22 March 2010

The delayed auction of two new franchises for the Indian Premier League went ahead yesterday and confounded its critics by raising $703m (£469m) from the sale of franchises to billionaire Subrata Roy (who bought the Pune franchise for $370m) and Rendezvous Sports World (Kochi, $333m). Reports in The Times, The Indian Express and the Sydney Morning Herald. The IPL’s chairman, Lalit Modi, told sportingintelligence earlier this month that the original auction had three valid bids. He has been hugely vindicated by the re-auction.