BANGALORE // The opening batsman Gautam Gambhir fetched the highest price on the opening day of bidding for Indian Premier League players, heading to Kolkata Knight Riders for US$2.4 million (Dh8.8m).
The IPL franchises spent liberally on Indian players yesterday ahead of the fourth staging of the high-profile domestic Twenty20 tournament, but there were no takers for some big foreign names, including Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs.
Kolkata spent $2.1m to pick up all-rounder Yusuf Pathan. Pune spent $2.1m to get Robin Uthappa, while Mumbai Indians splashed out $2m on Rohit Sharma. Others to attract big fees included all-rounder Irfan Pathan (Delhi Daredevils, $1.9m), Yuvraj Singh (Pune, $1.8m) and Saurabh Tiwari (Bangalore Royal Challengers, $1.6m), completing a list of seven Indians at the top of the table.
Gambhir, who led Delhi in last year's IPL, was surprisingly not bid for by his former team, even as others clamoured for the left-hander. His record price was 12 times his base salary of $200,000, as new franchises Pune and Kochi as well as Mumbai Indians bid aggressively for him before Kolkata clinched the deal.
The highest bids before this auction were the $1.55m each for the England players Kevin Pietersen (Bangalore Royal Challengers) and Andrew Flintoff (Chennai Super Kings) during the second edition, in 2009.
Ten franchises are participating in the two-day bidding, including Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab - teams banished by the IPL for breaching ownership regulations but readmitted for the auction following a court order.
More than 350 players were up for grabs for the next three seasons, with the sequence of players coming up for auction decided by drawing of lots.
Surprisingly, no one bid for the former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was a leading player for Kolkata and among 21 players with the highest base price of $400,000.
Those not bid for are likely to go under the hammer again towards the end of the auction today.
Among the foreign players, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene (Kochi, $1.5m), Australia's David Hussey (King's XI Punjab, $1.4m) and the South African paceman Dale Steyn (Deccan, $1.2m) formed the top rung.
The South Africans AB de Villiers (Bangalore), Jacques Kallis (Kolkata), the newly named Australia Twenty20 captain Cameron White (Deccan) and Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (Kochi) were sold for $1.1 million each.
New Zealand's Ross Taylor was the other player who touched the $1m mark.
The Australian veteran Adam Gilchrist moved from Deccan to King's XI Punjab for $900,000, while his compatriot Andrew Symonds was taken for $850,000 by Mumbai and will now play alongside Harbhajan Singh, whom he accused of racial abuse three years ago.
Twelve players, including the India captain MS Dhoni (Chennai), Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai) and Shane Warne (Rajasthan), were retained by their original franchises.
Teams are allowed to spend a maximum of $9m, which includes money for those players retained from previous seasons.
The 2011 IPL season will be from April 8 to May 22.
Big names left on the shelf
Some of cricket’s biggest names failed to attract bids at yesterday’s IPL auction. Among them were Brian Lara, the holder of the highest individual scores in Test and first-class cricket, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior and James Anderson of the England team that beat Australia 3-1, the West Indies’ big-bitting Chris Gayle, the Indian star Sourav Ganguly,Tamim Iqbal, Chamara Kapugedera, Murali Kartik, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Luke Wright, Mark Boucher, Graeme Manou, Herschelle Gibbs and Jesse Ryder.
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Maestro
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.