MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its IPL 2018 player auction list, with 16 marquee players from India and overseas headlining the pool of 578 players that will go under the hammer in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28. With 18 players retained, 182 slots are up for grabs.
A total of 62 capped Indians and 298 uncapped Indian cricketers will vie for the available slots with 182 capped overseas cricketers, 34 uncapped overseas players and 2 cricketers from Associate Nations.
With Rs 20 million as the highest reserve price, 36 players, including 13 Indians, have opted for the top bracket. Marquee Players R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Christopher Gayle, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Root, Mitchell Starc, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Shakib Hasan – each priced at Rs 20 million – will set the tone during the auction.
M Vijay, KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Yuzvendra Chahal and Karn Sharma have also set their base price at Rs 20 million and will hope to attract high bids as the eight franchises look to build their teams for the upcoming seasons.
The list includes at least one cricketer from each of the 12 Test-playing nations (barring Pakistan), including the recently inducted Afghanistan and Ireland. Besides, the list includes a player each from Canada and Nepal.
The IPL governing council has capped the squad strength to 25 players for the 2018 season.
Rajiv Shukla, chairman, IPL said: “A lot of strategizing and number-crunching is involved before a cricketer is picked at the VIVO IPL Player Auction. The dynamic nature of the auction makes it unpredictable and exciting. The eight franchises have given us an indication of what their core would be with their Player Retentions and the VIVO IPL 2018 Player Auction will be an important step towards the creation of a successful team. The marquee list is full of star players, but I am also looking forward to the uncapped Indian players who have proved their mettle in the earlier editions of the VIVO IPL and are sure to attract high bids.”
The complete list of IPL 2018 player auction can be accessed here…
