1,097 players register for IPL auction, most from West Indies

The auction, scheduled a day after the second Test between India and England, will start at 3 pm local time

As many as 1,097 players have registered for the much-awaited IPL auction to be held on Feb. 18 with the most number of entries coming from the West Indies (56) followed by Australia (42) and South Africa (38).

The player registration deadline closed on Thursday and the list comprises 207 capped players, which includes 21 capped Indians.

In all, 27 players represent the associate nations and 863 are uncapped cricketers, including 743 Indians and 68 from overseas.

The number of uncapped Indians who have played at least one IPL game stands at 50 and that number stands at two for overseas uncapped players.

"If every franchise were to have the maximum of 25 players in their squad, 61 players will be taken in the auction (of which up to 22 may be overseas players)," read the IPL statement on Friday.

The auction, scheduled to be held a day after the second Test between India and England, will start at 3 pm local time.

The Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the biggest purse available at Rs 53.20 crore, followed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 35.9 crore), the Rajasthan Royals (Rs 34.85 crore), the Chennai Super Kings (Rs 22.9 crore), the Mumbai Indians (Rs 15.35 crore), the Delhi Capitals (Rs 12.9 crore) and Rs 10.75 crore each for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The 2020 edition was held in the UAE due to the pandemic but the upcoming edition is likely to be played in India.

The top Australian draws like Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were released from the Rajasthan Royals and the Kings XI Punjab respectively on the last day of the retention deadline on Jan. 20. The other notable names to be released were Chris Morris, Harbhajan Singh and Aaron Finch. A total of 139 players were retained by the franchises and 57 players were released.

A country-wise breakdown of 283 overseas players who registered:

Afghanistan (30), Australia (42), Bangladesh (five), England (21), Ireland (two), Nepal (eight), Netherlands (one), New Zealand (29), Scotland (seven), South Africa (38), Sri Lanka (31), UAE (nine), USA (two), West Indies (56), Zimbabwe (two).