Indian Twenty20 International captain MS Dhoni was on Tuesday picked by the new Pune franchise in the Indian Premier League player draft in Mumbai.

Among the other important picks, Suresh Raina went to Rajkot, while Pune got Ajinkya Rahane. Local boy Ravindra Jadeja will ply his wares for Rajkot for the next two seasons at least and Ravichandran Ashwin will resume his partnership with Dhoni at Pune.

The swashbuckling Brendon McCullum was the first foreign player in the draft with Rajkot opting for his services. Pune's last two picks in the draft were Australian skipper Steve Smith and South African Faf du Plessis, while Rajkot opted for Australia's James Faulkner and West Indian Dwayne Bravo.

The two new franchises that won the bids for the next two seasons were allowed to choose five players each from a pool of 50 players belonging to the banned Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises.