Mumbai: All eyes will be on skipper M.S. Dhoni as the two new franchises from Pune and Rajkot are set to battle it out in the IPL players’ draft that gets underway in Mumbai on Tuesday. Owned by businessman Sanjeev Goenka, Pune who have the rights to pick first in the draft are likely to snap up India’s limited-overs skipper Dhoni. It will be interesting to see if Dhoni will hold the similar appeal he had during the first IPL auction in 2008, when he bagged a million-dollar bid.
Though the 34-year-old is currently one of the biggest names in Indian cricket, his performances hasn’t been over the roof in the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy. He has an aggregate of 71 runs in three matches.
Rajkot, owned by mobile phone manufacturers Intex, could buy their home-grown talent Jadeja in their first turn. From a pool of 50 players up for grabs, in-form India spinners R. Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina (CSK) are the other marquee Indian names.
Apart from the big guns, the franchisees may well consider the likes of Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra and Dhawal Kulkarni who have had an impact in the previous seasons for their respective sides.
Players from the two suspended franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will allowed to spend a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore for the players.
The two new franchises will have an option to pick a maximum of five players from the draft. Those players who are unsold will be put up for being chosen at the players’ auction to be held in next February. The trading window (for buying players left free by other franchises) also commences on December 15 and ends on December 31.
As per the tender for the two new teams, the first capped player would be paid Rs 12.5 crore while the remaining four capped players are to get Rs 9.5 crore, Rs 7.5 crore, Rs 5.5 crore, and Rs 4 crore respectively. Uncapped players can be picked for a stipulated fee of Rs 4 crore.
The presence of international stars such as Brendon McCullum (NZ), Steve Smith (Aus) and all-rounders Dwayne Bravo (WI) and James Faulkner (Aus) will make decision making a tricky process for the two franchises.
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