Pace bowlers seem to be the flavour of the upcoming IPL considering they raked in a lot of money at the auction. Nathan Coulter-Nile and Sheldon Cottrell were the top gainers among the pacers auctioned on Thursday. Both, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, seemed determined to buy Coulter-Nile. MI's massive Rs 8 Cr bid eventually saw CSK withdraw from the race.

Three teams—RR, Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab—bid fiercely to buy Cottrell. It finally boiled down to a tussle between Delhi and Punjab with the latter finally pouching the player for Rs 8.5 Cr. Injury-prone South African pace legend Dale Steyn was picked at his base price of Rs 2 Cr by RCB.