Focus on uncapped Indians, Afghans; one month slot for England, West Indies

This is the last auction of the 10-year cycle after which all players are set to go back into the auction pool. While the maximum squad strength can be 27, most franchises like to keep squad base between 22 and 24. The base price ranges from Rs 10 Lakh to Rs 2 crore and there could be a clamour for uncapped Indian players based on their performances during the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It will be interesting if Test specialist Ishant Sharma, not one of the most sought after players in the shortest format, invites bidders at a premium base price of Rs 2 crore. 

At his base price and his erratic bowling in the format, Ishant is a tricky pick. Being a current India player is his only USP as franchises also need faces for brands to invest in them.

But Irfan Pathan, now dubbed as an ‘IPL specialist’ with a base price of Rs 50 lakh and his all-round abilities, can get a few bids. Fast bowler Varun Aaron, with a reasonable Rs 30 lakh base price, is expected to attract bidders. Among the uncapped Indian players, young performers like Jharkhand batsman Virat Singh and teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw (both Rs 10 lakh) can attract good bids. Rookie left-arm speedsters T Natarajan of Tamil Nadu, Kulwant Khejroliya of Delhi along with right-arm pacer Basil Thampi of Kerala could also invite good bids. All three are in the lowest base price bracket of Rs 10 lakh. Khejroliya and Natarajan have appeared for trials at multiple franchises and Thampi bowls at 140 clicks regularly with an ability to hit the blockhole during death overs. A clutch of top England players, including dashing all-rounder Ben Stokes, limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan (back in auction) and hard-hitting opener Jason Roy have entered the fray but in all likelihood will only be available for the month of April.

England are lined up to play two ODIs vs West Indies (May 5 and 7) and then another three-match series against South Africa, starting May 24. One can safely assume that England players won’t be available post April 30 and the high base price of Rs 2 crore for Stokes and Morgan along with Rs 1 crore for Roy will make franchises think twice before going into the bidding war.

Australian left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc has pulled out of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in order to rest himself ahead of a long season for his national cricket team, it was announced on Sunday.

With this decision, the 27-year-old will sacrifice Rs 5 crore that he was supposed to bag after turning out for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the coming season. 

Starc, one of the world’s premier fast bowler, had also missed the 2016 IPL edition due to injury. “The Royal Challengers Bangalore and fast bowler Mitchell Starc have mutually decided to discontinue their association ahead of the upcoming season of Indian Premier League 2017 in accordance with Regulation 41 of the IPL Player Regulations,” a statement said. 

Now, in the absence of Starc, the city-based franchise of the richest Twenty20 cricket league will go into Monday’s IPL Players auction with an additional purse of Rs 5 Crore and an additional slot for overseas player. In total, RCB have a purse of Rs 17.825 crore to buy players.