Mumbai, Jan. 19: When young Ambani scion Akash walked up to the auction dais with a sealed envelope containing the price for the young West Indian cricketer his team wanted big time, many in the hall believed that would be the winning bid.

Elbowing out three franchisees, the power of Ambani money helped Mumbai Indians snap up Kieron Pollard, the 22-year-old big-hitting Trinidadian who was the most sought-after player at the auction, for the third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Sources said Mumbai Indians paid $2.75 million (Rs 12.65 crore) for the all-rounder, which would make Pollard the most valuable player in the history of the cash-rich league.

The bidding for the Trinidad cricketer began at $2,00,000 (Rs 92 lakh) and reached the maximum limit of $7,50,000 (Rs 3.45 crore) with four teams in the race.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi then conducted the silent tie-breaker where the franchisees submitted undisclosed bids for Pollard.

Akash, the 20-year-old son of Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani, strode up to the auction dais at the newly opened Trident hotel in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex to present the envelope to Modi as mother and Mumbai Indians owner Neeta Ambani fondly looked on.

Akash is on a short trip back home from the Ivy League Brown University in the US, where he is pursuing an undergraduate degree.

This, said sources in Reliance Industries, “is Akash’s first foray into the world of bids and business and it is a good sign that he made the winning bid”.

He muscled out Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals to basket Pollard.

The pulsating bidding for Pollard was soon followed by yet another tie-breaker, over New Zealand pacer Shane Bond.

This time round, it was the Knight Riders who went for the kill and netted Bond after a two-way tie with the Deccan Chargers.

A top KKR source said they paid $1.3million (Rs 5.98 crore) for Bond.

All the teams ignored the Pakistani players, as indicated by The Telegraph today.