IPL Auction 2021 News Live Updates: Chris Morris Goes to RR, Becomes Most Expensive Player Ever

16:01 (IST)

Chris Morris gets a huge boost here. Meanwhile, he has become most expensive player in the history of IPL already. The bid is still on. Finally he goes to Rajasthan Royals for 16.25 cr. 

15:44 (IST)

CSK have made their mood clear. They are going big in their hunt for an all-rounder of repute, maybe to replace Shane Watson. Currently they are bidding for Moeen Ali, and the bid is past 7 cr. In fact he goes for 7 cr to CSK.

15:33 (IST)

So finally Maxwell is bought for a whopping 14.25 cr to RCB. 

15:28 (IST)

Maxwell attracting huge bids here. The race is between RCB and CSK, and the bid is already gone past 12 cr. Interestingly, he was a major disappointment last year. 

15:16 (IST)

Steve Smith goes to Delhi Capitals for 2.2cr. He was in contention to go to RCB as well. 

15:11 (IST)

Apart from the 292 players in the list, some others have been added too: Xavier Bartlett, Mushfiqur Rahim, D Rohit, KK Jiyas, Mayank Dagar, Ashok Menaria, Saurabh Kumar have all been added to the auction shortlist

15:06 (IST)

Meanwhile, the IPL auction 2021 has started. Stay tuned for all the latest updates here. 

14:51 (IST)

Sreesanth was named in Kerala's Syed Mushtaq Ali Torphy squad. Kerala failed to go past the group stages despite winning three out of their five games Sreesanth played all five matches for his state bowling 18 overs and managing to oick four wickets at 44.50 and conceding runs at an economy of 9.88.

14:38 (IST)

Taking to Instagram, he posted a lengthy video talking about how he has not given up hope of making a return to the tournament and will continue to put in the hard yards until he does so.

14:26 (IST)

Former India pacer S Sreesanth, who returned to competitive cricket after serving out a seven-year ban for involvement in spot-fixing in IPL, has said that he will remain positive and look to work harder after he failed to make the cut for the IPL 2021 player auction to be held on February 18 in Chennai. Sreesanth was hopeful of getting picked at the auction and play in the IPL once again but his comeback to the tournament that led to his long exile from the sport of cricket will have to wait at least another year.

13:57 (IST)

Edmeades has also conducted auctions for over 850 charity fundraisers in 30 cities across the world. He conducted the BBC's televised celebrity auction in aid of Children in Need in 2005 and in 2008 he was the auctioneer at the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Gala in London.

13:43 (IST)

Edmeades has experience in dealing with a range of items including paintings, fine furniture, ceramics & works of art, and film & sporting memorabilia. In 2004, he conducted the auction of 88 guitars belonging to Eric Clapton raising a total of $7,438,624. His other unusual highlights have included Daniel Craig’s Aston Martin DB10 from James Bond’s Spectre for £2,434,500 in 2016.

13:27 (IST)

Hugh Edmeades will be the man running the show in Chennai on Thursday. Edmeades is an international auctioneer and has conducted more than 2500 auctions in his 35 year career. Edmeades is a British international fine art, classic car and charity auctioneer and has sold in excess of 3 lakh lots for a sum in excess of 2.7 billion pounds.

13:13 (IST)

"That’s how MS plays his cricket over such a long period of time whenever he has captained the Chennai Super Kings. So yes, he might look at an off-spinner because Harbhajan Singh has been released, Shane Watson and probably another all-rounder or a backup for someone like Dwayne Bravo, because probably age is catching up on him as well. He’s not the same what he used to be."

13:06 (IST)

Speaking on Star Sport's Cricket Connected, Gambhir said: "Most importantly, I think they need to have a replacement straightaway for Shane Watson because obviously, that is one area. Plus, they didn’t have Suresh Raina last time around. So, Suresh Raina will be available. We are only talking about CSK because they haven’t qualified for the first time in the playoffs. That’s why there’s so much of talk and that’s when you’re playing away from home and your strength of the squad has always been built around the conditions you got to cater to – that’s Chepauk where it’s going to start spinning and gripping.

12:57 (IST)

Former India opener and one of the IPL title-winning captains Gautam Gambhir has said that Chennai Super Kings don't have to go for the jugular and should just focus on getting a replacement of Australian opener Shane Watson. He added that Dwayne Bravo is well past his prime and so the team management might want to get a replacement for him as well.

12:27 (IST)

Speaking to InsideSport, Kashi Vishwanath said, “They (Fleming and Dhoni) are not coming to Chennai for IPL Auctions but in today’s time, there are so many mediums to stay connected. They will be with us digitally.” CSK had a forgettable season last year where they just managed to secure a seventh place finish, their worst performance in the tournament ever.

12:15 (IST)

As the world awaits the IPL 2021 auction to begin, here's a big revelation done by CSK CEO Kashi Vishwanath. The latter has said that coach Stephen Fleming and skipper MS Dhoni won't attend the IPL auction from the venue, but will be present through digital medium.

11:48 (IST)

IPL Auction 2021: In the last edition of IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to make the playoffs, after a lot of ups and downs. But the Virat Kohli-led side hasn't show best of form in the last few years. In 2020, surprisingly, their batting was a cause of disappointment, with bowling being a perennial problem. This year could be different if RCB management get some replacements. Five Players Royal Challengers Bangalore Must Buy At the Auction

11:47 (IST)

Is the Paltan Ready !!!

आला रे आला ...#IPLAuction चा दिवस आला 🤩💙

Are you ready for the big day, Paltan? 😎#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/GVU9BjsmKN

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 18, 2021

11:46 (IST)

Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul 

“I am pretty sure the new name will bring us good fortune this year!” 💥#CaptainPunjab, we are pretty much sure, too! 🥰#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings @klrahul11 pic.twitter.com/edIJyFNmv1

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021

11:46 (IST)

Punjab Kings !!!

Nave andaaz hor wakhre josh de naal 🎺
swagat karo #PunjabKings da 💥👑🤩#SaddaPunjab pic.twitter.com/IVvmsx56Qb

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 17, 2021

11:45 (IST)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Number of players: 17

Number of foreign players: 06

Available slots: 08

Overseas slot: 02

Salary cap available: 10.75 crore

Released players: M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, Chris Green, Tom Banton

11:45 (IST)

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Number of players: 17

Number of foreign players: 05

Available slots: 08

Overseas slot: 03

Salary cap available: 13.04 crore

Released players: Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Alex Carey, Jason Roy.

11:19 (IST)

Deccan Chargers, the Hyderabad-based IPL franchise, was banned by the IPL governing council in September 2012 for breaching contract terms. The new team, based out of the city was named Sunrisers Hyderabad - it was owned by the Sun TV Network who had won the bid for the Hyderabad franchise. Deccan Chargers won the second season of the IPL in 2009 while Sunrisers Hyderabad were victorious in 2016.

11:19 (IST)

Delhi Daredevils changed their team name to Delhi Capitals in December 2018 after the first 11 editions of the IPL. The rationale behind the name was Delhi - the power centre of India being the national capital. The change worked wonders for the franchise as they made it to the Playoffs after a string of poor performances the previous few years.

11:18 (IST)

IPL Auction 2021 News Live Updates: Kings XI Punjab are the latest IPL franchise to go for a change in their Team Name - the franchise has never won the IPL and will hope that a change in name to Punjab Kings will also bring a change in fortunes for them. Kings XI Punjab were looking to change their name for some time before finally finalising it ahead of the 14th edition of the coveted league set to begin in early April.

11:17 (IST)

Punjab Kings

Number of players: 16

Number of foreign players: 03

Available slots: 09

Overseas slot: 05

Salary cap available: 53.20 crore

Released players: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, K Gowtham, Mueeb ur Rahman, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen, Karun Nair.

11:17 (IST)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Number of players: 19

Number of foreign players: 07

Available slots: 06

Overseas slot: 01

Salary cap available: 19.90 crore

Released players: Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Monu Singh, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay

10:26 (IST)

IPL Auction 2021 News Live Updates: 12 players are in the auction list with a base price of INR 1.5 crore. Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are the two Indian players in the list of 11 cricketers with a base price of INR 1 crore.A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players and 3 players from Associate Nations will be up for grabs in the VIVO IPL 2021 Player Auction in Chennai.