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IPL's million pound Pietersen

Source ITN

Updated on 30 January 2009

Kevin Pietersen has been priced as the most expensive Englishman in the auction for the Indian Premier League.

The former England captain has been valued at a minimum $1.35 million (£1.02 m), IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has revealed.

The IPL list features 148 players in total, with other England stars involved in the auction including Andrew Flintoff, Monty Panesar, Steve Harmison, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior and Owais Shah, while former internationals Darren Gough and Dominic Cork are also on the list.

Flintoff has a minimum price of $950,000 (£661,000), with Harmison and Collingwood priced at $250,000 (£174,000), Bell at $200,000 (£139,000) and Prior at $150,000 (£104,000).

Modi believes that Pietersen's price tag represents "fantastic value for money".

He said: "If you look at the base price it's close to $250,000 a week for each week he plays, which is comparable to the top soccer players around the world."

England's key men could be wanted by several teams in the auction, and Modi added: "It'll be quite competitive. All the teams can afford it. Everyone's trying to get England's top players in their team."

England's centrally contracted players will play for up to three weeks in the IPL.

The other English players involved in the auction are Ravi Bopara, Robert Key, James Foster, Shaun Udal, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright, James Anderson, Sajid Mahmood and Ed Joyce.

The most expensive player in last year's edition of the IPL was India's wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who went for $1.5 million (£1.04 m).

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

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