The Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday released the list of 292 players, who are set to go under the hammer at the auction for the 2021 season of the lucrative league next Thursday, February 18 in Chennai. The IPL had announced that 1,114 players had registered for the auction initially and the eight franchises submitted their shortlisted players and the final list consisted of 292 players, out of which 164 are Indian, 125 overseas and 3 players from Associated nations.
"The VIVO IPL 2021 Player Auction list is out with a total of 292 cricketers set to go under the hammer in Chennai on February 18th, 2021. 1114 cricketers had initially registered for the auction. The final list was then pruned after the eight franchises submitted their shortlist of players," said an IPL release.
A total of 10 players are in the highest INR 2 Crore bracket, which consists of two Indian and eight overseas players. Former Indian off-spinner and Chennai Super Kings player Harbhajan Singh and batsman Kedar Jadhav are the only two Indian players in the bracket. While Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Shakib al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood are the overseas players in the highest bid bracket.
A total of 12 players are in the 1.5 crore bracket and 11 players are in the 1 crore bracket out of which 2 are Indians. Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are in the third highest bracket for the upcoming auction.
"A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players and 3 players from Associate Nations will be up for grabs in the VIVO IPL 2021 Player Auction in Chennai," the release further added. Ali Khan (USA), Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal) and Karthik Meiyappan (UAE) are the three players from the Associate nations, who will be up for grabs.
Out of the 822 discarded names, the biggest name to miss out on is the 37-year old Kerala-born pacer S Sreesanth, who recently made a comeback to the game in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after his 7-year long ban from cricket.
A maximum of 61 players can be picked by the eight franchises in total, with the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with the maximum number of slots to fill, 11.
