Pietersen and Flintoff’s reaction after becoming highest bid player

 

 

 

 

Reaction of Pietersen and Flintoff after Becoming Highest Bid Player :

Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff won record contracts of $1.55 million each in the second edition of the DLF Indian Premier League Twenty20 auction held in Goa. They said they are absolutely thrilled and could not wait to feature in the lucrative Twenty20 extravaganza.

Now in the Caribbean for their Test series against the West Indies, the duo, who were bought for a whopping $1.55 million each, were taken by surprise by the huge “amount of money”. Even though they will only play for three weeks in the Twenty20 tournament, giving $60,000 of their salary to their counties, they will still trouser around $7,38,748 for the jaunt.

Pietersen, who was bought by Vijay Mallya-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore, said: “I’m really excited about it. It is an unbelievable amount of money and I can’t wait to get out there.

“It looked like an absolute blast last year and the England lads just want to be involved in what is such an amazing tournament,” the 28-year-old, whose new teammates in Bangalore would include Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, was quoted as saying by the English media.

Flintoff, bought by Chennai Super Kings, considers the IPL dollars a massive bonus and said: “It’s worked well, hasn’t it? We would not have had any problem with different prices, but I guess being the same might stop a few of the other lads taking the mick. I’m very pleased. I went in at $950,000. So to get that much, it’s unbelievable really, it has not quite sunk in, I guess. I regard it as a massive bonus. My team includes guys like my friend Murali, Matthew Hayden and M.S. Dhoni as captain. So it’s a very exciting team.”

Expressing satisfaction on the way the Auction went Mr. Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, DLF Indian Premier League said, "This was a very strategic auction with each franchisee knowing exactly what they wanted in terms of international talent to strengthen their playing squads. I look forward to the prodigious talents of Pietersen and Flintoff making their debuts in Season II for the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai. I am certain now more than ever that fans across Indian and indeed the world are in for an exciting second season."

The elegant left-hander was bought for a whopping $950,000 at the IPL auction by Mumbai Indians, more than thrice his reserve price of $300,000.