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15-Dec-2015 09:38:00 GMT
Indian Previer League

Pune picks MS Dhoni, Raina goes to Rajkot

Mumbai: New Rising, the Pune franchise bought by Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv Goenka, expectedly picked Indian limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the first player for Rs 12.5 crore in the first-ever player draft of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Intex Technologies owner Keshav Bansal, who invested in the Rajkot franchise, picked Suresh Raina as the first choice followed by Ravindra Jadeja - the local Saurashtra boy who has grown up playing in Rajkot.

Dhoni and Raina will play for opposing teams for the first time in the IPL.

New Rising picked up former Rajasthan Royals batsman Ajinkya Rahane as their second choice. It would be interesting to see Dhoni, who has criticised Rahane's 'slow batting' on Indian pitches, team up for the slam bang tournament.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was then picked up by Pune and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum went to Rajkot.

Australian captain Steve Smith was picked by Pune while his teammate all-rounder James Faulkner went to Rajkot.

Pune then picked up South African T20 captain Faf du Plessis and Rajkot went for West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

Rajkot picked Suresh Raina ahead of local lad Ravindra Jadeja. (TOI Photo)

Raina took to Twitter to express his happiness on joining the new Rajkot team.

The two new franchises will have to pay Rs 12.5 crore to the first player they pick at the draft, Rs 9.5 crore to the second, Rs 7.5 crore to the third, Rs 5.5 crore to the fourth and Rs 4 crore to the fifth.

Order of players picked

  • Pune: 1 MS Dhoni, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 R Ashwin, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Faf du Plessis
  • Rajkot: 1 Suresh Raina, 2 Ravindra Jadeja, 3 Brendon McCullum, 4 James Faulkner, 5 Dwayne Bravo.

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