Teams gear up for auction before action
The much anticipated two-day players’ auction ahead of the fourth edition of the IPL, beginning on April 8, will feature 350 players -- Indian and international -- and tough bidding is expected to take place. The franchises will also be richer by the experience of participating in two IPL auctions -- the inaugural one in 2008 and the out of turn auction before the third edition of the event.
As things stand now, the bidding process will be a 10-team affair with the court giving go-ahead to embattled Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals after the Board of Control for Cricket in India terminated their contracts last year. Also featuring in the auction, which was originally scheduled for November 2010, will be two new franchises, Kochi and Sahara Pune Warriors.
There will be a sealing of USD 9 million to bid for players, and three among the original eight franchisees — Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI and Deccan Chargers — will have the full purse with them for the auction since they have decided against retaining any player.
Two franchisees, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, retained the maximum number of players allowed, four, and they will have to do with USD 4.5 million in the auction and that relatively marginally number could render them just side players in the bidding process.
The players featuring in the auction will be divided into four groups according to their base reserve price.
The top list with an approximate base price of Rs 1.85 crore will feature players like former Indian skippers Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, stylish middle-order batsman VVS Laxman, explosive Yuvraj Singh, in-form South African batsman AB de Villiers and former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene among others.
The second category includes players such as big-hitting all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, who is also on top of the wishlist of more than one franchise, ace Indian speedster Zaheer Khan, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis. But the name that will attract more attention from either group will, perhaps, that be of the elder Pathan.
“Yusuf is the perfect T20 player. He can bat, perhaps, at any position in this format of the game, and that the matches will be held in the batsman-friendly Indian pitches will add to his firepower. Yusuf is also a more than handy off-spinner and he has proved it in the domestic competitions like the Ranji Trophy over the years. I am sure there is going to be a heavy bidding for him,” one of the franchise officials said.
The other surprise the auction list provides is the mention of West Indian legend Brian Lara in the top list worth Rs 1.80 crore.
It will be interesting to see which franchise will bid for the left-hander who retired some years ago, even considering his iconic status, at such a high price. A similar uncertainty surrounds Sri Lankan spin great Muralitharan, who retired from Test cricket last year after completing 800 wickets in Test cricket. The off-spinner comes with a base price of Rs 1.35 crore.
Then there are the dark horses who could upset any calculations. Players like Saurabh Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers and Ross Taylor could attract some serious bidding from franchises, especially the fresh entrants. So, brace up for some action packed moments.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Based in: Bangalore
IPL III record: Third
Looking for: Yusuf, Gambhir, Gayle, Steyn.
Retained player: Virat Kohli, after deciding not to keep Rahul Dravid or Dale Steyn with them.
Amount left in kitty:
USD 7.2 million.
Super Kings
Based in: Chennai
IPL III record: Champs
Looking for: Yusuf, Gambhir, Gayle, Steyn
Retained players: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Albie Morkel.
Amount left in kitty: Chennai Super Kings: USD4.5M.
Rajasthan Royals
Based in: Jaipur
IPL III record: Seventh
Looking for: Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary.
Retained players: Shane Warne and Shane Watson.
Amount left in kitty: USD 5.9m
Kings XI Punjab
Based in: Chandigarh
IPL III record: Last.
Looking for: Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel.
Retained players: Decided not to retain any player, leaving them with a big purse.
Amount left in kitty: USD 9m
Deccan Chargers
Based in: Hyderabad
IPL III record: Fourth
Looking for: Yuvraj Singh, Dale Steyn.
Retained players: Chargers also decided not to retain any of their players.
Amount left in kitty: USD 9m
Mumbai Indians
Based in: Mumbai
IPL III record: Second
Looking for: Praveen Kumar, Chris Gayle.
Retained players: Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh
Amount left in kitty: USD 4.5m
Knight Riders
Based in: Kolkata
IPL III record: Sixth
Looking for: Angelo Mathews, Gayle
Retained players: Didn’t retain any player, including the iconic Sourav Ganguly.
Amount left in kitty: USD 9m
Delhi Daredevils
Based in: New Delhi
IPL III record: Fifth
Looking for: AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Dale Steyn, Yusuf Pathan.
Retained players: Virender Sehwag.
Amount left in kitty: USD 7.2m, has a big purse.
Team Kochi
Based in: Kochi
IPL III record: Yet to play in IPL.
Looking for: Gautam Gambhir, Sreesanth, Robin Uthappa, Abhishek Nayar.
Retained players: None.
Amount left in kitty: USD 9 m.
Sahara Warriors
Based in: Pune
IPL III record: Yet to play in IPL.
Looking for: Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan.
Retained players: None.
Amount left in kitty: USD 9 m.
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