IPL 2016 teams: KEY Facts - Checkout the list of Teams and Players

With the short break after the ICC World T20 coming to an end, the IPL fever is all set to take over. The 2016 season of the tournament is scheduled to be played between April 9 and May 29, 2016. Adding novelty to the cricket carnival, the ninth season of the IPL will be played across 10 venues in India.

Here are the teams, players and their worth for the 2016 IPL tournament:

Delhi Daredevils (DD): 

Owner: GMR Sports Pvt Ltd
Coach: Paddy Upton
Captain: Zaheer Khan
Batting Coach: Rahul Dravid
Venue: Ferozeshah Kotla

Auction buys:

Sanju Samson (Rs. 4.2 crore), Chris Morris (Rs. 7 crore), Carlos Brathwaite (Rs. 4.2 crore), Karun Nair (Rs. 4 crore), Rishabh Pant (Rs 1.9 crore), Pawan Negi (Rs 8.5 crore), Sam Billings (Rs 30 lakhs), SK Ahmed (Rs 10 lakhs), Pratyush Singh (Rs 10 lakhs), Joel Paris (Rs 30 lakhs), Pawan Suyal (Rs 10 lakhs), Chama Milind (Rs 10 lakhs), Akhil Herwadkar (Rs 10 lakhs), Mahipal Lomror (Rs 10 lakhs).

Retained players: 

Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami, Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreyas Iyer, Zaheer Khan, Albie Morkel - South Africa, Imran Tahir - South Africa, JP Duminy (captain) - South Africa, Quinton de Kock - South Africa, Nathan Coulter-Nile - Australia   

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Gujarat Lions (GL):

Owner: Intex Technologies
Coach: Brad Hodge
Captain: Suresh Raina   

    

Auction buys: 

Dinesh Karthik (Rs. 2.3 crore), Dhawal Kulkarni (Rs. 2 crore), Praveen Kumar (Rs. 3.5 crore), Dale Steyn (Rs. 2.3 crore), Dwayne Smith (Rs. 2.3 crore), Paras Dogra (Rs 10 lakhs), Ishan Kishan (Rs 30 lakhs), Eklavya Dwivedi (Rs 1 crore). Pradeep Sangwan (Rs 20 lakhs), Pravin Tambe (Rs 20 lakhs), Shivil Kaushik (Rs 10 lakhs), Sarabajit Ladda (Rs 10 lakhs), Aaron Finch (Rs 1 crore), Umang Sharma (Rs 10 lakhs), Andrew Tye (Rs 50 lakhs), Shadab Jakati (Rs 20 lakhs), Aksh Deep Nath (Rs 10 lakhs), Jaydev Shah (Rs 20 lakhs), Amit Mishra (Rs 10 lakhs).

Drafted players: 

Suresh Raina (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum - New Zealand,  James Faulkner - Australia, Dwayne Bravo - West Indies.

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Kings XI Punjab (KXIP):

Owner: KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited
Coach: Sanjay Bangar
Captain: David Miller
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium

Auction buys:

Mohit Sharma (Rs. 6.5 crore), Marcus Stonis (Rs. 55 Lakhs), Kyle Abbott (Rs. 2.1 crore), K C Cariappa (Rs 80 Lakhs), Arman Jaffer (Rs 10 Lakhs), Pradeep Sahu (Rs 10 Lakhs), Swapnil SIngh (Rs 10 Lakhs), Farhaan Behardein (Rs 30 Lakhs)

Retained players:
Axar Patel, Anureet Singh, Gurkeerat Singh, Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay, Nikhil Naik, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller  - South Africa, Glenn Maxwell - Australia, Mitchell Johnson - Australia, Shaun Marsh - Australia.

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):

Owner: Knight Riders Sports Private Ltd

Coach: Trevor Bayliss

Captain: Gautam Gambhir

Venue: Eden Gardens

Auction buys:

Colin Munro (Rs. 30 lakhs), John Hastings (Rs. 1.3 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs. 1.6 crore), Ankit Rajpoot (Rs 1.5 crore), Jason Holder (Rs 70 Lakhs), R Sathish (Rs 20 Lakhs), Manan Sharma (Rs 10 Lakhs).

Retained players: 

Gautam Gambhir  (captain), Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Sheldon Jackson, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell - West Indies, Sunil Narine - West Indies, Brad Hogg - Australia, Chris Lynn - Australia, Shakib Al Hasan - Bangladesh, Morne Morkel - South Africa.

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Mumbai Indians (MI):

Owner: Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd

Coach: Ricky Ponting

Captain: Rohit Sharma

Venue: Wankhede Stadium

Auction buys:

Jos Buttler (Rs. 3.8 crore), Tim Southee (Rs. 2.5 crore), Nathu Singh (Rs 3.2 crore), Jitesh Sharma (Rs 10 Lakhs), KP Kamath (1.4 crore), Krunal Pandya (Rs 2 crore), Deepak Punia (Rs 10 Lakhs).

Retained players: 

Rohit Sharma (captain), Akshay Wakhare, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, J Suchith, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Rana, Parthiv Patel, Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, Siddhesh Lad, Unmukt Chand  ,Corey Anderson - New Zealand, Mitchell McClenaghan - New Zealand, Kieron Pollard - West Indies, Lendl Simmons - West Indies, Lasith Malinga - Sri Lanka, Marchant de Lange - South Africa.

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Rising Pune Super Giants (RPSG):

Owner: RPSG Group

Coach: Stephen Fleming

Captain: MS Dhoni

Venue: MCA International Stadium

Auction buys: 

Ishant Sharma (Rs. 3.8 crore), Irfan Pathan (Rs. 1 crore), Kevin Pietersen (Rs. 3.3 crore), Mitchell Marsh (Rs. 4.8 crore), RP Singh (Rs. 30 Lakhs), Ankit Sharma (Rs 10 Lakhs), Rajat Bhatia (Rs 60 Lakhs), Ishwar Pandey (Rs 20 Lakhs), Murugan Ashwin (4.5 crore), Ankush Bains (Rs 10 Lakhs), Peter Handscomb (Rs 30 Lakhs), Thisara Perrera (Rs 1 crore), Baba Aparajith (Rs 10 Lakhs), Deepak Chahar (Rs 10 Lakhs), Ashok Dinda (Rs 50 Lakhs), Scott Boland (Rs 50 Lakhs), Adam Zampa (Rs 30 Lakhs), Jaskaran Singh (Rs 10 Lakhs).

Drafted players: 

MS Dhoni (captain),  R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith - Australia, Faf du Plessis - South Africa                    

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB):                    

Owner: Royal Challengers Sports Private Ltd

Coach: Daniel Vettori

Captain: Virat Kohli

Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

Auction buys: 

Stuart Binny (Rs. 2 crore), Shane Watson (Rs. 9.5 crore), Travis Head (Rs. 50 Lakhs), Sachin Baby (Rs 10 Lakhs), Iqbal Abdulla (Rs 10 Lakhs), Praven Dubey (Rs 35 Lakhs), Akshay Karenwar (Rs 10 Lakhs), Kane Richardson (Rs 2 crore), Samuel Badree (Rs 50 Lakhs), V Malik (Rs 20 Lakhs), Vikas Tokas (Rs 10 Lakhs).

Retained players: 

Virat Kohli (captain), Abu Nechim, Harshal Patel, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Sreenath Aravind,  Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers - South Africa,  David Wiese - South Africa,  Adam Milne - New Zealand, Chris Gayle - West Indies,  Mitchell Starc - Australia.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH):

Owner: SUN TV Network

Coach: Tom Moody

Captain: David Warner

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium

Auction buys:

Yuvraj Singh (Rs. 7 Crore), Ashish Nehra (Rs. 5.5 Crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs. 1.4 crore), Barinder Sran (Rs. 1.2 crore), Abhimanyu Mithun (Rs. 30 Lakhs), Aditya Tare (Rs 1.2 crore), Deepak Hooda (Rs 4.2 crore), T Suman (Rs 10 Lakhs), Ben Cutting (Rs 50 Lakhs), Vijay Shankar (Rs 35 Lakhs).

Retained players: 

Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Ashish Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bipul Sharma, Karn Sharma,  KL Rahul,  Naman Ojha, Parveez Rasool, Ricky Bhui, Siddharth Kaul, David Warner - Australia, Moises Henriques - Australia, Eoin Morgan - England, Kane Williamson - New Zealand, Trent Boult - New Zealand.

Shane Watson : Some unknown facts about the retired Australian all-rounder

In his last international match in Australian colours, Shane Watson took two wickets giving off 23 runs in four overs. Last week, the Australian all-round cricketer Shane Watson had announced to retire from international cricket at the end of the ongoing Twenty20 in India. He had retired from test cricket in 2015. He, however, has also announced that he will continue to play Twenty20 leagues around the world.

Some unknown facts that you must know about Shane Watson:

• Shane Watson's full name is Shane Robert Watson. He was born on June 17, 1981, in Ipswich in Queensland

• Before the beginning of his international career, Watson played a lot of domestic cricket. He played for Tasmania and Queensland. In 2005, he played for Hampshire in the English County Championship

• He made his ODI debut in 2002 playing against South Africa which resulted in his team's victory although he made a low score of 2 but did moderately well with the ball

• He made his Test debut against Pakistan in the year 2005, doing moderately well with the bat and ball

• Watson scored his maiden ODI century in 2008 against West Indies scoring a 126 in 122 balls

• He made his T20 debut in 2006 against South Africa

• He scored his maiden Test century against Pakistan, scoring 120 not out

• In the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy Final, Australia defeated West Indies and won the series. The Man of the Match was given to Shane Watson for his contribution of 57 runs and taking 2 wickets which helped his team to win

• Watson was purchased for USD 125,000 by the Rajasthan Royals in the first edition of the IPL in 2008. He was the most valuable player of the tournament helping his side to lift the first IPL trophy

• Shane's highest ODI score is 185 not out in 96 balls against Bangladesh in 2011. He hit 15 fours and 15 sixes in the match which broke several ODI records. It is the highest individual score in a run chase. It is also the highest score by an Australian, most runs by boundaries and fastest 150 by any batsman

• He was awarded the Player of the Series in the 2012 ICC World Cup Twenty20 for scoring 249 runs and bagging 11 wickets

• In the 2013 IPL, he scored 101 not out against Chennai Super Kings which was his first century in IPL as well in his T20 career

• He is among the very few players to play for the same franchise in all the editions of the IPL

• He is the only player to win four consecutive Man of the Match awards in an ICC event

• Watson is the only Australian cricket player to win the Player of the Year in all three formats of the game .He won six player of the year awards for Tests, ODIs and T20s

• He is the only player to claim the number 1 spot for both batting and all rounder in T20s

• Watson has the best all round figures among Australian men who have scored excess of 2000 runs and took at least 100 wickets

• He holds the highest career best rating of 557 in T20s which is the best by any player ever

• According to a survey by Forbes, Watson was the highest paid cricketer outside India in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

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England 'discard' KP and Fighter Yuvraj lead highest bid base in IPL 2016 Auction

The most expensive buy in the previous IPL auction, Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh, along with 11 others, have quoted the highest base price for this year's auction to be held on February 6 in Bangalore.

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According to a report in 'ESPN Cricinfo', apart from Yuvraj, England swashbuckler Kevin Pietersen and in-form Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh are among the 12 players who have listed the highest base price in a list of 714.

The final pool of players from these 714 would be selected on Monday.

Others in the Rs 2 crore bracket are Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Dhawal Kulkarni, Kane Richardson and 40-year-old Australian all-rounder Mike Hussey.

South African pacer Dale Steyn, India's Mohit Sharma and Englishman Jos Butler are part of the Rs 1.5 crore group, while Irfan Pathan and Tim Southee are in the Rs 1 crore cluster.

"A total of 61 players were released by the six franchises when the first trading window closed on December 31," the report stated.

IPL 2016 : Dhoni led Pune franchise named as Rising Pune Super Giants

Kolkata-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has renamed its IPL Pune franchisee as Rising Pune Super Giants, in sync with its branding pursuit. On Monday, the group said that the abbreviated name is the same as group's name: RP-SG.

“

From Day One, we had indicated that our entry in the sports vertical will be for branding purpose.

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- group chairman, Sanjiv Goenka said.

Apart from making sure to reflect the abbreviated group's name on its franchisee, the logo of the IPL cricket team also features part of the business group's logo and is designed using the corporate group's colours.The players' shirts may also use the same hues as the RP-SG group.

The team has narrowed in on former Indian cricket team skipper M S Dhoni as its captain for the 2016 season of the IPL. Dhoni was earlier captain of the successful Chennai Super Kings, whose promoters were barred from the franchise after the Justice Lodha committee found them guilty of match-fixing. An earlier IPL team Pune Warriors, owned by Sahara India, was disenfranchised from the IPL by the BCCI after it defaulted on bank guarantees following a meltdown in the promoter company's finances. 

Additionally, former Rajasthan Royals' senior official Raghu Iyer has been brought in as the CEO of the RP-SG group's sports vertical; the team will bid for players in the February 6 auction later this year.

Hinting at an entry into other sports as well, Goenka said,

 “

We'll be more aggressive in the sports vertical in the coming days.

”

Initially, the company's decision to enter into sports hadn't gone down well with its shareholders as CESC shares took a beating after Goenka decided to buy a stake in the Pune IPL team.

However, Goenka said the decision would not reflect on its publicly listed companies.

"No losses from cricket will get reflected in the shares of our public listed companies", he said.

The market had perceived that the group's entry into the sports vertical might affect the bottom line of CESC, the RPSG group flagship company. The Pune franchisee is owned by New Rising, a subsidiary of CESC.