The IPL doesn't seem to have won Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, too many brownie points with his political rivals in India

The IPL could encourage match-fixing if the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament is not brought under the purview of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, feels Tim May, the former Australian offspinner who currently heads Federation of International Cricketers

All the rounds of bidding are over, but we are left with a few unsold players

News is filtering in that John Buchanan has confirmed he will coach the Kolkata team in the IPL

So who were the players that the franchises bid fiercely for

News comes in regarding Mohammad Yousuf

Meanwhile, an interesting announcement from Andrew Symonds: He is likely to pull out of the Pakistan tour, which explains why he has attracted a far higher bid than Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden

With Andrew Symonds grossing $1.35m, Mahendra Dhoni, with a whopping $1.5m paycheque from Chennai, looks likely to be the highest-priced cricketer before the day ends

Next up for auction are: Stephen Fleming, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammad Asif, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Sreesanth

11.35am