Chennai splashed out $1.5 million for Indian one-day captain Mahendra Dhoni while Hyderabad paid $1.35m for Australia's Andrew Symonds at a glitzy auction to determine who plays where in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League starting in April.

"It is amazing drama," Inderjit Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told reporters. "The market is determining the price. That's how a free market economy should flow."

Dhoni was snapped up by the southern metropolis side in the first round of the sale.

Retired Australian spin-bowler Shane Warne was the first player to go under the hammer in a five-star Mumbai hotel conference room filled with Indian sportsmen, celebrities and tycoons, fetching $450,000 from Jaipur.

Warne's compatriot fast bowler Brett Lee was later snapped up by Mohali for $900,000 while Australia captain Ricky Ponting was bought by Kolkata for $400,000.

The Mumbai franchise, which has Sachin Tendulkar as the designated city player and is owned by India's most valuable company Reliance Industries, paid $975,000 for Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and $850,000 for India spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The eight franchise teams of the IPL - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mohali and Mumbai - have a budget of up to $5 million each for a maximum of eight contracted players. They are bidding for 78 players and the closed-door auction could last up to 12 hours.

Bollywood Stars

Twenty20 cricket is a shortened version of the game designed to be attractive to both spectators at the ground and TV viewers. In this form, both teams play a single innings and bat for a maximum of 20 overs.

The 44-day IPL starts on April 18 and will feature 59 matches.

No single event has made global cricket news in this manner since Kerry Packer's circuit did over thirty years ago, but unlike the IPL, the late Australian media magnate's event was a breakaway league.

Some of the country's biggest companies, including Reliance Industries and spirit company UB Group, have bought franchises. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta have bought into the Kolkata and Mohali franchises, adding further glamour to the league.

Australian 'keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, who last month retired from test cricket, went to Hyderabad for $700,000. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan went to Chennai for $600,000.

The players are being put up for bidding in sets of 12 according to their annual base price, multiple-skills and expected availability for the inaugural year.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was bought up by the Mohali franchise for $475,000 while temperamental Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar went to Kolkata for $425,000.

Retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf did not find buyers in the first round and will come up for bidding in the second.