As many as 349 top players will go under the hammer in the two-day long auction for the fourth season of the Indian Premier League at Bangalore. New entrants like West Indies legend Brian Lara has already spiced up the event. Similarly, Anil Kumble’s withdrawal from the auction pool has drawn mixed reactions.
With most teams opting to go for fresh players (only 12 players have been retained by their respective franchises), the 10 teams, with the new additions Kochi and Pune, must have their wishlist ready.
As per IPL rules, each team has been permitted to retain up to four players with only Chennai and Mumbai using their full quota. Chennai have retained skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murli Vijay and Albie Morkel, while Mumbai have put faith on Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard. Other players to be retained are: Shane Warne, Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals), Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils) and Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore).
Players like Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan, Graeme Swann (new entrant) et al, should be on top of the priority list, while experienced pros like Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist may be the surprise packages.
Yusuf Pathan and AB de Villers could be the players to watch out for this auction. Similarly, Brian Lara has a possibility of returning with a fat pay cheque. A Lara-Tendulkar combo would be a treat for any cricket lover as well as the sponsors. Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir will be two other players expected to get exorbitant bids.
However, experienced hands like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman may not have teams lining up for them, especially after they were discarded by their own franchises. In this context, Ganguly and Laxman’s decision to put themselves in the top bracket ($ 400,000) after they were initially put in the third bracket ($ 200,000) may just backfire as their fitness remain suspect. It appears Laxman may have done himself more harm than good given his rather scratchy form during the first two seasons- Ganguly might just about bag a bonanza with two of the new teams eyeing a skipper or at least a senior to man the ship.
With so much in store, cricket’s million-dollar baby is back again to set tongues wagging.
- ESPNStar.com
