VIVO IPL 2018 Schedule, IPL 2018 Time Table Fixture: IPL Draft - Dhoni goes to Pune, Rajkot pick Raina : Shane Watson was not picked in the player draft and will go into the auction pool

IPL Draft - Dhoni goes to Pune, Rajkot pick Raina : Shane Watson was not picked in the player draft and will go into the auction pool

Pune - MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith (o) and Faf du Plessis (o)

Rajkot - Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum (o), James Faulkner (o), Dwayne Bravo (o)

The franchise names and captains will be announced in the coming weeks. IPL 9 promises to be another exciting tournament. But that's some way away. Many important international and domestic tournaments to come before now and then. You can read the full report of the draft process here. Until next time, it's goodbye from all of us here at the desk.

Aftermath:

Seven out of the ten players drafter are from CSK. A majority of the Royals will go back into the auction pool. Remember, there are some exciting players available - Watson, Binny, Southee, Samson - to choose from.

Pune franchise owner says Manoj Tiwary and Ashoke Dinda were consulted for draft. Sourav Ganguly remains their business partner in the football franchise but no role on the cards for him in IPL.

Both the teams now have 27 crores to spend at the auctions. That is scheduled for February 6 in Bangalore. The players drafted today cannot be traded but the first draft window will open immediately following this.

First Trading Window: December 15 - December 31, 2015
Second Trading Window: January 11 - January 22, 2016

Rajeev Shukla, IPL Chairman, in the Press Conference:

"The response we have got during bidding process shows how IPL is still popular and credibility is not lost. We are not against Pakistan. Franchise and we will decide on Pakistan players in IPL."

First Reactions: Too many innings builders in Pune?

The two teams appear to have approached the draft in contrasting fashion. Pune have 3 Indian players while Rajkot have just the two. Pune seem to have gone with a quite a few "innings builders" out there - Du Plessis, Smith and Dhoni take their time to get going. Interestingly however, the Sanjeev Goenka franchise haven't opted for all-rounders or medium-pace bowlers. Be prepared to see them go for a lot of such players in the auctions.

Rajkot, on the other hand, have picked a bunch of spinning and medium-pace all-rounders. They'll perhaps need opening batsmen and a bunch of Indian players. The Rajkot owner says the key was to get the right balance for the side.