2016 IPL Draft: MS Dhoni goes to Pune, Raina and Jadeja to play for Rajkot

2016 IPL Draft: MS Dhoni goes to Pune, Raina and Jadeja to play for Rajkot: The IPL 2016 draft did spring a few surprises. Pune and Rajkot solidified the core group of their teams for the next two season. The main attraction was Indian LOI captain MS Dhoni, batsman Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The two new franchises had a huge list of international stars to choose from as well, stalwarts such as New Zealander Brendon McCullum, Australia’s Shane Watson, now retired from international cricket, current captain Steven Smith, and West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo were in the draft for the two new teams.

MS Dhoni was the first pick for the new Pune franchise, owned by New Rising, and his former Chennai Super Kings team-mate Suresh Raina was the first player selected by Rajkot, owned by Intex, at the IPL player draft held in Mumbai.

The other four players chosen by Pune are Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Steven Smith, and Faf du Plessis. Other choices that Rajkot made are- Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo. Both franchises will lose INR 39 crore from their auction purse, and will have INR 27 crore to spend at the auction in Bangalore to make up the rest of their squad.

All the other Super Kings and Royals players will not go into the main player auction in February.

Here are some of the major points.

• Pune have the first choice in the draft, having bid the lowest amount in the bid
• The two franchises will then alternate to pick up to a maximum of 5 players each from the draft pool
• The two teams have a cap of 66 crore INR to spend in the draft and the subsequent auction. They’ll have to spend a minimum of 40 crores before February’s auction
• The teams will be deducted 12.5 crore for the first pick with the subsequent picks costing 9.5, 7.5, 5.5 and 4 crores respectively
• Uncapped players will cost 4 crore each

Here is the final list of players from both sides.

Team Pune

1. MS Dhoni

2. Ajinkya Rahane

3. Ravichandran Ashwin

4. Steve Smith

5. Faf du Plessis

Team Rajkot

1. Suresh Raina

2. Ravindra Jadeja

3. Brendon McCullum

4. James Faulkner

5. Dwayne Bravo

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