The IPL 2021 Auction Update- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday confirmed that 292 players will go for the auctions to be held on February 18 at Chennai. The press release by BCCI further confirmed that a total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and three players from associate nations will take part in the auctions.
A complete list of players that are available for the IPL 2021 auction:
According to reports, the authorities arrived at the 292 number after going through a list of 1114 players. All these stars had registered themselves for the auction. Only last month, the eight franchises had announced their lists of retentions.
According to the release, only two Indian players – Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav– and eight overseas players – Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy & Mark Wood – have been chosen to sit on the highest base price bracket, at INR 2 crore. The rest have gone for a lower value so that they can be easily bought. Choosing the right price is important as well, in the process of being bought.
Further, 12 players – Alex Hales, Alex Carey, Dawid Malan, Morne Morkel, Gregory Lewis, David Willey, Tom Curran, Shaun Marsh, Adil Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jhye Richardson, and Nathan Coulter-Nile – will contest in the INR 1.5 crore bracket. Eleven will hold a base price of INR 1 crore. Umesh Yadav and Hanuma Vihari will be listed in the INR 1 crore range. Some of these will be really good value buys if the right team buys them.
Interestingly, Ali Khan (USA), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), and Karthik Meiyappan (UAE) are the only three players from the associate nations to make it into the list.
What next for the auction with regards to who will have the spotlight this time?
Talking about the ones who’ll wear the spotlight, teams would most likely eye the likes of Steve Smith (released by Rajasthan Royals), Glenn Maxwell (released by Kings XI Punjab), and Shakib Al Hasan. Further, Jhye Richardson will be also included in the pool. That is, post his brilliant display in the Big Bash League. Mujeeb Ur Rahman will hit the list of teams longing for a quality spin. No 1 batsman in the format- Dawid Malan – in those who need consistency in their batting.
Even with the biggest stars going under the hammer, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s son, Arjun Tendulkar will also wear some attention. That is after he played in Mumbai’s T20 team. S Sreesanth – who was expected to make a comeback by listing himself in the INR 75 lakh slot- is not included in the list.
Talking about the team wallet, Kings XI Punjab walks in with the highest available purse of INR 53.2 crore. They need to fill nine slots, which will not be easy. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have to fill in 11 spots (the most in the IPL). They will have a purse of INR 35.9 crore to do so.
The IPL 2021 is the most awaited auction of the year, without a doubt. A lot of eyes will be on this event, as there shall be ten teams from next year. This is as per the recent proposal of the BCCI. It will be interesting to see how things are implemented this time around. Only time will tell!!
