After
a
super
successful
inaugural
edition,
IPL
is
back
again
and
this
time,
it
only
promises
to
be
even
bigger
and
better.
The
auctions
took
place
at
Goa
yesterday
and
it
was
indeed
a
star
studded
high
profile
event
which
brought
together
the
best
from
the
world
of
sports,
business
and
entertainment.
Shahrukh
Khan
may
not
have
been
present
at
the
auctions
but
his
partner
Juhi
Chawla
was
very
much
there
along
with
hubby
Jai
Mehta.
SRK's
team
Kolkata
Knight
Riders'
only
major
purchase
of
the
day
was
Bangladeshi
player
Mashrafe
Mortaza.
Preity
Zinta's
Kings
XI
Punjab
may
have
made
it
to
the
Top
4
last
year
but
this
time
Zinta
babe
surely
wants
no
less
than
the
top
honour.
Hence
she,
along
with
partner
Ness
Wadia,
was
seen
aggressively
bidding
for
their
preferred
players.
In
the
end,
they
bagged
English
all-rounder
Ravi
Bopara
and
West
Indian
fast
bowler
Jerome
Taylor.
The
new
entrant
at
this
year's
auctions
was
none
other
than
Shilpa
Shetty,
who,
along
with
beau
Raj
Kundra
had
recently
acquired
a
stake
in
the
victorious
Rajasthan
Royals
team.
Just
like
last
year,
even
this
year,
Rajasthan
Royals
decided
to
go
with
lesser
known
players
like
Shaun
Tait
(Aus)
and
Tyron
Henderson
(SA).
The
biggest
catch
of
the
day
was
bagged
by
the
Vijay
Mallya
owned
Bangalore
Royal
Challengers,
who
spent
a
staggering
1.55
million
$
to
get
flamboyant
England
player
Kevin
Pietersen
on
board.
Pietersen's
team-mate
Andrew
Flintoff
also
fetched
the
same
amount
when
he
was
picked
by
the
Chennai
Super
Kings.
The
Mukesh
Ambani
owned
Mumbai
Indians
was
represented
by
Nita
Ambani
and
she
surely
seemed
to
have
made
a
right
decision
in
picking
up
the
promising
South
African
all
rounder
J.P.
Duminy.
The
second
season
of
the
IPL
kicks
off
on
April
10th
this
year,
and
if
yesterday
was
the
beginning
of
things
to
come,
one
can
only
expect
a
cracker
of
a
tournament
this
time
too.
We
simply
can't
wait
for
that!!!
Story first published: Monday, February 9, 2009, 15:51 [IST]