Pietersen earns fat IPL deal

Mumbai - England may have jettisoned Kevin Pietersen but the maverick batsman's hard-hitting ability fetched him the highest bid among foreign players at Wednesday's Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

Pietersen, available for the entire duration of the cash-rich IPL after being shunned by England, was picked up by Delhi, the franchise he played for last year, for 90 million Indian rupees ($1.45 million) after an intense bidding war.

The Chennai, Hyderabad and Punjab franchises bid heavily for the 33-year-old, whose base price was 20 million Indian rupees ($321 200), but Delhi bagged his services after using their right to match the highest bid.

"Morning - so happy to be back with the Delhi family! Lovely start to the day," Pietersen, the former England captain, said on his Twitter account.

India's Yuvraj Singh drew the highest bid of 140 million Indian rupees ($2.25 million) in the morning session of the auction and was bought by the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore franchise.