The Hindu : Front Page : Uthappa gets Rs. 3.25 lakh, Binny Rs. 3.2 lakh

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Saturday, Aug 15, 2009
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Uthappa gets Rs. 3.25 lakh, Binny Rs. 3.2 lakh

Staff Reporter

KPL player auction a smooth affair,tournament from September 9 to 23

Robin Uthappa

Bangalore: The Karnataka Premier League player-auction wasn’t really about big bucks as its financial road-map remains modest for a strictly State-level tournament but among the lakhs of rupees traded on a busy Friday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, a few players gained the edge.

Top among them were Robin Uthappa (Rs. 3.25 lakh), Stuart Binny (Rs. 3.20 lakh) and B. Akhil (Rs. 3 lakh) as demand soared for big-hitting batsmen and all-rounders. The KPL will be held here from September 9 to 23.

The players were sequenced by a draw of lots, and diminutive left-arm spinner K.P. Appanna became the first player to go under the hammer. Shimoga’s “Malnad Gladiators” bagged Appanna with Rs. 1.45 lakh.

Next in line was Uthappa and as purse-strings were loosened, auctioneer Charu Sharma egged the eight zonal teams to pocket the big fish. Finally real-estate group Brigade Enterprises picked up Uthappa for their Bangalore Urban team titled “Bangalore Brigaders.” As the morning wore on, all-rounder Stuart Binny nearly dislodged Uthappa’s pedestal as he whipped Rs. 3.20 lakh from Gulbarga’s “Bijapur Bulls”. Another all-rounder B. Akhil netted Rs. 3 lakh from the Bangalore Rural team, “Bangalore Provident”. For teen-sensation Manish Pandey, who hit a century at the main stadium for KSCA XI, the monetary yield from KPL was a touch low as he was 24th on the list.

Pandey was selected by Belgaum’s “Belgaavi Panthers” for Rs. 2.55 lakh. The Belgaum team had a good buy in persevering fast bowler Vinay Kumar at Rs. 2.50 lakh while veteran Sunil Joshi was picked for Rs. 2.05 lakh by the Hubli-Dharwad team of “Shamanur Davangere Diamonds”. The day faded out with a few tepid bids at the base price of Rs. 20,000 before a slight revival at Rs. 1.80 lakh for unheralded all-rounder R. Jonathan from the North-East who has made Bangalore his home. Mangalore team got Jonathan.

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