The mini-auction for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is less than two weeks away. The 8 franchises are busy setting their targets on the players they would look to acquire on February 18. A total of 1097 players have signed up for the IPL auction whose deadline was set on February 4. Out of the 1097 players, 814 Indian and 283 foreign players have signed up for the auction. Let’s discuss IPL 2021 highest price players
The most notable absentee from the auction list is Australian pacer Mitchell Starc. He last played in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2015. He first participated in IPL in 2014.
Indian and overseas players in the IPL auction:
Players from nearly 15 foreign countries have registered themselves for the IPL 2021 auction. While the catch is only 61 spots are up for grabs with only 22 of them reserved for the overseas players. The players’ list comprises 207 capped, 863 uncapped, and 27 Associate players. It will be a golden opportunity for the uncapped players to strike an IPL deal. An IPL contract provides them with a platform to showcase their talent.
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The capped international players often set a higher base price as compared to other players in the auction. In this auction of IPL 2021, a total of 11 players have registered themselves at the highest base price of INR 2 crores. According to sources, the players who have registered themselves in the 2 crore bracket includes Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, and Colin Ingram.
While Glenn Maxwell has almost always been a hot pick in the IPL, it will be interesting to see how much he gets picked up for in the IPL. The other notable international stars available in the auction are Steve Smith and Shakib Al Hasan. It will surely come as a surprise if Smith fetches any value above his base price as his IPL credentials have taken a severe beating in the last few years. While the Indian ageing duo of Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav too will find it difficult to get any buyers. They will really count themselves lucky if they land an IPL contract.
Key players who have listed themselves in the auction:
Dawid Malan, the number 1 ranked T20I batsman in the world has set his base price for INR 1.5 crores. Other players who have also listed themselves in the 1.5 crores bracket are Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, and David Willey.
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While the 1 crore INR bracket sees players like Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Marnus Labuschagne, and Sheldon Cottrell feature in it. There are two players whose names have generated a lot of interest in this auction. One of them is S. Sreesanth who has set his base price to INR 75 lakhs while Arjun Tendulkar, son of Sachin Tendulkar has set his base price to INR 20 lakhs.
Players with 2 crore base price:
Harbhajan Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Kedar Jadhav, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Colin Ingram
