People might not have moved on from India’s heartbreaking loss in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, but to put balm on the injury, the IPL auction is here. If the IPL is truly a spectacle, then the auction provides the much-needed edge and becomes a spectacle sometimes bigger than the game itself. For the first time in history, the IPL auction has moved out of the country and will be hosted in Dubai.
Here’s everything you need to know about the IPL 2024 Auction.
When and where?
This year’s auction is a mini one where teams were allowed to retain as many players as they wanted and had no compulsion to trade their players. But some high-profile releases and trades later, teams are going to congregate at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on December 19 (Tuesday).
The auction will begin at 1 PM IST, with 333 players going under the hammer. The auction will be conducted by Mallika Sagar, who replaces Hugh Edmeades this year. Sagar has the experience of conducting the last two Women’s Premier League auctions, and this time, she becomes the first female gavel master.
Help me with the breakdown of the players
Sure. Out of the 333 registered players, 214 are Indians, and the rest 119 are overseas players. 116 capped players across the world have registered themselves for the auction, whereas 215 are uncapped. With 77 slots remaining to be filled, teams will be eying major players to fill the slots.
Player Retentions
Among big players, Ben Stokes, who decided to opt out of the 2024 IPL Auction, has been released by Chennai Super Kings whereas Mumbai Indians have let go of Jofra Archer. The five-time champions have also let go of Cameron Green to RCB for a sum of INR 17.5 crore which helped them gain a big purse to ensure the Hardik Pandya trade went through.
Unsurprisingly, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have let go of both Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur, while Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have not retained their faith in Harry Brook, who cost them INR 13.25 crore at the previous IPL Auction.
For the full retained and released player list, you can refer to this link here.
Remaining purses
Every team has been allotted an incremental 5 Cr purse this time around, which makes it a total of 100 Cr budget each. Gujarat Titans, with 38.15 Cr of available purse, have the biggest budget to take the auction head-on. This was possible after they traded away their skipper Pandya in an all-cash deal with Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, with a 13.15 Cr purse, Lucknow Super Giants have the lowest budget of them all.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (34 Cr), Kolkata Knight Riders (32.7 Cr), and Chennai Super Kings (31.4 Cr) have more than 30 Cr of purses available apart from Gujarat Titans. With less than 20 Cr, Mumbai Indians (17.75 Cr), Rajasthan Royals (14.5 Cr), and Lucknow Super Giants (13.15 Cr) have a challenge to fill the remaining slots with desired targets.
Some hot-shot players
The likes of Mitchell Starc, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahrukh Khan, Harry Brook, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, and Gerald Coetzee are well-placed to attract huge bids in the auction, primarily because of the supply-demand mismatch. Similarly, among the domestic players, Urvil Patel, Harvik Desai, Ravi Teja, Arslan Khan, and Manisankar Murasingh may be going away with good bids.
We at Cricket.com have delved deep into theorizing the needs of the teams. You can check them out here.
Auction Preview - DC, RCB, LSG
Auction Preview - CSK, MI, KKR & SRH
Auction Preview - PBKS, RR and GT
Wondering which are the domestic players that will fetch some money?
Don't worry, we are Cricket.com for a reason. We got that for you. Domestic players who can attract a big bid!!
That isn't it. We have even gone on a stretch to analyse the various trends of the 2023/24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to give you how that could impact the auction.
Oh, just by the way, we got the various different regional leagues as well!
I guess you are pretty prepared. Thank us later.
Tell me how I can follow it?
You can watch the auction live on Star Sports and Jio Cinema. You can also follow every single bid in our Live Tracker and Live Blog which we will run concurrently on Cricket.com.