The latest IPL auction will be held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13. Here’s a look at the developments that have taken place so far.
Players with highest base price: As many as 31 players have been valued at the highest base price of Rs 20 million, which is approximately US$ 320,000. The 31 players are as follows Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Manoj Tiwary, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jacques Kallis, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Alex Hales, Samit Patel, Angelo Mathews and Marlon Samuels.
Auction list of capped players: A total of 244 cricketers from 10 nations feature in auction list of capped players that was recently finalised by the IPL committee. As many as 46 Indians are part of this auction list. Apart from the players with highest base as far as India is concerned, out of favour all-rounder Irfan Pathan has been valued at Rs 15 million. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and R. Vinay Kumar are the others who have been given a base value of Rs 15 million. Among cricketers from the countries, Brad Hogg, Cameron White, David Warner, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Faf du Plessis, Albie Morkel and Dwayne Smith among many others have a reserve price of Rs 15 million.
The much-sought after man: Last year, Glenn Maxwell was the sole millionaire post the auctions although he did not contribute much to Mumbai Indians’ victory. This time one of names to be sold for the highest price could very well be Corey Anderson. The big-hitting Kiwi recently rewrote the record books by smashing the fastest ton in one- dayers, off 36 balls. He has also been in excellent form against India in the on-going series, succeeding with both the bat and ball. Franchises would be after him for sure.
Notable absentees: Every year some great names drop out from the list since they don’t want to be associated with the cash-rich league temporarily or permanently. This year as well, there are many prominent absentees. Some of them are Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Clarke, Dinesh Chandimal, Mitchell Marsh, Stuart Broad, Kemar Roach, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. The last mentioned name is a surprise since Buttler is cut out for T20 cricket but has decided to stay away -- this even as Ian Bell has put his name in the auction list. Sangakkara meanwhile has skipped this year’s auction hoping for a better contract in 2015.
Long list of uncapped players: There are more than 650 uncapped players so far and at least 50 more will be added soon. Some of the Indian players in this longlist are Manish Pandey, Unmukt Chand, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdullah and Rishi Dhawan. The shortlist for the players who will be part of the auction will be announced on February 3.
--By A Cricket Analyst
