Kochi owners, locals elated with team's selection

Marking its debut, the Kochi Indian Premier League franchise bagged eleven players on the first day of teams' auction held on Saturday in Bangalore. The franchise owners aggressively bade for international cricketing stalwarts such as Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardhane, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brad Hodge, Steven Smith and Indian cricketers such as S. Sreesanth, V.V.S Laxman, R.P. Singh and Parthiv Patel among others. Meanwhile, in New Delhi, while attending an event, lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said he is elated in knowing such respectable players will be representing the Kochi team.