Sports Desk:

Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders at a price of INR 3.2 crore (USD 44 lakh approx) during the auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Chennai today.

Shakib was one of the players in the auction, bracketed with the highest base price of INR 2 crore.

KKR, in which Shakib spent most of the time in his IPL career, made the opening bid and later Punjab Kings joined the war with 2.2 crore. KKR then pushed the bid to 2.4 crore before Punjab Kings team director Anil Kumble and owner bollywood actress Prity Zinta had an intense discussion at their table and raised it to 2.6 crore.

But KKR was determined to acquire Shakib as they raised the paddle again, as did Punjab Kings but KKR won the battle eventually.

Shakib missed the last season of IPL due to his ban. He recently made a comeback to International cricket with the series against West Indies after serving the ICC-imposed ban due to his failure to report corrupt approaches from the bookies.