Shane Bond sells for maximum price at IPL auction

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has been sold for a huge but officially secret sum to the Kolkata Knight Riders in India's lucrative IPL Twenty20 cricket competition.

Bond was among the earlier players up for auction today, and the Cricinfo website reported that he reached the maximum price of US$750,000 (more than NZ$1m).

Both Kolkata and Deccan put in a bid at that price, and the auction then went to a silent tiebreaker. Both franchises had five minutes to submit a second bid in Indian rupees.

The franchise with the higher bid in rupees won the player. The tiebreaker sums were not disclosed. Any money in excess of the maximum bid goes to the IPL, not the player, Cricinfo reported.

Chennai, an early bidder for Bond, fell out of the race when bids reached US$630,000, at which stage Kolkata entered with a bid of US$640,000.

Bond, 34, announced his retirement from international cricket last month after suffering an abdominal tear in helping the Black Caps to a first test win over Pakistan in Dunedin.

Cricinfo reported that Jai Mehta, co-owner of Kolkata, said the franchise knew of his injuries.

"But he is not going to playing test cricket and we understand he is in good shape."

Former Indian Cricket League (ICL) "rebels" Bond and Lou Vincent and current internationals Grant Elliott and Nathan McCullum are the New Zealanders among the 51 players up for auction.

New Zealanders already signed to the IPL are Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Kyle Mills.

Today's auction, in which franchises bid for players based on annual salaries, will add new players to the existing international mix of those on existing multi-year contracts.

Early in the auction, West Indies' Kieron Pollard attracted intense bidding, and four franchises - Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata - contested the silent tiebreaker, with Mumbai winning.

South Africa's all-rounder Wayne Parnell was sold to Delhi Daredevils for US$610,000.

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