IPL 2018 Auction: 5 memorable incidents in auction history

#1 The battle for Kieron Pollard

Four franchisees emptied their purse in order to secure Pollard's services

The 2010 player auction was a low-key one where only eleven players were finally sold. All eyes were on the brilliant West Indian all-rounder, Kieron Pollard.

All teams had a total purse of just USD 750,000. Kieron Pollard had a base price of USD 200,000, which in no time flew up to the maximum possible bid of USD 750,000 by the Chennai Super Kings. Other franchisees were given an option to match the bid, and three teams obliged. The Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders were the other three teams desperate to sign the services of one of T20's best at the time.

What followed was an unconventional silent tie-breaker bid wherein each of these four franchisees had to secretly submit their bid for Pollard and the highest bid would win. The Mumbai Indians pipped the other three teams to capture Pollard's services and in hindsight, this was a defining moment in their history.

Pollard has been instrumental in helping the Mumbai Indians win their three IPL titles. How much the winning bid for Pollard amounted to is something that we will never know, as only Lalit Modi and the successful bidders would be privy to that information.