Payday: Who will laugh their way to the bank?

Mohammed Rumman Khan | NT

Bengaluru: It is the 15th IPL auction and the fifth mega auction, with the last big one held in 2018. All the teams are firmed up their squads by splurging millions of dollars over this weekend. The 10 teams in the league, following the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants, will be bidding heavily for the Indian players in a list of 590 cricketers (370 Indian and 220 overseas) up for grabs during the two-day event.

This year’s auction might witness the maximum number of Indian million dollar buys ( Rs 7.5 crore and above) with more than 10 cricketers set to cross Rs 10 crore bid range and some expected to hit close to Rs 20 crore.

A total of 590 players will be up for grabs. This shortlist was pruned from the original list of 1214 players based on the wish-list of the ten franchises. While Iyer could be the highest ever auction buy (in the 20 crore range), the likes of Shardul and Kishan (keeperbatter), with their bouquet of skills, can also fetch anything in the range of Rs 12-15 crore or even upwards if some franchises get into intense bidding wars.

These are franchises that need solid middle-order game-changers and also a member of the leadership group in case a Mayank or Kane don’t out. (With inputs from agencies)

Know all about the auction

• Total of 33 players have been retained by 10 franchises.
• 10 marquee players will open the auction.
• Followed by a full round of capped players based on specialisation - batters, allrounders,wicketkeeper-batters, fast bowlers, and spin bowlers - before moving on to uncapped players.
• First 161 players will go under the hammer on Saturday.
• There are 62 sets altogether including the Know all about the auction marquee set.
• Each team should have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 25 players.
• Each team should spend a minimum of Rs 67.5 crore from their total purse of Rs 90 crore.
• Each squad can have at most eight overseas players in the squad.
• Total of 229 capped players, 354 uncapped, and seven players from the Associate teams.
• The second day will start with an accelerated bidding process. Franchises will be asked to nominate the remaining players they are interested in. Those players will go under the hammer.
• Unlike the last mega auction in 2018, the IPL has decided not to have Right-toMatch this time.
• Lowest base price Rs 20 lakh and the highest is Rs 2 crore.
• Youngest player in this auction is Afghanistan’s 17-year-old Noor Ahmad.
• The oldest player is T20 veteran Imran Tahir.
• Top players missing: Chris Gayle, Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Kyle Jamieson, Sam Curran, Dan Christian, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Tom Banton and Matt Henry, among others.
• Hugh Edmeades will be auctioneer