Indian Premier League: Moeen Ali scores £ 700,000 and Dawid Malan scores £ 150,000 in the first rounds

The English all-rounder Moeen Ali was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League auction for almost £ 700,000.

Chennai was embroiled in a bidding war with the Punjab Kings before finally securing the 33-year-old’s services, while English star and number 1 batsman Dawid Malan sold to Punjab for just under £ 150,000 in the first rounds of auctions.

The IPL is scheduled to run from April to June this year.

Moeen Ali (left) and Dawid Malan (right) were among the big names sold in the IPL auction

The most expensive player to date at the auctions in 2021 is South African Chris Morris, who was bought by Rajastan Royals for £ 1.6m, while Australian Glenn Maxwell was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £ 1.4m.

Moeen’s IPL sale follows a public apology from England test coach Chris Silverwood after captain Joe Root suggested the multi-format player missed England’s last two games after England’s second Test loss to India.

“We’re sorry we gave the impression that Moeen was treated differently from others,” said Silverwood. “He is not. I can guarantee you that. The decision for him to go home was ours as it was for the others. We are happy to make this decision.”

The sale of Moeen follows a public apology from English coach Chris Silverwood to the all-rounder

Moeen and Malan join eight other English players in this year’s IPL after being retained by their franchises.

The batsmen Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Sam Billings and the crank Adil Rashid were not sold.

The English testing team could face more disruption as their player’s IPL teams reach the final stages of the competition. A home test series against New Zealand is planned for June.