16 marquee players in final IPL auction list

Mumbai – Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis and Yuvraj Singh are among the 16 marquee players who will be the first set of players to go under the hammer in the IPL auction to be held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13.

The marquee players’ list, which has been split into two sets of eight names each, also includes Mahela Jayawardene, Mitchell Johnson, M Vijay, David Warner, George Bailey, Faf du Plessis, Michael Hussey, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Brendon McCullum, Amit Mishra and Darren Sammy.

The final list has been trimmed to 514 from the original 895 names. There are 219 capped players in addition to 295 uncapped players. There are 30 players listed at the maximum base price of Rs 2 crore (US $320,00 approximately) which includes 11 Indians. Australia fast bowler James Pattinson, who was in the original list of players with a base price of Rs 2 crore, is not there in the updated list. This will also be the first time the auction will be carried out in Indian rupees.

In addition to the marquee groups, players have been split into various categories according to their specialistation: batsman, fast bowler, spinner, allrounder, wicketkeeper.

It is likely that the uncapped players will be auctioned on the second day considering the volume of players on the list. This is the first time uncapped players will feature in the auction. In the past the absence of uncapped players in the auction was a controversial topic, with many franchises complaining of horse trading by their richer rivals who, it was alleged, were luring players with under-the-table deals. With the IPL restricting the squad strength to 27 this year, the franchises have been forced to lay more emphasis on domestic Indian players.