Who is playing in the MCL?
Around 250 former international stars, including Brian Lara, Gangully, Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist were eligible to be auctioned and they were squeezed into 90 places in the six sides scheduled to take part in the Twenty20 tournament. The auction took place through the day in Dubai on Monday.
Six teams, you say?
That is right, the league will be played by six teams, or franchises. Each team is named after a star sign: Libra, Leo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Virgo and Gemini. Organisers say all six franchises have been bought and details of ownership are expected to be released at the auction.
Which Team has bought which player?
Following is the list of teams that were formed after the Masters Cricket League auctions -
Complete Team List after Auctions
Capricorn Commanders - Michael Vaughan, Abdul Razzaq, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Symonds, Chamara Silva, Ashwell Prince, Upul Chandana, Ryan McLaren, Jeetan Patel, Rikki Clarke, Rory Kleinveldt, Ben Laughlin, Rizwan Cheema, Geraint Jones, Sunil Joshi, Saleem Elahi.
Gemini Arabians - Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kyle Mills, Saqlain Mushtaq, Jacques Rudolph, Naved-ul-Hasan, Justin Kemp, Paul Harris, Brad Hodge, Richard Levi, Ashish Bagai, Graham Onions, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Saqib Ali.
Libra Legends - Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Swann, Jacques Kallis, Brad Hogg, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ajay Ratra, Chris Read, Sean Ervine, Shaun Tait, Ryan Sidebottom, Michael Lumb, Marcus North, Taufeeq Umar, Nicky Boje, Ian Butler.
Leo Lions - Heath Streak, Scott Styris, Brian Lara, Herschelle Gibbs, Brendan Taylor, James Franklin, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Fidel Edwards, Mohammad Tauqir, Neil Carter, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Jarvis, Ramesh Powar, Simon Jones, Darren Gough.
Sagittarius Soldiers - Mahela Jayawardene, Daniel Vettori, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Bond, Khurram Khan, Phil Mustard, Tino Best, Nathan Hauritz, Alviro Petersen, Michael Carberry, Krishmar Santokie, Jonathan Trott, Yasir Hameed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Gavin Hamilton.
Virgo Super Kings - Graeme Smith, Azhar Mahmood, Brett Lee, Jonty Rhodes, Neil McKenzie, John Mooney, Dirk Nannes, Owais Shah, James Foster, Murali Kartik, Malinga Bandara, Gareth Batty, Hasan Raza, Jacob Oram, Humayun Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf.
When is it going to be held?
The MCL is slated to be played in January 2016 in the UAE and has received a ten-year approval from the Emirates Cricket Board. The league is run by former Australia batsman Dean Jones' company, Major Events Group.
Which players attracted the most expensive bids?
Former South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis attracted the highest bid of US $175,000 and was signed by the Libra Legends franchise, owned by Popcorn Sports and Entertainment Private Limited.
Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist was the second most expensive player in the auction, purchased for $170,000 by the Sagittarius Soldiers franchise. Kallis and Gilchrist were among the six icon players listed for the auction, along with Muttiah Muralitharan, Brian Lara, Paul Collingwood and Brett Lee. The base price for all icon players was set at $100,000.
Collingwood was picked up for $140,000 by Capricorn Commanders, while Muralitharan was signed by Gemini Arabians for $120,000. Lara and Lee were picked up by Leo Lions and Virgo Super Kings respectively, for their base prices.