It's time to splurge on sport — at least for some! The gala T20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL 2019) may still be months away, but time has come for the bids and counter-bids as 351 players go under the hammer on Tuesday. IPL franchises would be cometing to get the best possible combination at today's IPL auction.
The player salary cap has been increased this year to Rs 800 million from Rs 660 million last season, giving the eight franchises a window to spend some more without worrying about the limit.
The auction would be a one-day affair, unlike the previous auction that went on for days. In another change from the usual, Richard Madley would not be the auctioneer this year and we will see a new face donning the role.
The 351 cricketers in the auction will be split into three groups — batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.
The teams have already provided the list of retained and released players. The teams, however, can have 25 players in the squad, compared with 27 earlier. The teams can now have eight overseas players, against nine earlier, and they need to keep at least 18 players in the squad.
The teams also have the option of 'Right To Match' (RTM) to keep their players. A franchise can retain its players during the auction by matching the highest bid made by another franchise. Teams can only use a maximum of three RTMs, irrespective of the number of players they managed to retain in the lists submitted to the BCCI.
Here's a look at the list of players retained and released by the teams
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK has a salary cap of Rs 840 million, with the slot for 2 Indian players only. They have retained most of their players and released just three — Mark Wood, Kanishk Seth and Kshitiz Sharma.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
KXIP have retained only nine of their 20 players and released big names, including Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch and Axar Patel. With a total of 15 available slots — 11 for Indians and 4 overseas players — KXIP have Rs 362 million and they would look to make the most of this purse from the auction. KXIP have also traded Marcus Stoinis for Mandeep Singh with RCB.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai Indians have retained 18 players and released 10, including JP Duminy and Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman. With a salary cap of Rs 110.5 million, MI have a total of 7 open slots, of which 6 are for domestic players and one spot for an overseas player. They have also traded Quinton de Kock from RCB.
With slots available for 6 Indian and 3 overseas players and a salary cap of Rs 209.5 million, Rajasthan Royals would look to bid for a balanced side.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Sunrisers Hyderabad have a total of 5 available slots — three for Indian players and 2 for overseas players — after they released Chris Jordan and Carlos Brathwaite among 8 players. The side has also traded Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils for Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem. SRH has a salary cap of Rs 970 million.
RCB have 10 available slots — 8 for Indian and 2 for overseas players. They also have a salary cap of Rs 181.5 million. They have traded Mandeep Singh for Marcus Stoinis with KXIP.
KKR have 12 available slots — 7 Indian and 5 overseas. The salary cap available is Rs 152 million.
DD have 10 slots left — 7 Indian and 3 overseas. Salary cap available is Rs 255 million. They have traded Shikhar Dhawan from SRH for Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar and Shahbaz Nadeem.