In the inaugural IPL auction, Mumbai Indians had been criticised for paying way too much for the players' market price.
In the inaugural IPL auction, Mumbai Indians had been criticised for paying way too much for the players' market price. For some, the amount of US $950,000 they paid for JP Duminy also looked a similar case to their buying of Robin Uthappa, Harbhajan Singh and Sanath Jayasuriya last year.
But the Mumbai Indians seem to have learned their lessons well. They certainly have chosen their targets wisely for the 2009 tournament. For Duminy, they may have been forced to shell out $650,000 above his base price of 300,000 in the auction, but the South African rising star is worth the value. Add to it, they got New Zealand's pacer Kyle Mills and Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful at their reserve price.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Shishir Hattangadi, Mumbai Indians director (cricket operations) who was part of their team at the auction, said: "Mukesh Ambani had told us to aim for the bull's eye like Arjun and focus only on the players we wanted.
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We had decided on Duminy, Kyle Mills and Mohammad Ashraful. We are very happy to get Duminy for the price we got him for.
"It's a good buy for many reasons. Primarily, we wanted a batsman. He is a youngster with the hunger and desire. He has resurrected the South African team and is a player for the future."
Duminy had a sensational tour of Australia where he excelled in Tests, one-dayers as well as Twenty20.
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