Three Jharkhand cricketers, including pacer Varun Aaron, will go under the hammer during the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, set to be held in Chennai on February 18.

Varun is the only capped player while leg spinner Ajay Gopal Sonu and allrounder Utkarsh Singh are uncapped when it comes to the cash-rich tournament which was held in the UAE last year owing to the pandemic.

Varun, who has been released by Rajasthan Royals, has a base price of Rs 50 lakh while Jamshedpur’s Sonu and Ranchi-based Utkarsh have Rs 20 lakh each against their name.

A total of 292 players have been confirmed to be a part of the IPL auction pool ahead of the 14th edition of the tournament, expected to be played in India from April.

Senior spinner Harbhajan Singh and middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav, along with Australians Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, have been bracketed in the highest base price Rs 2 crore.

Varun, who has donned Team India colours in 2011, played several matches for Rajasthan Royals. It cannot be said with guarantee whether he would be picked at the auction . Varun has also played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past.

State players Sourabh Tiwary, Ishan Kishan, Anukul Roy (Mumbai Indians), Shahbaz Nadeem and Virat Singh (Sunrisers Hyderabad) have been retained by their respective franchises.

Monu Singh has been released by Chennai Super Kings and is not on the upcoming auction list.