New Delhi: India pacer Ishant Sharma, England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan and former Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson are among seven players who have listed themselves at the highest base price of Rs 2 crore (approx $298,000) for IPL-10 player auction.
England allrounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins are the other players in this bracket. The IPL auction is to be held in Bengaluru on February 20.
The Rs 1.5 crore bracket has England’s Johnny Bairstow, New Zealander Trent Boult, Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Brad Haddin, South African Kyle Abott and Jason Holder of the West Indies.
A total of 799 players are part of the initial roster which would be reduced once the franchises submit their preferences before the deadline this weekend. There are 160 capped players from eight countries — leaving out Bangladesh and Pakistan — and 639 from India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Of the 24 capped Indian cricketers, everyone barring Ishant has listed their base price at Rs 30 lakh. This will be the final year of IPL before the teams overhaul their squads for the 2018 season. The existing player contracts will expire after this season of the league and most players are expected to go under the hammer at a mega auction ahead of the 2018 season.
Considering they will have to put a majority of their players back into the auction in 2018, some franchise officials said they would not be too aggressive in buying players this season. However, they did agree that there would be considerable interest in the English players. The IPL is yet to decide on the retention rules though.
