England internationals James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell and Matt Prior all went unsold at the IPL auction.
Anderson, Swann, Bell and Prior all go unsold at auction
England internationals James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell and Matt Prior all went unsold at the Indian Premier League auction on Saturday morning.
Anderson was the first to be ignored as, almost as soon as the process began in Bangalore, he was snubbed at his base price of 300,000 US dollars.
Bell and Prior had the same fate, as did a clutch of other English players before off-spinner Graeme Swann, who had a reserve of $400,000, was also disappointed.
Test batsman Ravi Bopara and limited-overs international all-rounder Luke Wright were unsold too, as was Ireland's big-hitter Kevin O'Brien, who made an incredible World Cup century against England in Bangalore last year.
The IPL disappointing day for English talent means only Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan - already contracted to franchises - will be playing in India in the window between forthcoming Test series in Sri Lanka and at home to West Indies.
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the costliest player in the auction as the Chennai Super Kings paid more than $2million dollars to secure his services over the Deccan Chargers.
Tie-breaker
Jadeja, who starred for the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala last season, attracted maximum bids from both teams, forcing a tie-breaker which Chennai won with an undisclosed bid.
Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene was sold to the Delhi Daredevils for $1.4million and India's Vinay Kumar also fetched seven figures as he was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for $1million.
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum went to the Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000, but the biggest surprise was the sale of West Indian spinner Sunil Narine to Kolkata for a hefty $700,000.
The 23-year-old had a reserve price of just $50,000 and has only a solitary one-day international cap to his name, having never played international Test or T20 cricket.
He did however star in the 2011 Champions League, taking 10 wickets at an average of 10.50, and his form clearly made him a hot commodity at the auction.
Other notables who went unsold were VVS Laxman, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Darren Bravo. The IPL begins on April 4.
