IPL: Eoin Morgan & Ravi Bopara join Kevin Pietersen after auction

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Pietersen was bought for about a quarter of the fee paid for him last year

Past and present England players Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara will play for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2015 Indian Premier League.

Pietersen, 34, was the most expensive Englishman at auction, going for 20m rupees (拢205,000).

Indian Yuvraj Singh topped the price list for the second year running, with Delhi Daredevils paying a record 拢1.6 million for his services.

England's Alex Hales and Michael Carberry went unsold.

Pietersen, who was sacked by England in February 2014, was the only Englishman to feature in the IPL last year, when Delhi Daredevils paid 拢900,000 for him.

This year he is joined at the Sunrisers by England one-day captain Morgan, who was picked up for 拢156,000, and all-rounder Bopara (拢100,000).

Morgan has previously played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Bopara, who played for Kings XI Punjab in the 2009 and 2010 tournaments, was one of 10 Englishmen who went unsold at last year's auction.

Image source, Ravi Bopara twitter

Image caption, Bopara tweets his delight at IPL inclusion

There were surprising snubs for some of the game's big-name players.

Kumar Sangakkara, who won the man-of-the-match award in the World Twenty20 final against India in April last year, went unsold, as did fellow Sri Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan as well as South Africa Test captain Hashim Amla.

A total of 122 cricketers, including 78 Indians and 44 overseas players, were retained by the franchises for this season's IPL season.

The IPL will take place from 8 April until 24 May.