The Indian Premier League has announced its player auction list for the 2021 IPL, with a total of 292 players set to go under the hammer with 61 slots in eight franchises on February 18 in Chennai, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed on Thursday.
Out of the 292 cricketers named in the auction list, a total of 164 Indians, 125 overseas players and three others from associate nations have been enlisted, a press release said.
Nearly 1,100 players had initially registered for the much-awaited IPL auction, with the most entries from West Indies (56), Australia (42) and South Africa (38), PTI had earlier reported.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have highest the number of 13 slots available while Sunrisers Hyderabad have only three vacancies.
Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the highest purse (Rs 53.1 crore) while Sunrisers can spend a little less than 11 crore (10.75 crore). Chennai Super Kings will have an interesting auction with a 22.7 crore purse and seven slots to fill.
Senior spinner Harbhajan Singh and middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav, who were released by CSK this year, along with Australians Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, have been bracketed in the Rs 2 crore highest base price category.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, England players Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy and Mark Wood are also in the same bracket.
Indian cricketers Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are the only Indians in the list of 11 players with a base price of Rs 1 crore.
Former India cricketer S. Sreesanth, who had reportedly registered his name for the auction, failed to make the cut. He had returned to competitive cricket after serving a seven-year ban for allegedly being involved in a spot-fixing scandal in the IPL.
Indian legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun, a left-arm fast bowler, has also been included in the final list, in the lowest base price category of Rs 20 lakh.
Nayan Doshi, son of former India spinner Dilip Doshi, has also been listed at a base price of Rs 20 Lakhs. The 42-year-old will be the oldest player listed in the auction.
The auction will be held on February 18 at 3pm IST in Chennai.