New Delhi:
The final list for the IPL 2020 player auction, that will be held in Kolkata on December 19, has been finalised with 332 players going under the hammer. Initially, a total of 971 players had registered for the auction but the list was trimmed after the eight franchises had submitted their shortlist of players, reducing the list to 332. In a statement released by the BCCI, a total of 186 Indian players, 143 overseas players and three players from Associate Nations will be up for grabs in the VIVO IPL 2020 Player Auction in Kolkata. The Auction will start at 15:30 IST. Seven overseas players – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Dale Steyn and Angelo Mathews have opted to be slotted in the highest bracket which is Rs 2 crore. The auction will fill up a total of 73 vacant spots.
Robin Uthappa is the only Indian player in the list with a base price of INR 1.5 crore. Other Indian stars, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and Jaydev Unadkat have set their base price at INR 1 crore. A total of 78 players will be in the Rs 50 lakh auction bracket while 183 players will be in the Rs 20 lakh bracket. Out of the 183, 167 are Indians and 16 are overseas.
The auction will see some notable exclusions and some prominent returns. Glenn Maxwell, who had opted out of the IPL 2019 Auction as he was committed to the national team for World Cup duties, has thrown his name into the pool while the auction will not see Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc and England Test skipper Joe Root. Starc last featured in the IPL in 2015 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2018, Starc was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 9.4 crore but could not feature in the tournament. In 2019, the left-arm pacer opted out of the tournament due to World Cup and Ashes commitment.
Root, on the other hand, was not picked in the IPL Auction last year and this year, he has made himself unavailable. However, both Starc and Root are part of 'The 100', a new format devised by the ECB.
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The focus, though, will be on the upcoming talent in the Indian domestic players. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Priyam Garg, who impressed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and are in the Under-19 World Cup squad for the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, are expected to fetch big bucks in the auction.
Along with the youngsters, other players who impressed in the local leagues like the Tamil Nadu Premier League and Karnataka Premier League are also expected to fetch big numbers in the auction. M Shahrukh Khan and Devdutt Padikkal might also get snapped up by franchises as they look to boost the existing talent pool in the Indian domestic system to newer heights.
