IPL Auction: Morgan, Finch steal show in first set

Kolkata, Dec 19 (IANS) England's World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan and Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch became the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction's first big money signings as the star pair were snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for 5.25 crore and 4.40 crore respectively here on Thursday at the end of the first set.Morgan, who has played for KKR before, had a base price of Rs1.50 crore. The men in purple had to stave off stiff competition from Delhi Capitals who were also interested in the swashbuckling southpaw.Morgan was second to go in the first set of players of the 13th auction where Chris Lynn, who was released by KKR, was roped in by Mumbai Indians for his base price of 2 crore without any bid.Robin Uthappa, another player KKR did not want to keep, went to Rajasthan Royals for 3 crore while England opener Jason Roy was snapped up by Delhi Capitals for 1.5 crore.Then came Finch, who did not play in the 2019 IPL, and RCB were locked in a bidding war with KKR. The Virat Kohli led franchise finally wrapped up the deal for 4.40 crore.India's Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari went unsold.
--IANS dm/bbh