New Delhi, Jan 23: Already under severe pressure to retain his place in the Test squad, VVS Laxman's IPL career may just come to a halt as none of the nine franchises are keen on roping in the senior batsman as a full-time player.
Laxman, who was bought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala at a price of $400,000 during the last edition, will again go under the hammer along with fellow India players like Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Kiwi Brendon McCullum and Lankans Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan.
While there would be a fight among the teams for Jadeja whose game suits the shortest format, Laxman looks like one of the bigger names who might just miss out.
"This auction won't be a full-fledged one. The franchises have $2 million purse and teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Pune Warriors will come to the auction with even lesser money. All the owners will be very choosy about the players they will be zeroing on. I don't see Laxman fitting into the scheme of things," an IPL official said on Monday.
Interestingly, during the last edition, Laxman had lowered his base price from $400,000 to $300,000 in order to attract prospective bidders.
The BCCI has handed the franchises a list of 180 players excluding Kochi players, whose names would be inducted later.
The parent body has instructed teams to choose around 50 to 60 names to make the auction short and meaningful.
"Effectively, franchises will pick around 18-20 players amongst themselves. So there is no point in calling out names that would go unnoticed," a franchise official said.
Asked what can be the way out for the 37-year-old Hyderabadi, a source pointed out, "If he accepts to be a mentor, then some franchise may just recruit him, but taking him as a full-time player is certainly not a wise business decision."
Among the foreign players in demand, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell with a base price of $100,000, can attract a number of bidders.
