Ravindra Jadeja's brilliant display with the ball and his fielding prowess in the second Twenty20 International at Melbourne could not have come at a better time. His two run outs at the Twenty20 match on 2nd February against Australia easily made him the most expensive player of the IPL 2012 auction.

In a close tie breaker between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers, both offering $2 million for the 23 year old all rounder, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings who clinched the nail biting finish.

According to close sources, both the IPL teams were required to present an undisclosed amount. The Chennai Super Kings put the Deccan Chargers out of the race by bidding an extra Rs 30 crore. This money would go to fill the coffers of BCCI, the cricket regulating authority of India. Ravindra Jadeja on the other hand will be paid the total amount of the open bid.

Standing a chance to get $2 million (Rs 10 crore approx), Ravindra Jadeja now joins the league of the extraordinary gentlemen or rather the millionaire cricketers. This close contest between Chennai Super Kings and the Deccan Charger infused a fresh life into the IPL 2012 auction that had otherwise remained quite mundane with only 25 of the 144 available cricket players being bought by the 9 IPL teams.

Although the English cricketers like James Anderson, Ian Bell or Graeme Smith were ignored by all the 9 IPL franchisees, quite interestingly the sole "Englishman" who made the cut to the IPL was former Pakistani cricketer Azhar Mahmood, who was selected by the Kings XI Punjab at a price of $200,000 which is double the base price set for him. After receiving his UK citizenship, Azhar has been busy playing county cricket in UK and does not wish to return to the Pakistan cricket circuit in the future.