Chennai to stage IPL mini auction on Feb 18

The core management teams of eight IPL franchises will be back at the auction table on February 18 in Chennai, a day after the second Test of England's tour to India ends. The date and venue confirmation of the mini auction was made on IPL’s official twitter handle on Wednesday.

Teams will be left to make some tricky selection calls, with IPL’s return home still not a certainty. At the IPL governing council meeting held earlier in the month, BCCI officials had reiterated their “desire to stage the league in India, health situation permitting”. A successful conduct of the upcoming series at home against England in bio secure hubs is expected to pave the way for IPL in India. The UAE remains a fallback option.

Knowledge of the venue holds significance for teams during the auctions; critical decisions about the formation of a bowling attack, for example, are dependent on where the IPL will be played. Chennai Super Kings, who have used spin as a weapon to win at home, were left at a disadvantage in 2020 on the pacier wickets in UAE. After releasing Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Monu Singh and Shane Watson (retired), they have Rs22.90 crores left in the kitty, but only one overseas vacancy. Conversely, defending champions Mumbai Indians have four empty overseas slots, and a purse of Rs15.35 crores which could be spent to find replacements for Lasith Malinga (retired), Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson and Mitchell McCleneghan, who were all released.

Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals will have the most purchasing power on the auction table. KXIP, after releasing expensive players like Glenn Maxwell and Mujeeb Zadran, are best placed with Rs53.20 crores left to fill nine slots, while RCB, who released as many as 10 players, have Rs35.90m crores and 13 slots to fill. RR, who released their skipper Steve Smith and will be led by Sanju Samson in 2021, have Rs34.85 crores to pick a maximum of eight players (25 players are allowed per squad).

Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad have six, eight and three slots respectively to fill, but limited money (Rs10-12 crores) left to spend.

The BCCI is still on the look-out for a new title sponsor, after Dream 11’s contract expired on 31 December 2020.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.