The countdown to the 2023 IPL auction is now officially on with the league announcing the final list of players that will be going under the hammer on 23 December in Kochi.
Of the 991 players who had registered for the auction by the 30 November deadline, only 405 have made the final cut, after the list was sent to the franchises to revert with the players they would be likely to bid for.
There are a maximum of 87 slots to be filled by the 10 franchises, with only 30 openings for overseas players.
Out of 405 players who have been shortlisted for the auction, 273 are Indian and 132 are overseas players of which 4 players are from associate nations.
There are 119 capped players in the list, along with 282 uncapped players and 4 players from associate nations.
Initially, a total of 369 players were shortlisted by 10 teams from the first list of 991 players who had registered for the auction. Thereafter, thirty six additional players were requested by teams, which were added into the final list.
The auction will get underway at 2:30pm on 23 December.
The BCCI has shared the full list of players going under the hammer with the first lot of batters comprising Mayank Agarwal, Kane Williamson, Ajinkya Rahane and the England pair of Joe Root and Harry Brook starting the proceedings. Some of the top all-rounders of modern-day cricket -- Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Cameron Green -- have been listed in the second set.
While some teams have their core in place and will need to make very few buys this season, franchises like Punjab, Hyderabad and Lucknow have more than 10 spots open in their line-ups. SRH in fact will be in search of a new captain as well, after releasing Kane Williamson who is back in the auction pool with a base price of Rs 2 crore. Hyderabad also have the biggest auction purse available, of Rs 42.25 crore.
Going into the auction, Punjab have the second-highest auction purse available, of Rs 32.20 crore, followed by Lucknow (Rs 23.35 crore), Mumbai (Rs 20.55 crore), Chennai (Rs 20.45 crore), Delhi (Rs 19.45 crore), Gujarat (Rs 19.25 crore), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 13.2 crore), RCB (Rs 8.75 crore) and KKR (Rs 7.05 crore).
As per the norm, the auction will begin with capped players going under the hammer. The IPL has created the order by breaking up the list into different sets based on the specialisation. The order is: batters, allrounders, wicketkeeper-batters, fast bowlers and spinners. The same order will be followed for the uncapped players.
England skipper Stokes, who has listed his base price at Rs 2 crore, remains a strong contender to bag the most expensive player reward only because he is a proven serial match-winner and gives a captaincy option as well.
The franchises will also keep their eye on Aussie all-rounder Green, who has also listed his base price at INR 2 crore. His power-hitting during the white-ball series in India recently made him an instant attraction for IPL teams.
Meanwhile, Sam Curran, who was named player of the match for his 3-12 in England's T20 World Cup victory over Pakistan and was also player of the tournament, will also be one of the most sought after players in the auction. The all-rounder has done well for CSK in the previous seasons of IPL.
(With inputs from IANS)
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