Will Pune be Dhoni's new home in the IPL?

Roundup: India's limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni todaye emerged as the top draw in the IPL draft with the Sanjeev Goenka-owned new franchise Pune opting to pick him first for the stipulated price of Rs 12.5 crore here.

Dhoni's India teammate Suresh Raina was the first preference for the other new team Rajkot, which is owned by Intex Mobiles. He will also get an identical Rs 12.5 crore by virtue of being the first player selected by the franchise.

"Excited to play for the beautiful vibrant city- Rajkot in @IPL. Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat," Raina tweeted after the draft.

In-form Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane was the second choice for Pune, while Rajkot opted for Ravindra Jadeja in the same position . Both players will be entitled to a purse of Rs 9.5 crore per year.

The draft process was necessitated following the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL for two years in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.

The suspension was ordered by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee, which was formed to decide the quantum of punishment following the investigations.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was picked by Pune as their third choice and will get a purse of Rs 7.5 crore. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was Rajkot's choice.

In the fourth spot, both the teams opted Australians with Steve Smith going to Pune and James Faulkner going to Rajkot. Pune opted for South African batsman Faf du Plessis as their fifth and final player, while West Indian Dwayne Bravo was Rajkot's pick. Both players will get Rs 4 crore.

The draft pool only included players from Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals,. the two teams which have been barred from participation. The players not picked will now go to the general IPL auction scheduled for 6 February.

The next edition of the Twenty20 league will be held from 9 April to 29 May. (PTI)

As it happened

12: 13: Here are the picks from the draft.

Team Pune: MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steve Smith and Faf du Plessis

Team Rajkot: Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo

12: 12: Dwayne Bravo, the West Indian all-rounder, is the final pick of the draft. He will play for Rajkot.

12: 07: Final picks are in. Faf du Plessis goes to Pune. (So Dhoni is joined by Ashwin and Faf from CSK)

12: 04: Australians next. Steve Smith is picked by Pune, all-rounder James Faulkner goes to Rajkot

12: 03: Dhoni and Rahane are joined by Ashwin at Pune. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum joins Jadeja and Raina at Rajkot

11: 57: Ajinkya Rahane is the next pick for Pune. And no surprises that Ravindra Jadeja is Rajkot's next pick - local lad.

11: 55: Rajkot with their first pick select Suresh Raina. The Dhoni-Raina partnership is officially over in IPL

11: 53: There it is. MS Dhoni is the first pick in the draft and will play for Pune.

11: 50: Pune will be making the first choice in the draft, followed by Rajkot.

11: 45: Just a reminder that Pune and Rajkot will each get to five players each from the current roster of CSK and RR players.

11: 25: The draft is set begin shortly. Follow this space for updates.

Draft explainer:

The cricketers from the two suspended franchises were divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy players.

Sanjeev Goenka's New Rising won the bid for the Pune franchise while Intex won the bid for Rajkot after a reverse bidding process held in Delhi on December 8 to replace suspended teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the next two editions to be held in 2016 and 2017.

Pune were given the choice to pick the players first because they were the lowest bidders (negative bids) to buy the new team for two years in the draft to be held at the Mumbai Cricket Association's recereation centre at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

The bidding process for the two new franchises was necessitated by the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the involvement of some of their officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which was probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee.

However, both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension.

"The two new franchises have the option to pick a maximum of five players from the draft. Those players who are unsold will be put up for being chosen at the players' auction to be held in next February," a BCCI source had told PTI ahead of the draft.

"The trading window (for buying players left free by other franchises) also commences on December 15 and ends on December 31," the source added.

It would be interesting to see whether India's T20 and World Cup winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni still commands the sort of appeal that he generated when CSK gunned for him and won with a stunning million-dollar bid, unheard of in cricket then, in the first-ever players auction held in eight years ago.

As per the tender for the two new teams, the first capped player would be paid 12.5 crore while the remaining four capped players are to get Rs 9.5 crore, Rs 7.5 crore, Rs 5.5 crore, and Rs 4 crore respectively. Uncapped players can be picked for a stipulated fee of Rs 4 crore.

The ninth edition of the IPL is scheduled from April 9 to May 29, 2016.

It would also be interesting to note whether Rajkot guns for its home player Jadeja whose stocks have risen after he made his comeback into the Indian squad in the Test series against South Africa and shone with both ball and bat.

Other leading players who would be in the draft are CSK's Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum and RR s Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith and Shane Watson. (PTI)