Over 1000 players have registered for this year's 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction that will take place 18 February in Chennai.
Out of the 1 097 players registered - 814 Indian and 283 overseas players - 38 South Africans have put their name in the hat for a possible IPL contract.
The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) have not revealed the names of the registered players yet ahead of this month's auction.
Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, confirmed that he would not participate in this year's IPL and insisted that he has not retired from international cricket.
Earlier this year, 139 players were retained by their respective franchises. There are eight South Africans, who will compete in this year's IPL, including Proteas skipper Quinton de Kock, who led Mumbai Indians to their fourth IPL title.
The IPL auction is to be held on 18 February (11:30 SA time), with teams set to splash out more than $25 million dollars (around R380 million) to hire stars from around the world.
The IPL is expected to start in April, however the venues, and whether the tournament will even be held in India, still hasn't been finalised because of the pandemic.
South Africans retained in IPL 2021:
Mumbai Indians - Quinton de Kock
Dehli Capital - Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
Chennai Super Kings - Faf du Plessis, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir
Royal Challengers Bangalore - AB de Villiers
Rajasthan Royals - David Miller
The country-wise breakdown of 283 overseas players is as below:
Afghanistan - 30
Australia - 42
Bangladesh - 5
England - 21
Ireland - 2
Nepal - 8
Netherlands - 1
New Zealand - 29
Scotland - 7
South Africa - 38
Sri Lanka - 31
UAE - 9
USA - 2
West Indies - 56
Zimbabwe - 2
- Compiled by Sport24 staff