As many as 1097 cricketers, including Arjun Tendulkar and S Sreesanth, have registered for the much-awaited Indian Premier (IPL) auction to be held in Chennai on February 18. (More Cricket News)
Arjun, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, operates as a left-arm seamer, has reportedly enlisted for a base price of INR 20 lakh. He recently made Mumbai senior team debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Defending champions Mumbai Indians remain favourite to pick the young all-rounder.
It's also reported that Sreesanth, who was banned in the wake of 2013 IPL spot-fixing controversy, has set a base price is INR 75 lakh.
But England Test skipper Joe Root and Australian speedstar Mitchell Starc opted out.
Starc, who last played in the T20 league in 2015, misses out once more. Root -- centurion on the first day of the ongoing opening Test against India, too didn't enroll for the second successive time, joining fellow England players Harry Gurney and Tom Banton, who also did not register.
Australian pacer James Pattinson, who played a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' title-run last year, is also another prominent absentee.
But current number one T20 batsman in the world, England's Dawid Malan might make his debut in IPL as he also registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan registered, who served a suspension for not reporting corrupt approach, listed at the highest base price of Rs 2 crore.
Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and Colin Ingram -- all set their base price at Rs 2 crore.
Hanuma Vihari (Rs 1 crore) and Cheteshwar Pujara (Rs 50 lakh), who played pivotal roles in India's incredible 2-1 Test win over Australia, also registered for the auction.
Among others to list at the same price are Alex Carey, Tom Curran, Mitchell Swepson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Hales, Jhye Richardson, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Adam Lyth and Lewis Gregory.
It's worth noting that top Australian draws like Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were released from Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab respectively on the last day of the retention deadline on January 20.
The other notable names to be released were Chris Morris, Harbhajan Singh and Aaron Finch. A total of 139 players were retained by the franchises and 57 players were releases.
The player registration deadline closed on Thursday and the list comprises 207 international players including 21 capped Indians. West Indies topped the foreign registration with 56, followed by Australia (42) and South Africa (38).
Twenty-seven players will represent the associate nations and 863 uncapped cricketers, including 743 Indians and 68 overseas. The number of uncapped Indians who have played at least one IPL game stands at 50 and two for overseas uncapped players.
"If every franchise were to have the maximum of 25 players in their squad, 61 players will be taken in the auction (of which up to 22 may be overseas players)," read the IPL statement on Friday.
The auction, scheduled a day after the second Test between India and England, will start at 3pm local time.
Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the biggest purse available at with Rs 53.20 crore, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 35.90 crore), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 34.85 crore), Chennai Super Kings (Rs 22.90 crore), Mumbai Indians (Rs 15.35 crore), Delhi Capitals (Rs 12.9 crore) and Rs 10.75 crore each for Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 2020 edition was held in the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic but the upcoming edition is likely to be played in India.
Country-wise breakdown of 283 overseas players who have registered: Afghanistan (30), Australia (42), Bangladesh (5), England (21), Ireland (2), Nepal (8), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (29), Scotland (7), South Africa (38), Sri Lanka (31), UAE (9), USA (2), West Indies (56), Zimbabwe (2).
(With PTI inputs)
