In 2008 some IPL teams were assigned & #39;Icon Players& #39; who were from their home city: Sachin to MI, Dravid to RCB, Ganguly to KKR, Yuvi to KXIP & Sehwag to DD (on request). Icons were paid 15% more than the team& #39;s most expensive purchase at the auction. (1/2)

VVS was originally assigned as Deccan Chargers& #39; icon. However, VVS reportedly rejected his icon status to allow DC to spend more on other players. In return he was appointed DC captain after being sold to them for $375,000 - around $500k less than he may have received as an icon.

DC& #39;s most expensive player signed at the 2008 auction (with the additional purse) was Andrew Symonds - sold for $1.35 million (only Dhoni at $1.5 mil cost more). In the 2009 IPL Symonds scored 249 runs at a SR of 148 & took 7 wickets at an ER of 6.66 & helped DC win the title.

It is unlikely that Deccan Chargers would have been able to pay that much for Symonds (or indeed RP Singh, Rohit, Gilchrist & others) if VVS had not rejected his icon status. It was a selfless move that contributed to them winning the IPL the following year.

The IPL—especially in the early years—was criticised as being defined by greed & money, but the first two title winners (RR won in 2008 after spending the least at the auction) owed as much to smarts & selflessness as they did to indiscriminate spending. Something to think about.