Though Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab walked away with the maximum attention - because of the recent 'court-ship' with the BCCI - on the opening day of the player auction, the two new teams too grabbed their share of limelight.
The Sahara Pune Warriors and the yet-to-be-named Kochi franchise walked out of the enclosure with wide smiles after most of their objectives for the day were met.
Despite being the youngest teams in the IPL, both managed the largest chunk in terms of signings - Sahara Pune Warriors buying eight and Kochi 11.
More importantly, both teams have almost resolved the captaincy issues with their prized signings. After losing out in the frantic bidding for Gautam Gambhir, the Pune owners went all out for Yuvraj Singh and managed to snatch the southpaw for $1.8m.
Kochi, on the other hand, now have a problem of plenty as far as the captaincy goes. Besides Sreesanth, the home attraction, the Kochi owners also managed to have two former IPL skippers - Mahela Jayawardene and Brendon McCullum - on board.
Speaking to HT, Kochi coach Geoff Lawson said, "We did a lot of analysis. You tend to look at all the players. Overall, I think it turned out to be pretty well for us. We didn't get confused too many times. We did have a few discussions but I think our homework paid off."
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to HT, Kochi coach Geoff Lawson said, "We did a lot of analysis. You tend to look at all the players. Overall, I think it turned out to be pretty well for us. We didn't get confused too many times. We did have a few discussions but I think our homework paid off."
{{/usCountry}}The former Aussie pacer, who coached Pakistan, was hailing the prized signing of Sreesanth, who hails from Kerala. "Who else but the greatest cricketer to have come out of Kerala," he said.
Just like Kochi, the Sahara were as "satisfied" and "excited" about the acquisitions.