Top Indian players including senior opener Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, along with foreign stars such as Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada are in the Rs 2 crore highest base price category for the upcoming IPL auction.
The mega auction is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on 12 and 13 February and will see 590 players go under the hammer.
The IPL on Tuesday announced the final auction list, which was cut from the original list of 1,214 players released last month, after the franchises returned with the players they were interested in.
Among the 590 cricketers are a total of 228 players with a cap, while 355 are not caps and seven belong to associated peoples.
Senior Indian players Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane have also registered with a base price of Rs 2 crore.
A bidding war on the cards
Here are the 1⃣0⃣ Marquee Players at the 2⃣0⃣2⃣2⃣ #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/lOF1hBCp8o
– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 1, 2022
While Iyer and Dhawan are the best draws, the 10 teams are likely to be involved in a bidding war for youngsters Ishan Kishan, Devdutt Padikal, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, last season’s top wicket-taker Harshal Patel, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and fast bowler Shardul Thankur. All of them are in the upper bracket.
A total of 370 Indian players and 220 foreign cricketers will be available, with as many as 48 players choosing to place themselves in the Rs 2 crore bracket.
Among the foreign players, it is expected that the franchises to pacers Trent Boult, Cummins, Rabada, the Australian duo of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith, former Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan and the great South African Faf du Plessis have all registered themselves in the upper bracket.
NEWS: List of IPL 2022 Player Auction announced
The list of player auctions is out with a total of 590 cricketers who will go under the hammer during the two-day mega-auction that will take place in Bengaluru on 12 and 13 February 2022.
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– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 1, 2022
Indian veterans like Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa, with a steep base price of Rs 2 crore, may not have many contractors.
There are 20 players on the auction list with a reserve price of Rs 1.5 crore while 34 are in the list of cricketers with a reserve price of Rs 1 crore.
The U-19 stars of India, skipper Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal and Rajvardhan Hangargekar, in addition to Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda and Avesh Khan, will also be looking to earn money and make their mark during the auction.
South African 42-year-old spinner Imran Tahir is the oldest in the auction, while 17-year-old Noor Ahmed from Afghanistan is the youngest. Noor is currently playing at the U-19 World Cup in the West Indies.
Among all U-19 players, Indian medium pacer Hangargekar has a better auction base price of Rs 30 lakh, compared to Rs 20 lakh for others.
Punjab Kings have the most money in stock
Punjab Kings have the highest number of 23 slots available while Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians have 21 vacancies.
The rest of the teams have 22 slots each.
Punjab Kings also go into auction with the highest stock – Rs 72 crore – while the Delhi Capitals have the lowest – Rs 47.5 crore.
Australia top overseas list
Australia topped the foreign list with 47 players, while 34 West Indies cricketers will also be under the hammer.
South Africa has 33 players, Sri Lanka 23, England 24, New Zealand 24 and Afghanistan 17.