Faulkner trolls Pietersen during IPL auction

Bengaluru: A day where money was flowing from all quarters, the all-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) auction 2016 turned out to be a bag full of surprises as the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen and Ishant Sharma claimed top bids, specially from newcomers Rising Pune Super Giants and Gujarat Lions.

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson having a base price of Rs 2 crore and an excellent summer Down Under, first with in the Big Bash League (BBL) and then against India, was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping Rs 9.5 crore.

Yuvraj, who was the most expensive player in last year's auction, found his place in the Sunrisers Hyderabad side for Rs 7 crore.

Out-of-favour England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who has been a terror in the T20 format, proving his money in the BBL with Melbourne Stars, was snapped by Pune Giants for Rs 3.5 Cr.

It is a known fact by now that the Australians and England players are daggers drawn ever since the inception of the Ashes tournament.

Aussie all-rounder James Faulkner, who has been in heated discussions of late, first with Team India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli (in the recently concluded ODI and T20I series), was at in again.

Read: Kohli in same league as Ponting, Tendulkar: Gough

After Pune claimed KP, Faulkner decided to pass a cheeky statement at the English star. “Will you buy me dinner now @KP?? #noexcuse,” Faulkner tweeted.

KP’s addition comes as a major boost to the Pune side led by India’s ODI skipper MS Dhoni and boasts of players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh (Rs 4.8 Cr), Ishant Sharma (Rs 3.8 Cr) who were sold on Saturday.

It will be interesting to watch the battle between Pune Giants and Gujarat Lions, with Faulkner in the opposite team and whether KP will actually fulfil Faulkner’s wish of a fine-dining experience.