Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the IPL Auction 2021 in Chennai, starting at 3 pm. Like the previous year, this is a mini auction, which the eight franchises would use to fine-tune their squads and fill gaps caused by players being released and retirements during the off season.
On Thursday, a total of 292 players will be competing for just 61 available slots across the eight franchises. For the overseas players, a maximum of 22 slots are available.3
Brijesh Patel, chairman of the IPL governing council, announces the start of the IPL auction. He makes an important announcement regarding sponsorship. VIVO have returned as the main sponsors. The previous edition was sponsored by Dream XI.
He thanks the UAE for hosting the IPL in 2020. He talks about the challenges faced last year in conducting the IPL in a bio secure environment in another country. Patel is hopeful spectators will be allowed this year. Therefore, an announcement is awaited in due course from the BCCI.
Preview
The IPL auction to be held here on Thursday carries with it several possibilities and combinations. Actually, this would have been a full-fledged auction but for the addition of two more franchises to make IPL a 10-team event in 2022. In all, 292 players will be in the fray, including 128 foreigners.
How teams fill their holes will depend on the purse left with them and the slots available, particularly in the overseas section.
Podcast | Looking ahead to the IPL Auction 2021
There is still some uncertainty whether the forthcoming IPL would be held in India in its usual slot of April-May, though in fewer venues, owing to the COVID pandemic.
Amol Karhadkar, Senior Assistant Editor at The Hindu, discuss the auction dynamics keeping this in mind, analyse which teams are likely to be the busiest at the bidding table, uncapped players to watch out for, who could strike big, and more. Click here.