England’s Moeen Ali has been sold to Chennai Super Kings for £700,000 in the opening round of the 2021 Indian Premier League Auction, while the South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris fetched a record £1.6m bid by Rajasthan Royals. Moeen, who departed from the England squad in India after the second Test for a pre-determined period of rest, found himself at the centre of a bidding battle between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai. The 33-year-old, who had spent the past two years with Royal Challengers Bangalore, fills Chennai’s final overseas spot and will join England teammate Sam Curran at the IPL franchise, when the competition takes place from April to June. England batsman Dawid Malan, No 1 in the world Twenty20 rankings, is set to play for Punjab after a successful bid of almost £150,000. However, the England players Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Sam Billings and Adil Rashid all went unsold during the first round of the auction. Australian Steve Smith, not retained by the Rajasthan Royals, was sold to Delhi Capitals for £220,000, while Glenn Maxwell will join Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m. Eight England players – including Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler – were retained by their respective franchises for the 2021 tournament. The fast bowler Mark Wood, however, had requested to be withdrawn from consideration for the auction as he did not want to spend more time away from his family.