Going twice ... IPL Auction day two

After a crazy day under the hammer yesterday, day two of the IPL auction was all about first glimpses and second chances, with the uncapped thrown in the deep end and the unsold eyeing a lucrative life-raft.

The first session was a relatively uneventful one for the Aussies, with Big Bash League player of the tournament, Ben Dunk, the lone Australian pulled out of the bag.

The Tasmanian product didn't yield any interest early but his luck turned in the auction's closing moments, snapped up by the Mumbai Indians for AUD$36,000.

A host of high-profile names missed out on contracts entirely with David Hussey, Cameron White and Perth Scorchers sensation Craig Simmons all without a team for IPL7.

Chris Lynn bucked the trend of Aussie misses, signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders for AUD $233,000 while 'The Duke', John Hastings, is now a Super King, heading to Chennai for AUD$90,000.

The late signing of Pat Cummins rounded out the auction with Kolkata's AUD$180,000 bid uniting the prodigious quick with Lynn and retired South Africa international Jacques Kallis.

Overall, 21 Australian players will compete in this year’s IPL, with the Rajasthan Royals signing six Aussies for the T20 tournament.

DAY ONE: How it unfolded

Seventeen out of the 35 Aussie players to go under the hammer found a home in the IPL 7 Player Auction, with Mitchell Johnson coming out on top with a AUD$1.15m payday from Kings XI Punjab.

Shaun Marsh (AUD$391,000) and George Bailey (AUD$578,000) are also on their way to Mohali, with an eye to anchoring the side's Australian-flavoured middle-order.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have opted for David Warner (AUD$978,000) and Aaron Finch (AUD$712,000) to open the innings, while Mr Cricket himself, Michael Hussey, was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for a princely AUD$888,000.

Brad Hodge still has plenty in the tank according to the Rajasthan Royals, with last year's Champions League runners-up  winning the veteran's signature with a AUD$426,000 bid. Hodge will be joined in blue by Steve Smith (AUD$710,000).

The ‘other Mitch’, Starc, defied an injury-ravaged year to be signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for AUD$888,000.

Nathan Coulter-Nile thought he was heading to the Rajasthan Royals, before Rahul Dravid's bid for the big quick was deemed to have come after the hammer had been lowered. Instead, the Western Australian was snapped up by the Delhi Daredevils for AUD$755,000.

Tim Paine, Cameron White, Matthew Wade and David Hussey were all among those who missed out early, remaining unsold, while NSW batsman Nic Maddinson was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the base price of AUD$89,000.

A purple patch for some Aussie quicks late in the day saw Ben Cutting (AUD$142,000), Kane Richardson (AUD$178,000), Ben HIlfenhaus (AUD$178,000) and Josh Hazlewood (AUD$89,000) all pick up contracts, but the second half of day one consisted mostly of teams saving their pennies for day two.

Brett Lee was the notable victim of depleted team funds, with the ageing quick staring down the barrel of his first IPL absence since the tournament's inception in 2008.

Brad Hogg, recently named a member of Australia’s ICC T20 World Cup squad, also missed out.

Earlier in the auction, Yuvraj Singh broke the IPL contract record, being sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping AUD$2.49m.

This followed on from the Delhi Daredevils' AUD$1.6m acquisition of Kevin Pietersen and the Kolkata Knight Riders' successful AUD$978,000 bid for Jacques Kallis.

Your IPL Auction questions answered

How many players went under the hammer?

More than ever – 514 in fact. That includes 219 capped players (169 Indian, 50 overseas) and 292 uncapped (255 Indian, 37 overseas). Marquee players were up for auction first, followed by players in their specialist positions: batsman, wicketkeeper, fast bowler, spinner, allrounder.

How many players per team?

No fewer than 16, no more than 27.

What is a marquee player?

These are the big 16, and the first to go under the hammer: Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis, Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Mitchell Johnson, M Vijay, David Warner, George Bailey, Faf du Plessis, Michael Hussey, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Brendon McCullum, Amit Mishra and Darren Sammy.

How much cash does each team have to spend?

Well this year it’s in Indian Rupees, not US Dollars, with the figure being: INR 60,00,00,000 (approx. US$9.67m). That’s more than any previous year.

That money will be reduced depending upon how many players each franchise has retained (see below).

Do teams have any special right to retain their players from 2013?

Franchises are allowed to retain up to five of their 2013 players (max of four capped Indians).

In addition, there is a new system called ‘Right to Match’. Each team will be given a number of ‘Right to Match Cards’, which allows them to retain one of their players by matching the highest bid for that player.

That number varies based on retention: a team that has retained three or more players receives one Right to Match Card; one or two gets two Cards; and zero will allow a team three Cards.

So which teams have kept which players?

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu

Delhi Daredevils: None

Kings XI Punjab: David Miller, Manan Vohra

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn.