New Delhi: The auction for eighth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held on February 16 in Bangalore.
But as of now, there is no clarity on the number of players in the auction pool as the deadline for all the eight franchisees to prune their original list has been set for February 4.
India discards Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik, England's Kevin Pietersen and South African opener Hashim Amla are among the few who attracted the highest base price of Rs. 2 crores.
As many as 123 cricketers including 79 Indians and 44 overseas were retained by the franchisees while five Indians were traded during the player trade window for the 2015 season.
The franchisees will have an additional salary purse of Rs. 3 crore above the balance remaining from the Rs. 60 crore last year along with the amount generated from the release of players.
Having released some big-name players, this year auction would be crucial for the franchisees like Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who are also expected to be the biggest spenders of the year.
After releasing the maximum of 13 players including Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay and Ross Taylor, Delhi Daredevils in a view of building a revamped squad will have the maximum purse of Rs. 40 crore.
RCB released Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralidharan and Yuvraj Singh who was the most expensive purchase last year with a price of Rs. 14 crore, they will be having the second highest Rs. 21 crore in their purse in the auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have Rs. 20.85 crore after releasing Aaron Finch, Darren Sammy, Irfan Pathan and Amit Mishra. Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have Rs. 1.3 crore each while Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians have 11.8 crore and 10 crore respectively.
Chennai Super Kings will have the minimum purse of Rs. 5 crore after retaining all their big names.
According to the reports, England one-day captain Eoin Morgan, Indian allrounder Irfan Pathan, former Australian batsman Michael Hussey, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka batsman Tillkaratne Dilshan, West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels, and Australia batsman Cameron White, all of whom have a base price of Rs. 1.5 crore.
England allrounder Ravi Bopara, Australia's Twenty20 captain Finch, India seamer Zaheer Khan fall in the 1 crore bracket while in form Indian opener Murali Vijay opted for a base price of Rs. 50 lakh.
The 2015 season will begin on April 8 with a clash between the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians and end on May 24.
