Who cracked the code?

Apart from Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi, Hyderabad also boasts of players such as Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris in the team – among the most destructive batsmen in the shorter version of the game. VVS Laxman – who hails from the city – will lead the team. Put them all together and it gives Hyderabad a stunning batting lineup, more impressive than any other outfit in the mix.

Chennai, however, comes a close second. Dhoni will have the likes of Matthew Hayden, Jacob Oram, Michael Hussey and Stephen Fleming in the team, and Makhaya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan, who have come at bargain prices to lead the bowling attack.

In fact, they bid so aggresively that they went over the US$ 5m cap, but that is not a problem as some of the players, who were on the unavailable list, only have to be paid 25 per cent of the bid amount.

Better than the rest

Should the two teams clash with each other, India’s cricket-crazy television audience will have a classic contest of Chaminda Vaas bowling to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mathew Hayden, and of Muttiah Muralitharan testing the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs.

“It can be easily said that Chennai and Hyderabad have chosen their players well, at least better than the rest. They have pocketed a few good deals for a very cheap price. It left everybody in the auction room stunned when they pocketed the likes of Styris, Vaas, Hayden and Ntini for such cheap prices. They bid for Murali as if he had told them specifically he only wanted to play for Chennai (where his in-laws live),” says one franchise team member who was bidding on Wednesday.

There are a few other tantalising lineups — Mumbai, for example, where Sachin Tendulkar could open the batting with Sanath Jayasuriya and Kolkata, where Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle will pepper the offside with boundaries.

But, as things stand, it’s Chennai and Hyderabad that the rest of the IPL will have to really watch out for.

Bangalore Rs 19.4 cr

Batsmen

Rahul Dravid (Ind)

S Chanderpaul (WI)

Wasim Jaffer (Ind)

Bowlers

Anil Kumble (Ind)

Zaheer Khan (Ind)

Nathan Bracken (Aus)

Dale Steyn (SA)

wicket-keeper

Mark Boucher (SA)

all-rounders

Jacques Kallis (SA)

Cameron White (Aus)

Kolkata Rs 24.1 cr

Batsmen

Sourav Ganguly (Ind)

David Hussey (Aus)

Ricky Ponting (Aus)

Bowlers

Ishant Sharma (Ind)

Shoaib Akhtar (Pak)

Murali Karthik (Ind)

Ajit Agarkar (Ind)

Umar Gul (Pak)

wicket-keepers

Tatenda Taibu (Zim)

B McCullum (NZ)

all-rounders

Chris Gayle (WI)

Chennai Rs 23.7 cr

Batsmen

Suresh Raina (Ind)

Matthew Hayden (Aus)

Stephen Fleming (NZ)

Michael Hussey (Aus)

Bowlers

Makhaya Ntini (SA)

M Muralitharan (SL)

wicket-keepers

MS Dhoni (Ind)

Parthiv Patel (Ind)

all-rounders

Jacob Oram (NZ)

Albie Morkel (SA)

Joginder Sharma (Ind)

Delhi Rs 22.6 cr

Batsmen

Virender Sehwag (Ind)

Gautam Gambhir (Ind)

Manoj Tiwary (Ind)

AB de Villiers (SA)

Bowlers

Mohammad Asif (Pak)

Daniel Vettori (NZ)

Glenn McGrath (Aus)

wicket-keeper

Dinesh Karthik (Ind)

all-rounders

T Dilshan (SL)

Farveez Maharoof (SL)

Shoaib Malik (Pak)

Hyd’bad Rs 23.4 cr

Batsmen

Rohit Sharma (Ind)

Chamara Silva (SL)

Herschelle Gibbs (SA)

VVS Laxman (Ind)

Bowlers

RP Singh (Ind)

Chaminda Vaas (SL)

Nuwan Zoysa (SL)

wicket-keeper

Adam Gilchrist (Aus)

all-rounders

Andrew Symonds (Aus)

Shahid Afridi (Pak)

Scott Styris (NZ)

Jaipur Rs 11.7 cr

Batsmen

Mohammad Kaif (Ind)

Graeme Smith (SA)

Younis Khan (Pak)

Justin Langer (Aus)

Bowlers

Shane Warne (Aus)

Munaf Patel (Aus)

wicket-keeper

Kamran Akmal (Pak)

all-rounders

Yusuf Pathan (Ind)

Mohali Rs 22.7 cr

Batsmen

Yuvraj Singh (Ind)

Simon Katich (Aus)

R Sarwan (WI)

M Jayawardene (SL)

Bowlers

Brett Lee (Aus)

Romesh Pawar (Ind)

S Sreesanth (Ind)

Piyush Chawla (Ind)

wicket-keeper

K Sangakkara (SL)

all-rounders

Irfan Pathan (Ind)

Mumbai Rs 19.8 cr

Batsmen

S Tendulkar (Ind)

Loots Bosman (SA)

Robin Uthappa (Ind)

Bowlers

Harbhajan Singh (Ind)

Lasith Malinga (SL)

Dilhara Fernando (SL)

all-rounders

S Jayasuriya (SL)

Shaun Pollock (SA)