'Players shouldn't be auctioned again'

New Delhi: Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid said on Saturday that he hoped the IPL bidding never happens again.

With bids going as high as $ 1.5 million the world of cricket was completely transformed when the IPL bidding began. Rahul Dravid, seated beside business magnate Vijay Mallya, was no mute spectator when the gavel was in play.

However, now a backtracking Dravid says he hopes the auctioning does not happen again. Fending questions about IPL from curious students at a school function in, Dravid said, "I hope it does not happen again. Team performance is greater than individual glory. It will be the wish of every Indian cricketer to contribute his bit for the team cause."

The voice of disapproval can also be heard from some eminent cricket fans and politicians. After Bal Thackeray and the Left, it is the turn of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi who said, "This is not acceptable to me."

As the IPL's first tournament is just round the corner, with the chorus against bidding growing louder, the question now is, will the new phenomenon in cricket be able to maintain its first rush?