The mega two-day Indian Premier 2018 auction is over. Across Saturday and Sunday, the eight franchisees assembled under one roof to rebuild their squad for the upcoming season of the cash-rich IPL.

England allrounder Ben Stokes was the costliest buy while Jaydev Unadkat turned out to be the most expensive India cricketer at the auction.

Here are the squads of the eight teams after the auction:

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS [25 players]

MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo. Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Mark Wood, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif K M, N Jagadeesan, Kanishk Seth, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Kshitiz Sharma, Chaitanya Bishnoi

DELHI DAREDEVILS [25 players]

Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammad Shami, Gautam Gambhir, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Prithvi Shaw, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sayan Ghosh

​KINGS XI PUNJAB [21 players]
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Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Yuvraj Singh, Christopher Gayle, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS [19 players]

Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Singh Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Vijay Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi

MUMBAI INDIANS [25 players]
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Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Pat Cummins, Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ben Cutting, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jason Behrendorff, Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Tajinder Dhillon, Akila Dhananjaya, Nidheesh M D Dinesan, Aditya Tare, Siddhesh Dinesh Lad, Mayank Markande, Sharad Lumba, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan

RAJASTHAN ROYALS [23 players]

Steve Smith, Benjamin Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane, Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror

​ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE [24 players]
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Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Quinton De Kock, Mohammed Siraj, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin De Grandhomme, M. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Pavan Deshpande, Anirudha Ashok Joshi

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD [25 players]

David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan Arman, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Kane Williamson, Carlos Brathwaite, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Jordan, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Syed Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui, Tanmay Agarwal

​Leading broadband service provider ACT Fibernet has partnered with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as official connectivity and internet partner.

​ACT Fibernet, with its extensive fiber broadband connectivity in Chennai, aims to ensure seamless internet broadband connectivity for the ardent followers of the CSK team during the IPL matches. The company will be providing wi-fi coverage to the entire Chennai stadium taking the in-stadium experience to a whole new level.

Over 40,000 fans seated in the stadium will be able to enjoy HD quality speeds on wifi, access internet in the stadium, catch up on live videos, watch match replays, and indulge in social media activities. Additionally, a whole range of fan engagement activities and contests have been planned by CSK-ACT Fibernet together to significantly enhance the in-stadium experience. This initiative by ACT Fibernet will bring the fan experience in stadia at par with the best stadiums in the world.

​Speaking on the partnership, ACT Fibernet COO Sandeep Gupta said, “We take immense pride in announcing that we are the chosen connectivity partner of the CSK team. CSK is not just a team but an emotion and passion amongst millions, and through this partnership, we are going to significantly enhance this spirit by enabling the CSK teams and its supporters stay connected.”

Commenting on the partnership, CSK whole time director George John said, “Chennai Super Kings is known for its solid performances and consistency, ACT Fibernet complements all of this and therefore is our chosen partner. Our aim has always been to enhance the experience of our fans and supporters. With this association with ACT Fibernet, we are certain that we will be able to significantly enliven the in-stadium experience. This is the first amongst the many initiatives we have planned for the CSK fans in partnership with ACT Fibernet.”

ACT Fibernet has planned exciting engagement activities and contests both in the stadium and otherwise. Chosen lucky customers will also win a chance to obtain free match tickets, signed memorabilia and interact with their favorite CSK cricketers

Indian team coach Ravi Shastri handed him his cap, before the ODI against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

It was a proud moment for Washington Sundar who earned his maiden international cap, after he was picked in the eleven to face Sri Lanka in the second ODI being played at the PCA stadium at Mohali, Punjab.
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The honours were done by the Indian team coach Ravi Shastri who handed him his cap, before the start of play on Wednesday.

Washington, aged 18 years and 69 days, has played 12 first class matches for Tamil Nadu and is the seventh youngest cricketer to make his debut for India.  

The list is headed by Sachin Tendulkar who remains the youngest cricketer to play for India at 16 years and 238 days.
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About a week ago, Washington was picked as a replacement for the injured Kedhar Jadhav in ODIs and now finds himself in the playing eleven in place of chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav.
"It has been my fourth day to be precise but I do not feel that I just became part of the team. I knew lot of players before, have played with Mahi bhai (Dhoni) in the IPL. I would definitely have to be ready to bowl 10 overs of off spin and contribute with the bat no matter what position the team is in," he had said earlier.

Washington has been rewarded for his creditable performances in the Indian Premier League playing for Rising Pune Supergiants and in domestic cricket.

He started his career as a batsman before becoming an off-spinner and represented India at the Under-19 World Cup last year.

As for his unique first name, his father M Sundar had told The Hindu, “I am a Hindu and come from a very humble family. Two streets away from my home in Triplicane lived an ex-army man called P.D. Washington. He was extremely fond of cricket and would come to watch us play at the Marina ground.”

Sundar said that he was poor and Washington would buy uniforms for his son, pay his school fee, take him to the ground on his cycle and constantly encourage him.

“I decided to name him Washington in memory of the man who had done so much for me. Had I had a second son, I would have called him Washington Jr,” Sundar said.   

The lovebirds who have been dating together since 2013 are celebrating their big day at a luxury villa in Tuscany, Italy.

​Mumbai: It’s official! What could be one of the most talked about marriages in the recent times, in connection with Indian star couples, has happened in Italy as Team India skipper Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma tied the knot.

The wedding ceremony took place at Borgo Finocchieto, a countryside resort in Italy which also happens to be one of the most expensive holiday properties in the world.
 
The two shared photos of their social media channels with a message, reading: “Today we have promised each other to be bound in love forever. We are truly blessed to share the news with you. This beautiful day will be made more special with the love and support of our family of fans & well wishers. Thank you for being such an important part of our journey.”

Speculation about Virat Kohli getting married, this week or the next, has had newsrooms across the country in a tizzy. That the Indian captain decided to skip the limited overs series’s against Sri Lanka only fanned the curiosity further.

But even as he takes time out — whether to get married or relax after a hectic playing schedule — Kohli will have to keep his focus alive to the onerous task that awaits him in South Africa, the first of three major teams India face in 2018.

The tour of England comes mid-year and then a trip Down Under before 2018 winds down. India’s record away from the sub-continent remains rather dismal.
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This puts India —currently undefeated in nine consecutive series —under great scrutiny.

On the personal front, Kohli is currently the only batsman in the world to average 50+ in ODIs, T20s and Tests. He is also top-ranked by ICC in the first two formats. Should he finish the year as no.1 across all three, he would have shaken up the pecking order in the pantheon of greats.

But for that he will have to excel on all three tours, particularly England, where he flopped in 2014. Some critics aver he is still vulnerable to late swing. Others argue that Kohli today is a vastly different player from three years ago. How he bats will prove one or the other section wrong.

This daunting journey starts in South Africa where the team flies out to just two days after the T20 series against Sri Lanka. And  after a two-day warm up match, the first Test begins, leaving little time for acclimatization. This explains why Kohli was critical of the domestic itinerary.

But that’s in the past. What the captain will be preoccupied with now is strategizing how the talent at his disposal (rich, going by current form and results) can be deployed to try and beat the South Africans on their own turf.

The presence of six fast bowlers (including Hardik Pandya) in the squad — and just two specialist spinners — gives an idea not just of the tactics Kohli and the team management are likely to pursue, but also how Indian cricket has evolved.

Clearly, the strategy is to fight the pace fire of the South Africans with their own.

This is revolutionary thinking. Even a decade back pace was never India’s strong suit when playing overseas. Spin was the main bet. In the past few years, there has been a preponderance of fast bowlers.

Competition for places — as in the batting — has also seen a rise in quality. India’s pace attack today can boast of high  speed, skill and fine  variety.

Whether this is good enough to quell South African batsmen remains to be seen. But there will be enough of the fast and short stuff from the Indian side too for sure: a great psychological boost that teams in the past lacked.

This does not mean spin bowling is devalued. Since pitches in South Africa are likely to assist pace, India are likely to shore up the batting with six specialists.

This leaves only one place open for either Ashwin or Jadeja and whoever plays will have to be in top form. One must feel for young Kuldeep Yadav, unlucky not to find a place. But with opportunity for spinners likely to be severely limited — and Ashwin and Jadeja amongst the wickets — it made more sense to take an extra fast bowler.

Bumrah, rewarded for hard work and sustained improvement, could well be the X factor with his awkward style and sharp skills. Getting veteran Parthiv Patel as reserve wicket-keeper is canny thinking. He revels against the new ball, and can bat at the top or middle order.

Overall, I believe the selection has been excellent, keeping in mind the quality of the opposition and conditions likely to be encountered. But as experience show, while talent is obviously important, self-belief is even more  so when playing overseas. For the record, India have never won a Test series in either South Africa or Australia. If this barrier can be broken — even in one of the two series — Indian cricket will have scaled great heights. Kohli faces his most exciting — and stiffest — challenge yet.
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​Kohli's amazing rate of scoring hundreds is also because of his amazing conversion rate. Of the 16 times he has gone past 50 as a captain, he has converted 12 into hundreds, which is easily the best rate among the 18 captains who scored 10 or more Test hundreds. Even Bradman couldn't achieve this rate: he scored 14 hundreds out of the 21 times he passed 50.