Shreyas Iyer, David Warner and his Australian teammate Mitchell Marsh, who was the Player of the Final in last year’s T20 World Cup, are among 49 players who have listed their base price at the maximum bracket of Rs 2 crore for next month’s mega IPL auction.
Among others on the Rs 2-crore list, which comprises 17 Indians and 32 overseas players, are Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Steven Smith, Shakib-al Hasan, Mark Wood, Trent Boult, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Dwayne Bravo.
Among the notable absentees from the auction list are Mitchell Starc, Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Chris Gayle. Jamaican opener Gayle has been an IPL regular since the inaugural edition in 2008 but he is nearing the autumn of his career.
Overall, a total of 1214 cricketers, including 270 capped players, 312 uncapped players and 41 from Associate teams, have registered for the auction. A final, trimmed list will be prepared by the governing council closer to the two-day auction, scheduled in Bangalore for February 12 and 13, once the franchises send back their wishlists.
The likes of Devdutt Padikkal and Harshal Patel have marked their reserve price in the highest bracket of Rs 2 crore. Padikkal, who made his India debut last year in Sri Lanka, has excelled for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2020. Patel had been the highest wicket-taker in the last edition.
Jamaican Odean Smith, a complete unknown in the IPL, has entered the fray in the highest bracket. Besides bowling at good pace, he promises impactful cameos with the bat.
Bengal’s minister of state for sports and youth affairs Manoj Tiwary has also entered the fray in the Rs 50 lakh bracket. Cheteshwar Pujara and former India pacer Sreesanth are also in the same category.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad franchise has picked Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan for Rs 15 crore each while shelling out Rs 7 crore for erstwhile Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Shubman Gill, their director of cricket Vikram Solanki announced.
