Mumbai, Feb. 20: Between now and April 29, Calcutta will have to learn to cheer Shoaib Akhtar when the speedster from Pakistan hurls a toe-cruncher at Sachin Tendulkar.

The Rawalpindi Express was the first to be picked up by Calcutta’s Indian Premier League team owner Shah Rukh Khan and friends at the high-on-adrenaline player auction for $425,000 (around Rs 1.7 crore). Calcutta’s second success came with Ricky Ponting, who went relatively cheap at $400,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) and may be available only from the next season.

The glittery event at the Hilton Towers got off to a super start as T20 World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was snapped up by Chennai for a record $1.5 million (Rs 6 crore) in the opening minutes.

Joining him in the “million” list soon was Australian Andrew Symonds, for whom Hyderabad shelled out a princely $1.35 million (Rs 5.4 crore).

Both the swashbuckling players stand to earn more than “icons” like Sachin (Mumbai) and Sourav (Calcutta) who will command a price that is 15 per cent more than the highest paid member of their respective squads.

Sourav, for example, will earn about $1.09 million, the figure being worked out after the bid for Ishant Sharma. Calcutta paid $950,000 (Rs 3.8 crore) for the lanky fast bowler, the highest bid by Red Chillies of Shah Rukh.

Dhoni, who was not a declared “icon”, stands to earn more than even Sachin, who will be paid around $1.12 million. The highest bid by Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai team was for Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000).

Besides Shoaib, Ishant and Ponting, Calcutta bagged Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Karthik, Umar Gul and David Hussey. It also picked up former Zimbabwe skipper Tatenda Taibu from the reserve pool of players for whom there were no bids in the main auction.

The entire auction fetched bids valued at $41 million (Rs 164 crore).

Shoaib, though, will not be available for the Sourav-led team’s first match on April 18 against Bangalore, the inaugural tie of this IPL season. The Pakistani speedster will be available to play only after April 27.

If he does play in the match against Mumbai, scheduled on April 29, Calcutta will perhaps be the only team in world cricket at present to have two bowlers who can work up a speed above 90 miles an hour.

Ishant Sharma, who bowled Indian cricket’s fastest delivery (94.8 miles an hour) in the match against Australia last Sunday, could partner Shoaib as they attack Sachin and his men.

The Eden crowd has not-too-fond memories of Shoaib, who famously yorked Sachin for a first-ball duck in the first innings of a 1999 Test and triggered a riot in the stands after the little master was run out in the second following a mid-pitch collision with the bowler.

Calcutta will get more time to get used to cheering Ponting, who, as of now, will not don the team jersey this season.

If the league matches are played at the Eden, it may have to wait until next year to see Sourav actually captain the Aussie skipper, who, besides his on-field hardball play with the Indians, was possibly the first high-profile person to be involved in a nightclub brawl in Calcutta. During the 1998 tour, Ponting was thrown out of Equinox, a now-defunct hotspot, for allegedly misbehaving with women.

The surprise package for the Calcutta team was David Hussey, the younger brother of Australian star Michael. Ironically, while the more established brother, along with legend Glenn McGrath, found no takers in the main auction, David was snapped up for $625,000 (Rs 2.4 crore). The younger Hussey is known for his brisk pace of scoring and, like Gayle and New Zealand’s McCullum, can hit the big shots.

Calcutta’s coach-designate John Buchanan, in an exclusive interview to The Telegraph, described the team as a “nice blend of experience… and potential”.

But with none of the foreign players, except Hussey and Taibu, available for the whole tournament, it may be left to Ishant, Agarkar and Sourav to pull in the crowds.

Sources said fans could well be left cheering for a team made up mainly of under-22 and other Indian players. “This is the prime reason why a newcomer like Ishant commanded such a huge price. He is expected to help his team win matches,” said a source in Red Chillies. Ishant’s bid price was higher than that of foreign players like Shane Warne and Brett Lee and India’s Test captain Anil Kumble.

The foreign players will not be paid the whole amount if they are not available. But even if a player like Ponting is totally absent, he will make 25 per cent of the bid price.

“That way the team owners too save money despite a star line-up. They are not paying as much as it seems, yet they have the stars to show off to the sponsors. It is a win-win situation for all,” said an IPL official.