Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh allrounder, is the first player up for sale from Pool F. There were no bids for him initially but just before the hammer went down, Kolkata made a bid at the base price of $50,000. It was the start of the most dramatic sale at the auction.

Kings XI Punjab entered the race, competing against Kolkata, for Mortaza. The bids spiralled slowly towards $400,000 and when the auctioneer asked Punjab if they want to bid $410,000, Priety Zinta nodded. With teams largely sticking to raises of $10,000, the bidding went on and on and on. Kolkata finally touched the $500,000 mark. Punjab went further at $550,000. The atmosphere in the room grew quieter as the bids rose and the auctioneer attempted to speed up the process. Kolkata was the first to bid $600,000 for Mortaza at which point Punjab bowed out of the race. It was the longest lot in the auction, almost as long as a short chess game. Kolkata's purchase of Mortaza was a bit similar to Ishant Sharma's surprise $950,000 tag towards the end of the first auction last year. Mortaza's $600,000 tag was 12 times his base price - the highest jump at last year's auction was Manoj Tiwary's, from $100,000 to $675,000.

Bet there are celebrations in Narail, Mortaza's hometown. What a moment for Mortaza, he's the first Bangladesh player to be bought at the IPL auction this year. Wonder what Shakib is thinking? He's had such a fabulous year with bat and ball and yet there were no bidders for him. Do the franchises look at ICC rankings? Mortaza's base price was $50,000 and he went for $600,000. I think I missed out England allrounder Samit Patel who was on sale in the previous pool. He remained unsold.

The second player on sale from Pool F is Yusuf Abdulla from South Africa but there were no bids for him. South Australia batsman Daniel Harris and Kemar Roach, a bowler from West Indies, also did not attract bids. Neither did Aaron Bird, the New South Wales bowler, and Michael Dighton, the Tasmanian batsman.

Chennai made a bid for George Bailey, a Tasmanian batsman, for $50,000 and won it because there were no other bidders. Michael Hill, who was the U-19 captain for Australia in the last World Cup, also remained unsold, as did Brett Geeves, the Tasmanian bowler.

Kings XI Punjab asked for Jerome Taylor and they will get him at his base price of $150,000. That brings us to the end of the player auction. It's been intense and manic.

There are ten players in Pool E. Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opener, is the first player from the pool up for sale. His bidding starts at $50,000 but there are no bidders. None of the Bangladesh players - Shakib, Ashraful and Tamim - have been bought so far.

Jon Moss, the Victoria allrounder, also had no buyers. Moss, a former Victoria allrounder, retired two seasons ago and now commentates on one-day games in Australia. He still plays Sydney grade cricket. Bryce McGain, the Victoria spinner, had a base price of only $50,000 but he too remained unsold. Another Victoria player Aiden Blizzard was also not bought.

New Zealand's James Franklin is returning from injury and has developed into a handy allrounder but the bidders weren't convinced.

Ramnaresh Sarwan's bidding started at $100,000. He played a few games for Kings XI Punjab last season but hasn't been bought this year. Michael Klinger and Kaushalya Weeraratne kept Sarwan company in the unsold group. Klinger, a South Australia batsman, won the State Player of the Year (best domestic player) for the 2008-09 Australian domestic season.

Many reckon that Sri Lanka's Prasanna Jayawardene is the best wicketkeeper on the circuit these days but he too did not attract any bids. Neither did New South Wales' Dominic Thornely, who played for the Mumbai Indians last year.

Remember a franchise can have only ten foreign players on their rolls. Delhi have already exhausted their quota. Pool D's bidding begins, the first player is Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, the world's best allrounder at the moment according to the ICC rankings. Shakib's bidding began at $75,000 but he had no bidders.

Bangladesh's captain Mohammad Ashraful, who's known for his flashy stroke play, did not have any bidders at his base price of $75,000.

Deccan Chargers bought Dwayne Smith, the West Indian allrounder, at his base price of $100,000.

There were no bids for South Africans Gulam Bodi and Morne van Wyk, who is a wicketkeeper, and West Indies fast bowlers Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor, whose bidding opened at $150,000. Australian under-19 and New South Wales allrounder Steven Smith's bidding also start at $75,000 but he too remained unsold. Ashley Noffke, who was Nathan Bracken's replacement at the Bangalore Royal Challengers last season, had no takers either.

The auctioneer was ready to shelve Jesse Ryder into the unsold bracket but Bangalore started the late bidding at his base price of $100,000. Chennai competed and raised the bid to $150,000 but Bangalore eventually bought him for $160,000. His New Zealand team-mate Kyle Mills' bidding started at $150,000, by the Mumbai Indians. There were no other bidders for Mills.

Chennai Superkings started Ravi Bopara's bidding at $150,000. Bangalore raised the bid to $160,000. Mallya raised the bid to $180,000 after Chennai said $170,000. Bangalore and Chennai were the only bidders for Bopara, raising the bid to $200,000, $250,000 and $275000. Kings XI Punjab made a grand entrance at $400,000 and eventually raised it to $450,00, the winning bid.

Ravi Bopara is of Punjabi origin and returns to his roots. There were no bidders for another England allrounder Luke Wright though.

Sri Lankan medium-pacer Nuwan Kulasekara's bidding began at $100,000 but there were no takers. His recent performances against India have evidently not convinced many in India. Kulasekara's team-mate Thilan Thushara was about to be sold to Chennai at $120,000 but Kolkata raised it to $130,000. Chennai clearly wanted Thushara so they went up to $140,000 and got him.

Vijay Mallya, the owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers, has kept the captaincy options open. Minutes after picking up Kevin Pietersen at US$1.55 million, Mallya said he was happy with the price he got him at. "The captaincy options are open. The team management will take a decision on it." The Royal Challengers, who finished second last the previous year, were led by Rahul Dravid. However, Pietersen will be available only for three weeks.

"He's a superb addition to our team and I was very keen to purchase him," Mallya said. "I got him for a price I was willing to pay. We needed to strengthen our batting. I would like him to play for all six weeks (of the league), if not this year then next year.

"We looked at the balance of the team after exchanging Zaheer Khan with Robin Uthappa. We have South Africans, Australians and team balance was important. I was keen to buy Kevin to give it the balance. We are delighted to buy him."

Tyron Henderson's bidding started at $100,000 and the interested buyers were Deccan and Rajasthan. Mumbai eventually raised the bid to $200,000. Deccan bid $300,000 but Rajasthan went up to $325,000 after which Deccan raised it further to $350,000. Rajasthan continued to compete, forcing Deccan to raise their bid to $400,000. Rajasthan raised it to $425,000 but Deccan came back with a bid of $450,000. Not to be outdone, Rajasthan went up to $475,000 but Deccan would not be deterred, raising it to $500,000. The bids continued to escalate and Deccan just when Deccan seemed to have secured Henderson for $600,000, Rajasthan went up to $650,000. Deccan did not raise their bid and Tyron Henderson went to Rajasthan.

Henderson, a medium-pacer, is the leading Twenty20 wicket-taker, with 74 scalps from 62 games. A very useful hard-hitting batsmen too, he was utilised to good effect by Middlesex in their winning campaign in last year's Twenty20 Cup in England.

Australian opener Phil Jaques, and South African batsmen Ashwell Prince remained unsold. Andre Nel also had no buyers.

Bangalore made the opening bid for Paul Collingwood at his base price of $250,000. The hammer was about to come down when Delhi Daredevils raised to $275,000. Bangalore did not raise their bid and Collingwood went to Delhi, who have filled up their two available slots.

Here's a re-cap of the action so far. Both Pietersen and Flintoff sold for $1.55 million, becoming the most expensive players in the IPL. Pietersen was picked up by Bangalore while Chennai bought Flintoff. Duminy, whose base price was $300,000, was sold for $950,000 to Mumbai Indians. Rajasthan made the first purchase of the auction, buying Shaun Tait for $375,000.

Fidel Edwards was bought by Deccan Chargers at his base price of $150,000 but there were no takers for Brad Haddin, Stuart Clark and Chamara Kapugedera.

Delhi Daredevils made a bid for Owais Shah at his base price of $150,000. There were no other bids for a while before it started escalating towards $200,000 and beyond. Delhi continued to bid and raised it to $225,000, competing against the Kolkata Knight Riders, before Bangalore entered the race and bid $250,000. Delhi persisted and raised to $275,000, which was the winning bid for Owais Shah.

Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin remained unsold at his opening price of $250,000. He will re-enter the auction later. Stuart Clark was also not bought at his base price of $250,000.

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, has been bought by Deccan Chargers for $150,000. it was his base price. There were no takers for Sri Lanka's Chamara Kapugedera, whose bidding started at $150,000.

Kevin Pietersen started at $1.35 million, his base price, and was bid for by Bangalore Royal Challengers. There was a delay before Rajasthan raised the bid. Bangalore, however, raised the bid again and bought Pietersen at a cost of $1.55 million, the same price as Andrew Flintoff. Pietersen and Flintoff are the most expensive players in the league.

Bidding for England's star allrounder Andrew Flintoff started at $950,000. Rajasthan Royals entered the bidding late for Flintoff, raising the bid to $1.5 million, but Chennai's bid of $ 1.55 million clinched Flintoff. Flintoff is now the most expensive player in the IPL.

Mumbai Indians bought South African batsman JP Duminy for $950,000. Duminy's base price was set at $300,000. There was intense bidding for Duminy between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Defending champions Rajasthan Royals have made the first buy in this year's auction, purchasing Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait for $US375,000.

The player auction for the second season of the IPL will begin at 10.45 am in Goa. The franchise representatives are just making their way to the venue – John Buchanan just passed by carrying a backpack – and the media are out in force, waiting for the proceedings to start. There are a massive number of OB vans parked down the hill, waiting for the live feed, and large screens have been set up in the media enclosure.

No money will be carried forward if a franchise doesn’t spend its budget of $2 million but that doesn’t mean the teams are queuing up to splurge. “It doesn’t mean we are necessarily going to spend all our money,” a team official told Cricinfo. “We don’t intend to pay over the odds for any player. At the same time, I’m sure every franchise will be busting a gut to get the players they really need because, at the end of the day, we have cities and fans to answer to.”

Word on the grapevine is that JP Duminy, who had such a sensational tour of Australia, is likely to join the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Andrew Symonds and Kevin Pietersen in the million-dollar club.