Yuvraj Singh was the most expensive buy in the previous auction © PTI
Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Mitchell Marsh are among 12 players that have listed the highest base price of INR 2 crore for the IPL players auction, scheduled for February 6 in Bangalore. These players feature in a 714-strong long list – accessed by ESPNcricinfo – which will be trimmed by January 25 to form the final pool of players for the auction.
Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson and Dhawal Kulkarni are the other Indians who have put a reserve price of INR 2 crore. Australia veteran Michael Hussey might have turned 40, but he remains confident about playing a role in a format perceived to be a young man’s game as he too put INR 2 crore as his base price. Hussey has not only captained Syndey Thunder to the final of the ongoing Big Bash League, but he is also the tournament’s leading run-scorer.The other overseas player who has attracted the INR 2-crore base price is Australia fast bowler Kane Richardson.
The auction is likely to be a busy affair considering not just the two new franchises – Rising Pune Super Giants (RPSG) and the yet to be named Rajkot team – but also established teams like Delhi Daredevils are expected to bid fiercely at the single-day auction.
Last month, Daredevils released the maximum players – 13 – from last year’s squad which included marquee names Yuvraj and Sri Lanka captain and allrounder Angelo Mathews. Last year, Yuvraj was the most expensive buy for the second consecutive auction after the Daredevils raised the bid price to INR 16 crore. Daredevils also paid INR 7.5 crore for Mathews. However, both players failed to create the desired impact and the franchise consequently decided to release them to bolster their purse going into this year’s auction.
A total of 61 players were released by the six franchises when the first trading window closed on December 31. Among them was the second most expensive player of last year’s auction, Karthik, who was secured by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 10.5 crore.
Following is the purse remaining with the each of the eight franchises:
Delhi Daredevils (INR 37.15 crore), Kings XI Punjab (INR 23 crore), Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 17.95 crore), Mumbai Indians (INR 14.405 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (INR 21.625 crore), Sunrisers Hyderabad (INR 30.15 crore), Rising Pune Super Giants (INR 27 crore), Rajkot (INR 27 crore).
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo