Even as the euphoria around India’s victory over Pakistan in the World Cup at Adelaide still lingers in the air, it is time to take a break and gape at the riches that a bunch of cricketers will have at their command once the Indian Premier League player auction gets underway at the ITC Gardenia Hotel here on Monday.
Cutting across nationalities (though Pakistan still has no representation), 343 players will go under the hammer with auctioneer Richard Madley to conduct the proceedings.
The auction has 12 marquee players in which Hashim Amla, Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik come in the top bracket with a reserve price of Rs. 2 crore each. Among the rest, there are 61 batsmen, 112 bowlers, 27 wicketkeepers and 131 allrounders.
Highest purse With most teams retaining players, a large chunk from the auction-pool will remain unsold. However, Delhi Daredevils, which released 13 players, has the highest purse of Rs. 39,75,00,000 and will be an aggressive bidder.
It could be the contrary for Chennai Super Kings since the management has always invested in continuity and with the core remaining the same the team has only Rs. 4.8 crore to spare.
It is an insignificant amount when you look at last year’s auction in which Yuvraj was pocketed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 14 crore.
The CSK outfit, led by M.S. Dhoni, is largely set in stone and the spare cash would be used to fill in some miniscule blanks in the group. Getting the right players has never been an issue for CSK though its brand-perception has taken a hit due to the betting issue.
Yuvraj, who was subsequently released by RCB, will evoke interest and other key Indian players like Zaheer Khan are also part of the mix.
Team composition, the international calendar, which will determine the availability of overseas stars, and the strength of their respective wallets will influence the owners when they exercise their options at the auction.
Last year, though Mitchell Johnson was red-hot due to his Ashes exploits, his earlier team Mumbai Indians turned a blind-eye to him.
And RCB did not dip into its backyard — Karnataka — though the State was the then Ranji champion! Monday may have more surprises in store.
