Pollard, Bond attract big bids in IPL auction

West India's Kieron Adrian Pollard became the first, and perhaps most expensive, purchase of the Indian Premier League player auction on Tuesday.

West India's Kieron Adrian Pollard became the first, and perhaps most expensive, purchase of the Indian Premier League player auction on Tuesday.

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Pollard, 22, will join the Mumbai Indians team after attracting an undisclosed winning fee, far exceeding his price of $750,000, while the Kolkata Knight Riders won the won New Zealand paceman Shane Bond for $750,000.

England's Graeme Swann, Australian Brad Haddin and Shahid Afridi went unsold in the first round of the auction. The three had a base price of $250,000

Pollard and Bond's purchases were decided by the newly introduced tiebreaker rule.

Pollard attracted $750,000 bids from four franchises _ Mumbai, the Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata. The four bidders were asked to make silent bids on paper within five minutes. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi received the bids and made announced the winner.

Kolkata went into a tiebreak with the Deccan Chargers for Bond. The silent bid amount exceeding the base price is not disclosed. The excess money _ more than the franchisees limit of $750,000 spending, goes to IPL and not the player.