South African legend Jacques Kallis was bought at a record price of $175,000 while former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist fetched an impressive $170,000 at the inaugural Masters Champions League (MCL) auction held in Dubai on Monday.

West Indian great Brian Lara was sold to Leo Lions for $100,000 while former England captain Paul Collingwood went for $140,000 to Capricorn Commanders.

Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee was taken by Virgo Super Kings for $100,000 while Sri Lanka spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan went to Gemini Arabians for $120,000.

The tournament featuring cricket stars of yesterday will be played in January, 2016.

The owners of the six teams that will revive the magic on-ground next year are: Sagittarius Soldiers, owned by Ashfaq Sheikh of Orange Limited; Capricorn Commanders (Sohail Khan); Libra Legends (Popcorn Sports and Entertainment Private Limited); Gemini Arabians (Nalin Khaitan); Virgo Super Kings (Rhiti Sports) and Leo Lions (Manyata Dutt).

There were a total of 12  marquee players who were allocated to the teams before the auction.

They were Abdul Razzaq and Michael Vaughan (Capricorn Commanders); Scott Styris and Heath Streak (Leo Lions); Sourav Ganguly and Graeme Swann (Libra Legends); Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara (Gemini Arabians); Mahela Jayawardene and Daniel Vettori (Sagittarius Soldiers); and Graeme Smith and Azhar Mahmood (Virgo Super Kings).

The marquee list features two each from Pakistan, India, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, one each from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Briefly commenting, Zarah Shah, MCL CEO, said “Our main aim is to take cricket to a higher level across the UAE and we believe that the response we have received in participation for the event is a great step forward in the right direction. The franchise owners and players are excited to see the turnout over the auction.”

The remainder of the 250-strong set of players were part of the historic auction on Monday at the Grandmidwest Tower, Media City in Dubai.

The biggest interest was around the six icon players: Muralitharan, Lara,  Kallis, Gilchrist, Collingwood and Lee who were sold first in the first round of auction.

All six players started at a base price of $100,000. There was active interest and sometimes intense bidding for the likes of Kallis and Gilchrist.

The other icon players to be sold were: Lara $100,000 (Leo Lions), Muralitharan $120,000 (Gemini Arabians),
Brett Lee $100,000 (Virgo Super Kings) and Collingwood $140,000 (Capricorn Commanders).
 
Grand Midwest Sports, the group that conceptualised the tournament, had launched the tournament in June 2015 at a grand ceremony at the iconic Burj Al Arab.

The tournament is due to take place at two of the prime venues, Dubai International Cricket Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium, which has previously hosted major cricket tournaments.

Former Pakistan players Abdul Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood will also participate in the league for Capricorn Commanders, Gemini Arabians and Virgo Super Kings, respectively.

Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and pacer Shane Bond will play for Sagittarius Soldiers, while allrounders James Franklin and Scott Styris were bought by Leo Lions. Kyle Mills was picked up by Gemini Arabians.

Each team was assigned two marquee players from a list of 12 that included eight former international captains.

The MCL has received a ten-year approval from the Emirates Cricket Board. The league is run by former Australia batsman Dean Jones' company, Major Events Group.

Squads:

Capricorn Commanders - Michael Vaughan, Abdul Razzaq, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Symonds, Chamara Silva, Ashwell Prince, Upul Chandana, Ryan McLaren, Jeetan Patel, Rikki Clarke, Rory Kleinveldt, Ben Laughlin, Rizwan Cheema, Geraint Jones, Sunil Joshi, Saleem Elahi.

Gemini Arabians - Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kyle Mills, Saqlain Mushtaq, Jacques Rudolph, Naved-ul-Hasan, Justin Kemp, Paul Harris, Brad Hodge, Richard Levi, Ashish Bagai, Graham Onions, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Saqib Ali.

Libra Legends - Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Swann, Jacques Kallis, Brad Hogg, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ajay Ratra, Chris Read, Sean Ervine, Shaun Tait, Ryan Sidebottom, Michael Lumb, Marcus North, Taufeeq Umar, Nicky Boje, Ian Butler.

Leo Lions - Heath Streak, Scott Styris, Brian Lara, Herschelle Gibbs, Brendan Taylor, James Franklin, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Fidel Edwards, Mohammad Tauqir, Neil Carter, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Jarvis, Ramesh Powar, Simon Jones, Darren Gough.

Sagittarius Soldiers - Mahela Jayawardene, Daniel Vettori, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Bond, Khurram Khan, Phil Mustard, Tino Best, Nathan Hauritz, Alviro Petersen, Michael Carberry, Krishmar Santokie, Jonathan Trott, Yasir Hameed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Gavin Hamilton.

Virgo Super Kings - Graeme Smith, Azhar Mahmood, Brett Lee, Jonty Rhodes, Neil McKenzie, John Mooney, Dirk Nannes, Owais Shah, James Foster, Murali Kartik, Malinga Bandara, Gareth Batty, Hasan Raza, Jacob Oram, Humayun Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf.