The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises that the upcoming player auction will feature two sets of marquee players.
The auction will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25.
As per the information shared with the franchises, the BCCI has revealed that there will be two distinct marquee player lists, each consisting of 8-9 players.
While having two elite lists is not uncommon in a mega-auction, the 2022 auction featured only one such list.
However, two sets were used in the 2018 and 2014 auctions.
The players expected to be included in the marquee lists are Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, R. Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, and Jos Buttler, among others.
Ben Stokes was also anticipated to make the list, but he has opted not to register for this year’s auction, which will be held at the Abady Al Johar Arena (also known as Benchmark Arena) in Jeddah.
Each marquee player has set a base price of INR 2 crore, and it’s expected that by the time the first two sets of players are auctioned, 30-50% of the total available purse will be spent.
Each franchise is likely to acquire at least two high-profile players, with each costing between INR 20-25 crore on average.
This means that between INR 200-250 crore will be spent on marquee players alone, out of the total available purse of INR 641.5 crore.
The franchises have already committed INR 558.5 crore on recent player retentions, leaving them with a smaller pool for the auction.
The bidding process over the two days will largely be shaped by the competition for marquee players, most of whom are expected to be sold.
Punjab Kings, with the highest remaining purse of INR 110.5 crore, are likely to emerge as the biggest spenders.
The exact order of the auction and the final marquee lists will be shared by the BCCI in the coming days.
The BCCI recently circulated a player register consisting of 1,574 names, including 1,165 Indian players and 409 overseas players.
This list features 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players, and 30 Associate cricketers.
A total of 46 players have already been retained by the franchises.
Additionally, the BCCI has asked the franchises to suggest any new names they would like to see added to the auction list.
The franchises have been instructed to submit their final player lists by November 12.
If each team fills its maximum quota of 25 players, a total of 204 players will be auctioned, with up to 70 of them being overseas players.
The list of players in the auction register is as follows:
- Capped Indian Players: 48
- Capped International Players: 272
- Associate Players: 30
- Uncapped Indian Players (from previous IPL seasons): 152
- Uncapped International Players (from previous IPL seasons): 3
- Uncapped Indian Players: 965
- Uncapped International Players: 104
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