For Jacob Oram, it was "surreal" seeing himself being bought at cricket's first international auction on Wednesday night.
Oram and five other New Zealanders went under the hammer in Mumbai as the eight franchises in the Indian Premier League bid for the services of cricket's biggest names forthe inaugural Twenty20 competition, starting on April 18.
"It was a weird feeling. I've never been in a situation where that sort of money was being thrown around and to be right in the mix," he said with a slow shake of his head.
"I didn't believe it until I saw it in black and white on the internet," he said of his price. "It took my breath away, to be honest. I was pretty speechless. If you'd asked me before the auction what I was worth, I don't know if the figure I've gone for would be the one I would have said."
Oram was bought for US$650,000 ($814,330) by the Chennai franchise, where he will join his former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, Australians Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey, Sri Lankan wicket record-holder Muttiah Muralitharan and the player who fetched the auction's top price, US$1.5 million, Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The top-priced New Zealand player is wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, valued at US$700,000. He has gone to the Kolkata franchise.
The payment is per annum and on a pro rata basis. McCullum will be playing in the opening game, when Bangalore host Kolkata.
But Oram, McCullum and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won't be in India long. New Zealand start their tour of England on April 27. Vettori's Delhi franchise will have played only two games by then; Oram and McCullum a maximum of three.
But Oram, who appeared to still be a bit dazed as he pondered what the IPL riches could do in terms of providing financial stability for his future, insisted playing for New Zealand is his "No 1 priority".
"I'll need the same preparation time as for other tours to get myself right for the test matches."
