is a slight halt in the bidding there, as KKR think about increasing their bid, and after a bit of discussion, Gambhir seems to say go for it, and they do just that. KKR, though, say they are out at Rs 4.8 crore, but Sunrisers Hyderabad come in with a late bid, to bump the price further up to Rs 5.5 crore. SRH raise that Rs 6 crore, before KXIP come back in with a bid of Rs 6.5 crore. SRH say they are done, and Kings XI Punjab finally get Mohit.

11.29 am: Dinda is unsold and Mohit Sharma is the final fast bowler out of this set.

11.28 am: Ashok Dinda is up next.

11.27 am: Tim Southee sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2.5 crore.

MI and RCB go head-to-head for the New Zealand fast bowler. The bidding goes to Rs 2.5 crore and RCB say no more. MI get Southee.

11.26 am: Tim Southee next.

11.25 am: Praveen Kumar sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 3.5 crore.

Gujarat Lions open the bid and that is countered by KKR. Goes quickly up to Rs 1.70 crore. KKR have the bid, and the Gujarat Lions crunch a few numbers. Remember, they need quanity as much as quality. The Gujarat Lions decide to go on with the bidding and the amount rises up to Rs 3.5 crore. KKR drop out and the Gujarat Lions bag the swing bowler. 

11.20 am: Praveen Kumar is next up.

11.18 am: John Hastings sold to KKR for Rs 1.3 crore.

John Hastings now. Hastings did well in the ODI series for Australia against India, and the opening bid comes from Rising Pune Supergiants. Fleming trying to get his former player for CSK again. KKR also come in and RPS say they are out at Rs 1.3 crore.

11.17 am: Kane Richardson is unsold.

11.16 am: Dhawal Kulkarni it is first up. Gujarat Lions make the only bid and Dhawal Kulkarni is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 2 crore.

11.14 am: The fifth set for today is the fast bowlers.

11.13 am: Last all-rounder of the set is Thisara Perera, and the Sri Lankan is unsold.

11.13 am: Mitchell Marsh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 4.8 crore.

KXIP make the opening bid for the Australian, as they try to reunite him with his older brother Shaun. Rising Pune Supergiants also come in and the bidding goes up to Rs 4.8 crore. RPS have the high bid, and they get Marsh, who could prove to be one of the buys of the auction.

11.09 am: Mitchell Marsh next.

11.09 am: Darren Sammy is unsold.

11.08 am: Stuart Binny sold to RCB for Rs 2 crore.

Takes a while for the opening bid to come, and when it does it is from RCB. The Royal Challengers Bangalore get the all-rounder with that bid. Binny is going to play at home.

11.07 am: Stuart Binny is up. Rs 2 crore is the base price.

11.06 am: Colin Munro sold to KKR for Rs 30 lakh.

KKR start the bidding late and that is the only bid.

11.05 am: Colin Munro next up.

11.05 am: Chris Morris sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 7 crore.

MI start the bidding, and RPS get in as well, as Fleming looks to buy the former CSK player. RPS drop out at Rs 1.1 crore, but KKR come in to rival Mumbai Indians. Goes quickly to Rs 4 crore, with MI, after a bit of deliberation, raising the paddle again, as the bidding goes well past Rs 5 crore. KKR raise it to Rs 6 crore, and Mi, after much discussion again, raise it to Rs 6.5 crore. KKR hesitate now, and decide against raising the bid. However, the bidding is not done as the Delhi Daredevils come in late with a Rs 7 crore bid. That bid does it and DD get the South African all-rounder.

10.59 am: Chris Morris next.

10.59 am: Jason Holder is also unsold.

10.58 am: Tillakaratne Dilshan. Rs 1.5 core base price, too much for the franchises. And the Sri Lankan is unsold.

10.57 am: Ravi Bopara, at a base price of Rs 1 crore, is unsold.

10.57 am: RPS open the bidding at Rs 1 crore and get the all-rounder at that price. Irfan Pathan sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 1 crore.

10.55 am: Irfan Pathan next. Has been in good form, so there should be some interest.

10.54 am: Manoj Tiwary first. Base price Rs 1 crore. Tiwary is unsold.

10.53 am: All-rounders section now.

10.52 am: The last player out of the set. Cameron Bancroft, the Australian, it is. Bancroft is unsold, despite a small base price of Rs 10 lakh.

10.50 am: Gujarat Lions sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 2.3 crore.

RCB want Karthik back, and start the bidding. Gujarat Lions also want him apparently, so it goes up to Rs 2.10 crore. RCB were not expecting someone else to make a bid, so Mallya and the rest discuss for a while, before raising their bid. No hesitation from the Gujarat Lions, who quickly bid Rs 2.3 crore. RCB are out at Rs 2.3 crore, and Gujarat Lions get Karthik.

10.49 am: Dinesh Karthik next. Base price Rs 2 crore.

10.48 am: Sam Billings is a handy wicketkeeper-batsman, but the Englishman is unsold, and so is Ben Dunk.

10.47 am: Morne Van Wyk is unsold.

10.46 am: Brad Hassin now. No takers for Rs 1.5 crore, the Aussie is also unsold.

10.46 am: Johnson Charles also is unsold.

10.45 am: Mushfiqur Rahim goes unsold.

10.43 am: Jos Buttler sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.8 crore.

Takes a while for the first bid to come and Mumbai Indians it is who make the first one. If MI get Buttler for Rs 1.5 crore, it will be an absolute bargain. MI think they have him, and then KKR make their first bid of the morning, with a late, late one, just as Madley was about to bang his hammer. The bidding purrs all the way to Rs 3.8 crore, and KKR drop out. MI get the attacking batsman/wicketkeeper.

10.41 am: Next up is Joss Buttler. Base price for the Englishman is Rs 1.5 crore.

10.40 am: Shane Dowrich is next. Unsurprisingly, he goes unsold.

10.40 am: Sanju Samson sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 4.2 crore.

Gujarat Lions bide their time, and then make a late opening bid for Samson at the base price of Rs 2 crore. Delhi Daredevils get that paddle up for the first time in this auction, and the bidding goes up to Rs 4.2 crore. Not quickly, with a bit of pondering and discussion there from both Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils. DD hold the bid at Rs 4.2 crore, and the Gujarat Lions decide against bidding again. Samson finally goes to DD for Rs 4.2 crore.

10.34 am: Sanju Samson is first up.

10.33 am: Not one player on this batsmen list was sold. Wicketkeeper set now.

10.32 am: Khawaja, despite all those BBL hundred and all, is unsold. Strange auction so far this.

10.32 am: Usman Khawaja finishes off this batsmen set. Base price Rs 1 crore.

10.31 am: Michael Hussey goes unsold with the base price of Rs 2 crore.

10.30 am: Mahela Jayawardene also is unsold. Rs 1.5 crore was always too steep.

10.30 am: Subramaniam Badrinath goes unsold.

10.29 am: Are you serious, again! Bailey goes unsold as well.

10.28 am: George Bailey is next.

10.27 am: Hashim Amla next. The openers aren't in demand and Amla goes unsold.

10.27 am: No takers at Rs 50 lakh and Pujara goes unsold.

10.26 am: Next is Cheteshwar Pujara. Interesting this could be.

10.26 am: Rilee Rossouw goes unsold.

10.25 am: First up is Rilee Rossouw. Base price Rs 1 crore.

10.25 am: And we are back. Batsmen section now.

10.23 am: Here is a quick recap of the playes sold so far.

Shane Watson RCB Rs 9.5 crore.

Yuvraj Singh SRH Rs 7 crore.

Ashish Nehra SRH Rs 5.5 crore.

Ishant Sharma RPS Rs 3.8 crore.

Kevin Pietersen RPS Rs 3.5 crore.

Dale Steyn Gujarat Lions Rs 2.3 crore.

Dwayne Smith Gujarat Lions Rs 2.3 crore.

10.18 am: Vettori speaking to Sony Six. "We wanted someone who could bowl and bat at the top order, and Shane is the best at it," says Vettori about the Shane Watson buy. Mitchell Starc will hopefully be fit, he adds. Wanted Yuvraj, but he became too expensive.

10.10 am: I still can't believe that Guptill went unsold. A surprise that Finch went the same way as well. Apparently, the openers aren't in vogue in this auction. Watson the highest buy so far at Rs 9.5 crore, with Yuvraj next at Rs 7 crore.

10.09 am: That is the end of the marquee set. A 15-minute break now.

10.09 am: Dale Steyn sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 2.3 crore.

Pune start the bidding at Rs 1 crore. RCB make a bid as well, and the paddle raising ensues. Steyn has played for RCB in the past, don't forget. Pune say they are done at Rs 2 crore, with RCB holding the South Africa bowler. But, a new bidder comes in as Gujarat Lions enter the bidding ring for Steyn. RCB say they are out, and the Gujarat Lions get Steyn for Rs 2.3 crore.

10.06 am: Dale Steyn is the last man off the marquee list.

10.06 am: Yuvraj Singh sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 7 crore. Nope, no Rs 16 crore this time.

Takes a while to get the first bid in, as all the franchises wait for someone else to make their first move. Madley baits Delhi Daredevils to try and make the first bid, but it is the Mumbai Indians who open the bidding at Rs 2 crore. RCB want Yuvraj back, and Mallya bids Rs 2.10 crore. Goes up quickly between the two franchises to 5.5 crore. Bit of hesitancy for MI, who have the smallest purse, no such thing for RCB, who seem to get their man, raising the paddle immediately after the counter one. The bidding stops at Rs 5.5 crore, with MI saying they are out, and just when RCB think they have their man, SRH, the late bidders, come in. SRH get the bid at Rs 7 crore, with RCB saying they are out. SRH get their man.

10 am: The penultimate marquee player is Yuvraj Singh. Here we go now folks, herw we go.

9.59 am: Ashish Nehra sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 5.5 crore.

KXIP could not get Ishant, so they start the bid for Nehra. Gujarat Lions come in and the bidding goes up to Rs 3.5 crore. KXIP look like they have got the veteran left-arm fast bowler at Rs 3.5 crore, but just when Madley was about to bang that gavel, Sunrisers Hyderabad come in. Preity discusses a bit with Sanjay Bangar, and then raises the paddle again. Goes to Rs 5.5 crore, with SRH holding the bid, and that is the bid that gets them their man. Good buy that.

9.55 am: Ashish Nehra it is now.

9.55 am: Aaron Finch goes unsold! Another surprise there. Apparently the openers are not in demand.

9.53 am: Next player is Aaron Finch. Base price Rs 1 crore.

9.53 am: KKR question the increments in the bidding and Madley throws him down.

9.49 am: Shane Watson goes to RCB for Rs 9.5 crore. Big money buy that.

Man that Guptill thing was a surprise. Was tipping him to be one of the most expensive buys. The bidding for Watson is started by RPS, with RCB, Vijay Mallya and all, coming in for the first time. The two go back and forth, and it rises quickly past Rs 4 crore. Stops at Rs 4.5 crore, and then Rs 5.5 crore with RCB getting the all-rounder. Or do they? Mumbai Indians come in with a late bid and the price goes up to Rs 7.5 crore, still with RCB. MI decide to continue bidding, and it goes to Rs 8.5 crore, with RCB still holding the bid. Not for long, as MI make a bid of Rs 9 crore, before it goes straight back to RCB for Rs 9.5 crore. Watson finally goes to RCB for Rs 9.5 crore. Ricky Ponting wanted Watson, but couldn't get him.

9.47 am: Shane Watson it is now.

9.47 am: All the franchises should be interested in Guptill, really, and it takes a while for all of them to raise their paddle. What? Seriously? Guptill goes unsold. This is the most crazy thing I have seen. Unbelievable.

9.46 am: The fourth player off the marquee list is Martin Guptill. This should be fun.

9.45 am: Ishant Sharma sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 3.8 crore. The most expensive so far.

Ah interesting, as KXIP make the opening bid of Rs 2 crore for Ishant. They do need a solid Indian bowler, even is Ishant isn't the greatest in the T20 format. Pune come in again, and the bidding war ensues. I can lip read Preity Zinta asking one of the other owners if she should stop it. But there is no stopping as the bid goes past Rs 3 crore. Flies to Rs 3.8 core after that, and KXIP decide against making the bid, after a looong deliberation. 

9.41 am: The next player is Ishant Sharma.

9.41 am: Dwayne Smith sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 2.3 crore.

Pune start the bidding again at Rs 50 lakh. Just the two new franchises so far, as Gujarat Lions counter-bid. Goes quickly past Rs 1 crore. Stephen Fleming, the new Pune coach, is the one raising the paddle, and he is raising it quite a bit in these early stages. The bidding goes past Rs 2 crore as well. He was a key player for CSK, so Fleming knows all about Smith, of course. The bidding ends at Rs 2.3 crore and it goes to the Lions.

9.38 am: The next player is Dwayne Smith.

9.37 am: Kevin Pietersen sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 3.5 crore.

 Rs 2 crore is the base price for Pietersen. RPS makes the first bid. And the other new franchise Gujarat Lions also bid. It goes back and forth between the two teams, ah no hesitancy at all here. It goes to Rs 2.8 crore, with the bid with RPS. After slight hesitation, it goes up again to Rs 3 crore.

9.34 am: First marquee player up for auction is Kevin Pietersen.

9.33 am: Madley takes the stage.

9.32 am: The IPL chairman Rajeev Shukka now with a welcome speech. A special welcome to the new teams -- Rising Pune Supergiants (nope, he didn't crack a smile when he said that name) and Gujarat Lions. He says, this was actually going  to be a mega auction, but with CSK and RR suspended, that mega auction has been postponed to 2018, when the two franchises can return.

9.31 am: Ratnakar Shetty, the IPL COO, is talking now, going through the process a little bit and doing a bit of PR for the iPad as well.

9.29 am: Preity Zinta is also in the house, with big dark goggles and some red number, showing her true KXIP colours. Yeah, that's as far as I can go, when it comes to fashion information I'm afraid.

9.28 am: We should have the auction ready for that bidding thingy in a couple of minutes. Richard Madley should come into focus soon.

9.23 am: Pictures of the officials and team management walking in. Brad Hodge is there with his new Gujarat Lions team, and so is Gautam Gambhir for KKR. Hopefully, he doesn't get too mad, if KKR miss out on a player during the auction. Don't want a fight now do we. Or do we?

9.20 am: So, who you betting on to go the highest in th marquee player list? Might be Yuvraj again, but Guptill should go for a pretty penny as well, with his base price at just Rs 50 lakhs.

9.13 am: Marquee player list: Ishant Sharma, Shane Watson, Ashish Nehra, Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, Dale Steyn, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Martin Guptill.

9.08 am: Just a quick reminder of the purses available for each team.

Delhi Daredevils: Rs 37.15 crore.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Rs 30.15 crore.

Rising Pune Supergiants: Rs 27 crore.

Gujarat Lions: Rs 27 crore.

Kings XI Punjab: Rs 23 crore.

RCB: Rs 21.625 crore.

KKR: Rs 17.95 crore.

Mumbai Indians: Rs 14.405 crore.

9.04 am: Ok, the Sony Six coverage has begun, and, yup, Navjot Singh Sidhu is the expert. Enough said, really.

8.51 am: Yuvraj Singh will be one of the first players to go under the hammer in the auction pool. So, just to warm you guys up a little bit, here is that six sixes video again.

8.43 am: So, who do you think will go for big money, who will be the most expensive player and who will go unsold? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section below.

8.18 am: A little under an hour before all the festivities begin. As you wait, here is a bit of reading material for you guys to peruse through.

A little all you need to know about the auction

The complete list of the players in the auction pool

Who the Rising Pune Supergiants (can't believe that really is the name) are expected to bid for.

What the Gujarat Lions are likely to do at the auction

7.53 am: Another player auction, another round of paddle lifting, another round of Richard Madley asking people around "are you sure, absolutely sure, you are not interested anymore, if not, I am going to sell this player, make no mistake, the bid is not with you."

The IPL Player Auction is upon us again, the 2016 version, and with several superstars set to go under the hammer (well, not literally, of course, although come to think about it, that would make a really nice game) in Bengaluru.

Hello and welcome to IBTimes India's live coverage of the IPL 2016 Player Auction. This is Deepak Vikraman here and I will be taking you through all the craziness as it happens. So stick right here, lock this particular tab up and whenever a new update comes, the page will refresh automatically.

Madley will be the one ensuring the bidding goes as mad as possible, and, hopefully, we have some drama in this auction, a few bidding wars.

With two new teams coming into the fray, there should be plenty of excitement (ah, c'mon guys, we all know the IPL auction is more fun than the actual tournament)