IPL Auction: History beckons Pant, Arshdeep not far behind

PTI Jeddah (Saudi Arabia): The bids on Rishabh Pant could well soar like his audacious no-look six at Perth as he seems poised to become the highest paid player among the 577 who will go under the hammer at the two-day IPL mega auction starting here on Sunday. There will be INR 641.5 crores cumulatively in the kitty of 10 teams with 204 possible slots to be filled but one can be rest assured that all eyes will be trained on Pant's name when it comes up. Punjab Kings, with INR 110.50 crore in their coffers, are ready to outbid the other franchises. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with INR 83 crore, can be another serious bidder, so can be Delhi Capitals, who have INR 73 crore and a Right To Match (RTM) card to get their skipper for past few seasons back.

However, it is reliably learnt that Pant doesn't want DC to flash the RTM card as their parting of ways has not been the most pleasant and he no longer feels a part of the franchise. His comment that "my Retention wasn't about money for sure" is a reflection of his thought process. But the biggest question will be whether Pant can become the first Indian player to breach the INR Rs 25 crore mark? The answer lies in how the 10 franchises are stacked up and how they are looking at their team composition. A Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or Mumbai Indians (MI), with only Rs 45 crore, wouldn't even be going for the star keeper-batter. But Punjab Kings, known for changing their team every two years, have kept their entire purse on advice of their head coach Ricky Ponting, who wants to reunite with his favourite player. There are 81 players bracketed in INR two crore category base price and two sets of marquee players but one can trust the current India internationals to breach the million dollar mark (INR 8.5 crore).

If Pant would be the cynosure of this auction, Arshdeep Singh, with a staggering 96 T20 International wickets in three seasons, can easily have multiple teams going for him. Punjab has the RTM card but they wouldn't know where the bidding stops as it could be north of Rs 20 crore. Fast bowlers both Indian and foreign will be in high demand during the two days while in case of batters, most of the star Indians save Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are taken. Iyer is believed to be Delhi Capitals' choice for captaincy. Pant, Rahul and Iyer are three potential captains as RCB, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings are also going to shop for possible leaders. Among Indians, Ishan Kishan will keep the auctioneer busy although MI might not be in a position to shell out Rs 15.25 crore like last time as they need some good bowling support for Bumrah. The other interesting name would be Mohammed Shami, who Sanjay Manjrekar thinks won't attract too many bidders, something the player didn't take too kindly to. He is playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and how his bidding goes would be noteworthy.