A day of record fees, surprises, hype and hubris threw up several puzzling deals and trends. Nagraj Gollapudi did some sniffing around to try and answer some of the key questions.

A primer to the 2011 IPL auction to be held in Bengaluru on January 8 and 9

Twenty20 may be a young man's game, but older players with strong leadership skills provide just as much, if not more, value for IPL franchises

The IPL governing council has all but cleared the participation of ten teams in the fourth edition of the league, which starts a week after the World Cup

After months of controversy, litigation and confusion, ten teams will take part in IPL 4 after all

Geoff Lawson, the former Australia fast bowler, will be appointed head coach of the Kochi IPL team, ESPNcricinfo has learnt

The Bombay High Court has halved the quantum of the security guarantee Rajasthan Royals will have to furnish towards player payments for the next two years and to cover their contract with the Indian board

The BCCI has sent a notice to all 10 IPL franchises instructing them to refrain from approaching uncapped India domestic players until notified to do so

With the Little Master reaching an unprecedented 50 centuries, we asked his team-mates to pick the best of the lot

The Bombay High Court is expected to announce on Monday its verdict in the Rajasthan Royals case, where the BCCI has sought relief against the stay granted on the franchise's expulsion by the arbitrator

The Bombay High Court has granted Kings XI Punjab an interim stay on its expulsion from the IPL but said the franchise would have to satisfy certain conditions, including retaining the shareholding pattern and paying the BCCI a security for player fees

The IPL player auction could be deferred by another couple of months because of the ongoing legal dispute between the BCCI and the two expelled franchises

The two big changes to the ownership structure of Kochi are a reduction of the promoters' holding and the appointment of a board to run its operations

The stay obtained by Rajasthan Royals against their expulsion from the IPL is an emphatic endorsement of its contention that it did not violate the ownership agreement and that the IPL was aware all along of the franchise's alleged violations that formed

A question mark has arisen over the continuance of Justice BN Srikrishna as arbitrator in the case between the BCCI and the Kings XI Punjab following the Indian board's objection to his appointment on grounds of a conflict of interest

The judge hearing the arbitration case between Rajasthan Royals and the BCCI has issued a six-week stay on the franchise's expulsion from the IPL

Gary Kirsten, India's coach, will accompany the players who are to leave early for South Africa so they can acclimatise for the upcoming tour

The investors behind the IPL's Kochi franchise have decided to pull out of the venture and have informed the BCCI of this

The ICC has reacted strongly to FICA chief Tim May's comments about players not approaching its Anti Corruption and Security Unit [ACSU] because they have no faith in it.

Fourteen years into his career, VVS Laxman is finally set to play his first Test in Hyderabad