Yuvraj 'shocked' at Ponting's low price

India's middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh, an 'icon' player in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is shocked at the low price Australia's skipper Ricky Ponting has commanded in the landmark auction and said his unavaibility in the first season may be one of the reasons.

"Surprised? Shocked is a better word for it. One of the world's best player has gone for only $4,00,000. But may be it was thought he was going to Pakistan so he wouldn't be available," said Yuvraj.

On what could be the reason behind Ponting's compatriot Andrew Symonds proving to be the second most expensive player at the auction, Yuvraj felt the all-round ability of the the lanky allrounder might have tilted the scale in his favour. "Symonds is an allrounder, he can hit big, clear the stadium and that perhaps could have helped in his bid," he said.

Yuvraj also said the Indian cricketers in Australia had moved on from the news on auction front and their focus was back on doing well in the tri-series. "The general reaction among cricketers was that it was bound to happen. For us the CB series is very important, then the finals then the Test and then IPL will come into the picture. The young players, although are very happy to have received such a good money so early in their careers," he said. More

Yuvraj, who scored a cracking 76 to help India secure a nail-biting win over Sri Lanka in the last game, said he was happy to have commanded a million-dollar plus price in the auction for the IPL. "I had a decent Twenty20 World Cup so I guess I deserved the price," said Yuvraj, the captain of Mohali team.

The Punjab batsman believed his team had a good blend of experienced cricketers from different countries though he termed bowling as his side's great strength. "Obviously, the format of the auction was such that you could either have good bowling or batting strength. Hopefully, we will have a good group of domestic cricketers to make it a very good side," he said.

Mohali will have the services of Brett Lee and S Sreesanth among others to have a go at the rival teams.

Yuvraj looked forward to the help experienced cricketers like Mahela Jaywardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Brett Lee would provide to him in running the team. "Playing against Indian cricketers wouldn't be new as we do so in domestic and Challenger trophy. But having the presence of Mahela, Lee and Sangakkara would be good as they can help me when I am captaining the side."

Yuvraj congratulated Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia (the Franchise owners of Mohali) for having done a good job. "They were a bit nervou,s but I told them they did a good job. I had asked them just to be patient while bidding of course it would have been better if the coach and captain were also there but I think we have a good team."

Yuvraj said besides Mohali, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata would be the teams.