Dhoni goes to Chennai for $1.5 mn, Akhtar for Kolkata

The auctions for the Indian Premier League (IPL) have begun in the ballroom of the Oberoi Hilton in Mumbai.

Chennai team bought Mahendra Singh Dhoni for $1.5 million.

A total of 78 players are up or grabs and they will be bought by eight franchises over the next 11 hours. Around Rs 160 crore ($40million) is at stake during the auctions.

But in a big blow to the IPL, Australia's Test and One-Day skipper Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and Michael Hussey will not be playing in the IPL in 2008 and hence they won't be auctioned.

Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have already reached the for their team's bid

Each of the eight franchisees of the IPL will be allowed to spend a minimum of Rs 132 crore ($3.3 million) but not more than Rs 200 crore ($5 million) during the auctions.