Well it’s that time of the year where the slam-bang version of cricket is all set to return with the 2021 edition of the IPL. Hopefully, this time it will be played in India and there will be crowds to egg on their respective franchises. The 2020 edition of IPL was played in the UAE with Mumbai Indians (MI) emerging champions. Buzz has already started with the IPL auctions only a few days away. It will be conducted February 18 in Chennai.
Up for grabs
This time a number of big players are up for grabs. Among the oversees players eyes will be on Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Finch, Jason Roy, Shakib Al Hasan. Among the Indian cricketers Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav and Umesh Yadav are up for grabs.
In the 2021 IPL auctions, Harbhajan and Jadhav are the only two Indian cricketers to make the Rs 2 crore base price category. Umesh and Vihari feature in the segment of players who have a base prices of Rs 1 crore. The BCCI have already released the list of 292 cricketers who will go under the hammer. Among them are 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players and three players from Associate Nations.
A total of 1,114 players from across the globe had registered for IPL auctions. However, the list was pruned to 292 after the eight franchises presented their choices. Indian Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara also features in the list of players.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have the highest purse Rs 53.40 crore while Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) the least at Rs 10.75 crore each.
Players with base price of Rs 2 crore
Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy and Mark Wood.
Players with base price of Rs 1.5 crore
Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Morne Morkel, Alex Carey,Gregory Lewis, David Willey, Tom Curran, Shaun Marsh, Adil Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jhye Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Players with base price of Rs 1 crore
Hanuma Vihari, Umesh Yadav, Aaron Finch, Evin Lewis, Sheldon Cottrell, Mustafizur Rahman, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Jason Behrendorff, Billy Stanlake and Matthew Wade.
India S pacer Sreesanth has returned from his ban over spot-fixing allegations. He was part of the initial shortlist but he failed to make it to the IPL auction list.