Symonds' second most valuable player

New Delhi: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who along with Harbhajan Singh was at the centre of the racial abuse controversy during the India-Australia Test series Down Under in January, got the second highest bid for Rs 5.4 crore ($ 1.35 million) in the players auction of DLF Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Hyderabad got Symonds paying only Rs 60 lakh less than Indian One-day and Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The controversy seems to have done no harm to Symonds’ popularity, as he became the highest bid player of the third round.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, however, did not command a huge price going to Kolkata for Rs 1.6 crore ($400,000) while Mohali/Chandigarh won Brett Lee for Rs 3.6 crore ($900,000).

Another Australian Matthew Hayden will join Dhoni in the Chennai team after a bid of Rs 1.5 crore ($375,000).

Delhi team, bid for its first player in the third round bagging New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori for Rs 2.5 crore ($625,000) while Brendon McCullum will join Kolkata for Rs 2.8 crore ($700,000) and Jacob Oram will play for Chennai for Rs 2.7 crore ($675,000).

All the above players, however, will remain unavailable for current season.

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