London: He might be far away from the ongoing Indian Premier League players` auction in Bangalore, but suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi kept a close eye on the first day`s proceedings which saw some of the Indian players going under the hammer for record sums.
Modi, the brain behind the Twenty20 league`s runaway success, followed the bidding war between Bollywood stars and corporate bigwigs on the first day of the auction through television from here.
"Great start for IPL Season 4. All teams have bought well. It will be a good season 4," tweeted Modi, who was charged of financial bungling by the BCCI and subsequently shown the door unceremoniously last year.
"Auction process shows true value for Players. Looks like the Two New Teams will be extremely competitive too. All 10 look good," he wrote.
Modi, the IPL czar, also felt that the 16 unsold players, including former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Mark Boucher can still find a buyer tomorrow on the last day of the auction.
"Unsold Players come back at the end for re-bidding so it’s not over yet. Still another day to go. Its all based on strategy and price," he said.
PTI
