Watson goes for $1.98m in IPL auction

I'm pretty sure you only don't get the full amount if you are unavailable through international duty or such. If you get injured you'd still get it, but if you are off playing for your country and as such can't play, then you'd only get paid for the amount you were available for. Something like that anyway. As Watson is only playing internationally at T20 level now, he will definitely be available for the whole tournament and therefore should get it all. (Maybe less his manager's 10%!)

What the hell are you talking about? He's a great T20I cricketer. Don't mix up between formats. Also, he only performs well as a opener. When shoved down the order, he is not half as good, since he doesn't have the skills required for a finisher (especially in T20 where u got to up the S.Rate dramatically). Its VICE-VERSA, a finisher like maxwell can't perform well as a opener (especially when the ball is seaming at great pace). Watson is simply a classic(orthodox) powerful batsman. Only batsmen who are good at unorthodox shots can be a finisher in t20.

@Nic First year 2008, several pak players were a part of the league. From the 2nd season or 3rd season, they were banned.

jks It's not quite that simple Azhar Mahmood was born in Pakistan, played international cricket for Pakistan but emigrated to England in 2005. After obtaining British citizenship in 2011, he played in the IPL It would be very very hard to argue that he is British whilst Usman is a Pakistani

Watson must have some x-factor that is known only to the Indians. Khawaja coming from Pakistan and being a Muslim did not help his bid. Many Sri Lankas missed out every year because of the pass conflict in their country. I guess also the way a player looks also counts....

@Fred He was Pak-born Fred. Due to terrorist attacks in india 2008 by Pak, tensions escalated, politicians forced for a ban on pak players. There is so much more to this. Being an outsider, you wouldn't know.

Personally I think Watto, Afridi and Singh are all pretty close. I'd pick Watson first at the moment but you could probably put all 3 in your world T20 team quite happily.

Yeah 13th, it's a bit odd considering UKs' blistering BBL form. Possibly in line with the Australian selectors snubbing - they probably cannot quite believe the form so will continue to hd off to see if he falls in a hole and then come out and announce their "justification of continued non selection"!!! I for some time thought UK sucked. Not through ability but more so he looked as though he didn't belong and suffered accordingly. But there's a new 'presence' in him now and he's looking like royalty. In any sense, if he's auctioned for so little he should decline the offer.

How did Khawaja and Guptill miss out? Two of the most in-form batsmen in the world right now.

jks -- And it is Ussie's fault that India and Pakistan have tensions? Last I checked, Ussie has nothing to do with Pakistan. He's as Aussie as Weet-Bix! Anyhow, it's cricket's loss more than Ussie's.

Cunning bugga is Watson! note during his career the many times his selection was on the line and on his last legs, only to close out with a 34 and 2-32 for example. Then go back to mediocre for a spell, wait for the axeman, and come out with a 34 and 2-32 again!

@NYCric No international matches for Australia or NZ during IPL. Availability is not the reason.Watson has been playing for 7 years, while playing in all formats internationally. I guess guptill is not good enough or inexperienced on indian tracks. Thats the reason franchises have given. And Usman? I will give you a hint. Find out for yourself. Due to the tensions b/w ind & pak, ipl doesn't allow pak players.

It makes sense now why Guptill, and Khawaja didn't make the cut. Ussie needs to build his marketing profile, perhaps date a Bollywood actress for starters ;-)

Here you go: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/631508.html This guy, Amrit Mathur was a former Delhi Daredevils COO, and now is a part of the BCCI. Check out the para starting, "The peripherals are equally enticing..."

With Watson, gayle & de villiers as top 3 in the same team, TV RATINGS will blow through the roof on the days of RCB matches. Franchise owner is going to make loads of money with this craze. While it is great fun for the viewers, it is going to be a nightmare for other teams. You can watch RCB matches online. No point seeing all the matches online. You stated 'one of the best 3 all rounders'.. Who the hell are the other two? afridi & shakib???? Are you serious? Comparing watto with those two jabronis. They get paid peanuts in T20 market for a reason. Both are good bowlers, but very poor T20 batsmen.

Really? Thought, pro rata basis was only in BBL, didn't know IPL does that too. Do you have a source?

Ronan, the IPL franchises can't possibly feel that way about him. Why would they? He''s been fantastic in that tournament since it started.

No jks, it's not full money, it's pro-rated to an extent if a player misses games. It depends on the number of games he plays in. For the matches he plays, he gets full money, for the matches he misses out because of either injury or because he's dropped, there's a different pay-scale. So according to some of the stats I was privy to, if you miss a game, you get 50% of the pro-rated value of that match. For the sake of simplicity, if a player earns a million dollars and it's a 10-match long tournament for the teams, then that player's match fee will be million/10 = $100,000. So if he plays a game, he gets $100,000 and if he misses a game, he loses on $50,000 of his match fee. To add to this there are minor daily allowances which were also paid. I must add here that this figure of 50% might not be an exact one - and there's little clarity over it. However, rest assured it works on the basis of some form of pro-rated salary.

I have not been taking your comments serious for a while now. I have also seen you placing watto at no.5 or no.6 in WT20 squad. Thats laughable. Hence your comments mean nothing. He's a opener in T20. Period. Whether Aus makes him a opener or not is a different issue (which i least care about). "The negativity" you talk about is only in Oz media, not the rest of the world. It has been like that ever since. He is a hero in the sub-continent. He was being $2.8million since 2014 in IPL (check my comments below for more details). That hundred against India has no effect in the auction. There were several articles in indian media (a month ago.. before indian t20 series) saying that he will be highest paid in the auction. His brand value is immense in the rest of the world. He's the most sought after in all T20 leagues (along with gayle). Great T20 batsman, very good T20 bowler, has captained, most experienced, has great knowledge. He has great knowledge on the game. Already holds several records (both bat & ball) in T20internationals & IPL. What more can one want from a player. If Rajasthan was suspended forever, he would have gone for far more, since RCB need not return him back to rajasthan after 2 years(check my comment below for more details on this). Finch also scored well in first 2 two T20Is, has played IPL before in many franchises, but he was only paid $200k in this auction. One has to be good on indian pitches to earn well in IPL.

Full. Even if he gets injured for a few games, the contract doesn't change. He was unlucky, since he was contracted for $2.8million (USD 2 million) by Rajasthan Royals in 2014 for 3 to 4 years. But the franchise has been suspended this year, so he forced into the auction. Getting watto for $2 million is a bargain. Fleming & Hodge said that 'it was a bargain'. He has always been retained by his team Rajasthan. This is the first time in 7 years he got into the auction, He's is the most sought after. It was paid only $2 million in this auction because, after 2 years, RCB has to return watson to his original franchise Rajasthan (since Rajasthan is suspended for 2 years only, after which they will return).