IPL Auction 2018: Live Blog, Day 2

It's all we've got for all of you from here. Plenty of reading matter should be up on our site very soon. Do dig in your teeth as you wonder about why things went the way they did. And a big shout out to all the comments that you've sent in. Ta ta!!

Drawling a line somewhere around the middle is a safe way to sit on the fence and to say that Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Rajasthan have got squads which look a mighty strong threat wouldn't be wrong. Punjab too gives them a tough fight to sneak in. Another keeper in the ranks and they would have made it there. Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata though seem iffy. But mind you, these are the sides who know to win championships, multiple times.

Now take your pick. And keep that pick to yourself. Here are just the final numbers from the auction over the last two days (exclude retentions) -

• Total players sold = 169, Indians - 113, Overseas - 56

• Total money spent = 431.70 crore INR

• Most expensive buy - Ben Stokes, 12.5 crores

• Most expensive Indian buy - Jaydev Unadkat, 11.5 crores

Rajasthan Royals' take: "In such a short career, Unadkat has reached 100 wickets and is a fast strike bowler. He did well last year. If you look at our team, we have got a good batting line-up, but we lacked death bowling and spin bowling. We tried to differentiate our entire team. Our team that does our analytics along with Zubin [Bharucha] have done well. We didn't go for emotional reasons. Preity just bid us up. There are many things. If you look at his performance for Pune last year, he was the highest wicket-taker for them."

Chennai Super Kings: Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan, Bravo, Watson, Jadhav, Rayudu, Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, Santner, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, M Vijay, Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi

Delhi Daredevils: Iyer, Morris, Pant, Maxwell, Gambhir, Jason Roy, Munro, Shami, Rabada, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat, Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Pollard, Mustafizur, Cummins, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Cutting, Sangwan, Duminy, Behrendoff, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Sharad Lumba, Siddesh Lad, Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dhananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Nidheesh

Kolkata Knight Riders: Russell, Narine, Starc, Lynn, Dinesh Karthik, Uthappa, Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep, Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Nagarkotti, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles

Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Stokes, Rahane, Binny, Samson, Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, Darcy Short, Jofra Archer, K Gowtham, Kulkarni, Unadkat, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Zahir Khan, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Midhun, Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Jatin Saxena, Chameera

Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel, Ashwin, Yuvraj, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Gayle, Miller, Finch, Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Manoj Tiwary, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Zadran, Sran, Tye, Akshdeep Nath, Dwarshuis, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar, Manzoor Dar

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Warner, Bhuvneshwar, Dhawan, Shakib, Williamson, Manish Pandey, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, Ricky Bhui, Hooda, Siddharth Kaul, T Natarajan, Nabi, Basil Thampi, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, Stanlake, Tanmay Agarwal, Sreevats Goswami, Bipul Sharma, Mehedi Hasan

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Kohli, de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, McCullum, Woakes, de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, de Kock, Umesh Yadav, Chahal, Vohra, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, M Ashwin, Mandeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Siraj, Coulter-Nile, Southee, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande

It's Stumps folks. That's all from the auction this season. The completed final team lists coming up here in just a bit.

Farzana Cyed: "If Pakistan players were in the IPL auction, Shadab Khan would've been the hot property."

Venkatesh Aiyer comes in late in the day with this interesting bit, "Now with Malinga and Harbhajan not playing for Mumbai and Marsh not picked by Punjab, Virat Kohli should remain the only big ticket player who's played for the same franchise for all eleven years." -- Big, small, any ticket. He remains the only player to do so

The entire auction room breaks into an applause and why not. Chris Gayle has an IPL contract. He's turning Punjabi. KXIP get him for his base price, 2 crores. The last time he was called in late, at his base price was in 2011 and he scored only 608 runs.

So then, one final break. A few teams still want to have another look. So who's going to get third time lucky? In 10 minutes the entire starting squads would lie in front of you.

So a Sri Lankan finally gets a bid. A lone bid..but it's more historic than anything. Akila Dhananjaya has done enough to impress Mahela Jayawadene.

Sam Billings goes to Chennai to plug their opener's slot. Add Vijay to it as well. RCB grab Parthiv to be their backup keeper. KKR allow Starc a mentor in Johnson. Now that's some nice enough nostalgia. DD really do not need a keeper, but what's the harm in denying the others one. They snap up Naman Ojha. Mumbai get their local lad Tare for keeping duties. Faulkner would approve. The Royals do their job with Ben Laughlin.

So Chris Gayle might have to wait for someone to get injured to have a chance of playing in the IPL. Or for some team to have money left at the end of today. Unsold.

64 players set to come out. We start with the marquees. Very quickly..a look.

• CSK need: fast bowler, opener

• MI need: keeper, spinner

• DD need: nobody really, they have 23 already

• RCB need: perhaps a backup keeper

• KXIP need: opener, keeper

• SRH need: quite like Delhi. They are already 23

• KKR need: A solid batsman, an Indian bowler

• RR need: an Indian batsman, an overseas pacer

Saurabh Kumar quips, "Guptill went unsold and in the match against Pakistan he is making some statement by hitting only 6s." -- His 43-ball 59 couldn't have come at a better time. Not that anybody needed any reminder.

We're closing in to start the second half of the day. All those unsolds are set to come back. Plenty of big names, some surprisingly ignored, some tactically, but fathom this - Hashim Amla, Chris Gayle, Ishant Sharma, Joe Root, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McCleneghan, Parthiv Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Tim Southee, Martin Guptill, Lendl Simmons

Kiran Udaykumar explains why things here are the way they are. "Sehwag's buys are just like his batting. Going for everything."

It was a marathon. An 85-minute long session to take us to lunch. Here's how it all stands then..in the pic above.

Centurion to Chepauk. Well the pitch out there last week was more Chepauk and lungi has always been a Tamil specialty. So Lungi Ngidi should be at home. Chennai nip him at his base price. You could be winning a Test for your country on debut, but if you come into an auction when teams are without a purse, you better not expect more than your base price.

Manav Batavia is just the optimist Chennai need. "10 years ago, CSK bought a talented but unheralded TN opener in the form of Murali Vijay. He stayed at the franchise for several years, and was immensely successful, even winning the MoM in an IPL final. Now he opens the batting for India at the Test level. Now CSK buy N Jagadeesan. Deja vu?"

The IPL has some more from the SAARC. Oh these diplomats would be proud. After Afghanistan, it is Nepal's turn to join the party. Sandeep Lamichhane starts the legacy. Add Nepal to Delhi's support radar. So Nepal has made it to an IPL team but Sri Lanka is yet to.

• JP Duminy - 1 crore - Via Hyderabad and Delhi to return back to Mumbai

• Pradeep Sangwan - 1.5 crores - A renewed IPL life in Mumbai

• Chris Jordan - 1 crore - An extended visa in Hyderabad

• Jason Behrendorff - 1.5 crores - Approx. a lakh for every kmph he bowls, MI

• Barinder Sran - 2.2 crores - Punjab fight for some local flavour

Afrid Ariff: "It's a bad time to have a British accent. Unless you are an all-rounder." -- Or you're an auctioneer

Habib Khan adds, "Very un-Rajasthan Royal selection to get these over expensive buys. Have the owners changed?" -- Or perhaps their FD has matured in the last two years

CSK apparently aren't pleased with their spin resources. They want more. Mitch Santner this time. Oh think what that pitch at Chepauk would do. Gopal Jha echoes similar sentiments, "No big hitters/openers /fast bowlers".

Slog overs: The bail picking is done. The teams have given out a list of 104 players, with a few coming back in for the second time. So some quick yes-no calls as the teams run between wickets. CSK have 14 crores. So very unlike them to keep it for these late cheap thrills. Meanwhile the Afghani quota here at the IPL has gotten bigger and richer. Zahir Khan gets a Royal contract.

Another round's done. This is the drinks break. Teams brushing up, plugging gaps. Some of them have dozed off too. Poor Richard Madley, all his jokes (and some pretty good ones too by our low standards) are falling flat. Stay on, the sum up pic coming up.

Our reader, Nazim Islam for all those who care to listen. "Bangladesh's premier all-rounder Mahmudullah could be a trump card for any team in the IPL. But he still remains unsold."

India's under-19s continue making ripples. No, it's no longer just ripples, it's waves. Large ones. Shivam Mavi the newest sensation Down Under has the first right to use up Kolkata's newly laid juicy pitch. He's a Knight Rider for 3 crores. KKR having their desperate picking spree.

If Rashid Khan was last year's story for the associates, Mujeeb Zadran it is for this year. He would've more than taken those 50 lakhs either, but he's getting 4 crores and a chance to play at the Kotla. He's minting money at 16..and there I was, solving HC Verma.

The resumption is always with spin. Lets move on then, set number 16. Here's a graphic of how things stand. Who has what left. Who needs what.

Kuppu I goes, "Chennai looking desperate. The more the guy sitting next to Fleming goes on the phone, the more things look bleak."

Take a break..10 minutes as you try to wrap you finish counting the number of zeroes on Unadkat's paycheck. Just to put it into context - Jaydev Unadkat gets 11.5 crores and Thakur+Boult+NCN+Siraj+Vinay+Sandeep+Dhawal+Mohit get 16.75. Munch..

It's the mother of ironies. Dale Steyn follows him, asks for 1 crore and nobody wants him. Oh the auction dynamics. The beauty of coming in at the right time.

Someone is set to get filthy rich. And that someone is Jaydev Unadkat. CSK look to be on a mission to avenge them losing Mohit Sharma..they refuse to let Unadkat too..surely not to the same guys. 4 crores - 6 - 8 - umm - 9 - discussions - 10 - phone calls - 10.5 - mortgages - 11 with Punjab. And Rajasthan hop in, offer 11.5 and take him in their kitty. It's called swagger.

• Nathan Coulter-Nile - 2.2 crore to RCB

• Mohammed Siraj - 2.6 crore to RCB

• Vinay Kumar - 1 crore to KKR

• Sandeep Sharma - 3 crore to SRH

• Dhawal Kulkarni - 75 lakhs to RR

Set #15 and CSK have come out of their slumber. The two-year break has surely left their auction skills rusty. After more than an hour into the day, they come up with their first bid. It's for Mohit Sharma, they end up buying him as well. Punjab though were hovering around. Vultures I tell you. There's always something pleasing about un-RTM-ming a past RTM.

Pankaj Sharma puts up an unsold XI: "Gayle, Guptill, Amla, Vijay, Root, Bairstow, Faulkner, Southee, Hazlewood, McCleneghan, Badree" -- yea, if we could arrange for credit to buy a ninth franchise

There aren't very many bad times to come into auctions, but this is as bad as it can get. With depleting purses and massively skewed teams, Washington Sundar is faced with one of those moments. After all the build up, he's been snapped for a very modest 3.2 crores to RCB, who further get their act right and RTM Mumbai into surrendering Pawan Negi, practically at his base price.

Now on to some capped all-rounders. Delhi have a few serious steals. Dan Christian, Jayant Yadav and Gurkeerat Singh Mann for a combined 2.75 crore. So that's two off-spinners, a medium pacer and three batsmen for 3.5 crores lesser than what Ishan Kishan is taking home.

"Is it obligatory to spend all their remained money?" asks Manthan -- Nope, but if history teaches us anything, MI and CSK haven't heard of this rule just as yet.

Mumbai Indians keep up with their tradition of going after the latest hot prop. Evin Lewis it is this time, and for the two centuries he's scored against India and to compensate for denying him a century in the CPL, Pollard sends him a recommendation letter to Mumbai. Sadly the fetish for big hitting hasn't quite made its way to the English. Morgan and Hales go down the Root route. Overall too, this round has been a damp squib.

The big batsmen are back, some massive hitters, how much can they accumulate?

Onto some serious coincidences. Two players sticking with a side in the IPL over the course of the last ten years is rare. What's rarer is the fact that Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa have never not been teammates. Season 1: Mumbai; Season 2-3: Bangalore; Season 4-6: Pune; Season 7-10: Kolkata. And now, it took the 11th season to tear them apart.

To sum things up quickly, TNPL hasn't impressed anybody, or probably they haven't been watching enough of it. Sai Kishore goes unsold. Cariappa, Koushik, Suchith, Abdulla too have gone off radar. Shabaz Nadeem remains in demand, and Delhi hold on to their one speck of team loyalty.

The uncapped spinners are done. Mind you, had it not been for the dismal over-rates yesterday, they would've had their contract/disappointment yesterday itself. The overnight break has meant some freshness in the pitch and that's cause the cash stacks to bounce around a little more than we'd expected. Moving laterally too.

Multiplications by 31 are always tricky. But Krishnappa Gowtham wouldn't mind the math. Jumps from a base price of 20 lakhs to 6.2 crores. Karnataka's players continue to be poached, just not by Bangalore.

Here go start off then, with spin, in keeping with the trends of today..Rahul Chahar starts. He was one of the positives coming out of Pune. The Royals want a taste of Rajasthan in the side, Mumbai..err..need any spinner. Take him up from 20 lakhs to 1.9 crores. Quite an auspicious start.

• Chennai Super Kings (so far): MS Dhoni (retained 15 crore), Suresh Raina (retained, 11 c), Ravindra Jadeja (retained 7 c), Faf du Plessis (1.5 c), Harbhajan Singh (2 c), Dwayne Bravo (6.4 c), Shane Watson (4 c), Kedar Jadhav (7.8 c), Ambati Rayudu (2.2 c), Imran Tahir (1 c), Karn Sharma (5 c) - Purse remaining = 17 crores

• Mumbai Indians (so far): Rohit Sharma (retained 15 crore), Hardik Pandya (retained 11 c), Jasprit Bumrah (retained 7 c), Kieron Pollard (5.4 c), Mustafizur Rahman (2.2 c), Pat Cummins (5.4 c), Suryakumar Yadav (3.2 c), Krunal Pandya (8.8 c), Ishan Kishan (6.2 c) - Purse remaining= 15.8 crores

• Delhi Daredevils (so far): Rishabh Pant (retained 15 crore), Chris Morris (retained 11 c), Shreyas Iyer (retained 7 c), Glenn Maxwell (9 c), Gautam Gambhir (2.8 c), Jason Roy (1.5 c), Colin Munro (1.9 c), Mohammed Shami (3 c), Kagiso Rabada (4.2 c), Amit Mishra (4 c), Prithvi Shaw (1.2), Rahul Tewatia (3 c), Vijay Shankar (3.2 c), Harshal Patel (20 Lakh), Avesh Khan (70 Lakh) - Purse remaining = 12.3 crore

• Royal Challengers Bangalore (so far): Virat Kohli (retained 17 c), AB de Villiers (retained 11 c), Sarfraz Khan (retained 3 c), Brendon McCullum (3.6 c), Chris Woakes (7.4 c), Colin de Grandhomme (2.2 c), Moeen Ali (1.7 c), Quinton de Kock (2.8 c), Umesh Yadav (4.2 c), Yuzvendra Chahal (6 c), Manan Vohra (1.1 c), Kulwant Kejroliya (85 Lakh), Aniket Choudhary (30 Lakh), Navdeep Saini (3 c) - Purse remaining = 15.9 crore

• Rajasthan Royals (so far): Steve Smith (retained 12.5 crore), Ben Stokes (12.5 c), Ajinkya Rahane (4 c), Stuart Binny (50 Lakh), Sanju Samson (8 c), Jos Buttler (4.4 c), Rahul Tripathi (3.4 c), D'Arcy Short (4 c), Jofra Archer (7.2 c) - Purse remaining = 23.5 crore

• Kings XI Punjab (so far): Axar Patel (retained 12.5 crore), R Ashwin (7.6 c), Yuvraj Singh (2 c), Karun Nair (5.6 c), KL Rahul (11 c), David Miller (3 c), Aaron Finch (6.2 c), Marcus Stoinis (6.2 c), Mayank Agarwal (1 c), Ankit Rajpoot (3 c) - Purse remaining = 21.9 crore

• Sunrisers Hyderabad (so far): David Warner (retained 12.5 c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (retained 8.5 c), Shikhar Dhawan (5.2 c), Shakib Al Hasan (2 c), Kane Williamson (3 c), Manish Pandey (11 c), Carlos Brathwaite (2 c), Yusuf Pathan (1.9 c), Wriddhiman Saha (5 c), Rashid Khan (9 c), Ricky Bhui (20 Lakh), Deepak Hooda (3.6 c), Siddarth Kaul (3.8 c), T Natarajan (40 Lakh), Basil Thampi (95 Lakh), Khaleel Ahmed (3 c) - Purse remaining = 8 crore

• Kolkata Knight Riders (so far): Sunil Narine (retained 12.5 crore), Andre Russell (retained 8.5), Mitchell Starc (9.4 c), Chris Lynn (9.6 c), Dinesh Karthik (7.4 c), Robin Uthappa (6.4 c), Piyush Chawala (4.2 c), Kuldeep Yadav (5.8 c), Shubman Gill (1.8 c), Ishank Jaggi (20 Lakh), Kamlesh Nagarkotti (3.2 c), Nitish Rana (3.4 c) - Purse remaining = 7.6 crore

After all the money splashing yesterday, most teams aren't even half full. Here's how they stack up.

Right then..let's continue all the chatter. It's the last few moments for all of us to turn prospective team owners and continue to grumble about the squad selections. Let's stay up with the hashtag - #IPLonCricbuzz and for all those of you like me who's disappointment can't be contained within 280 characters, here's my email id - vineet.a@cricbuzz.com to drop in your pearls of wisdom. So..let's re-indulge..

Day 2: The format may be T20s, but it takes days to get things started. No, not started, merely sorted. So then, 100 slots remain, 471 options remain available. Also each of the franchises have given out their list of preferences already. Thank god for that, else unsold would've turned into a earworm - with a Brit accent.