The auction takes place on Tuesday, December 18 with some of the biggest names in cricket up for grabs, and The Cricketer is here to explain how the auction works, and who is involved...
The Indian Premier League auction is the process by which the eight teams competing in the tournament draft new players into their squads.
The auction will take place on Tuesday, December 18 in Jaipur.
Before the auction even starts, each team is assigned a specific budget for which they can use to bid on players. These purses are defined by the players they retain, and the contracts those players are on. The retention process finished on November 15.
The size of a team’s squad also defines how many players they can draft as teams can have only 25 players at most, with no more than eight of them being foreign.
When the auction actually starts, the first players to go are the big marquee names. All teams then bid on these players, like they would at any auction, with the winning bid being the highest unbeaten bid. The bidding for these players starts at the base price which they list themselves at. Sam Curran and Chris Woakes are two England players who have put themselves in at the highest base price of 2 crore (£220,000).
The base price for capped and uncapped players is different. Capped players are listed at 2 crore (£220,000), 1.5 crore (£116,000), 1 crore (£110,000), 75 lacs (£82,600), or 50 lacs (£55,100), while uncapped players are listed at 40 (£44,100) lacs, 30 lacs (£33,100), or 20 lacs (£22,000).
The salary cap has, like 2018, increased. This time rising from 80 (£8,800,000) to 82 crore (£9,000,000), and sides are required to spend at least 75 per cent of this. Things are complicated slightly by ‘Right to Match’ cards, which were brought in for the 2018 IPL.
These allow clubs to retain up to five existing players, either by retaining them before the auction, or during the auction. An RTM card means a player’s previous club are allowed to match the winning bid price put in by another team.
In previous years the auction was conducted by Richard Madley, however he has been replaced by Hugh Edmeades.
Richard Madley will not be conducting the auction
Chennai Super Kings
Overseas slots: 0
Indian slots: 2
Budget: 8.40 crore (£886,000)
Delhi Capitals (formerly Daredevils)
Overseas slots: 3
Indian slots: 7
Budget: 25.50 crore (£2,760,000)
Kings XI Punjab
Overseas slots: 4
Indian slots: 11
Budget: 36.20 crore (£3,970,000)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Overseas slots: 5
Indian slots: 7
Budget: 15.20 crore (£1,660,000)
Mumbai Indians
Overseas slots: 1
Indian slots: 6
Budget: 11.15 crore (£1,200,000)
Rajasthan Royals
Overseas slots: 3
Indian slots: 6
Budget: 20.95 crore (£2,220,000)
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Overseas slots: 2
Indian slots: 8
Budget: 18.15 crore (£1,990,000)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Overseas slots: 2
Indian slots: 3
Budget: 9.70 crore (£998,000)
There is a pool of 346 players to choose from this year, which was whittled down from an initial list of 1003 after franchises submitted their shortlist of players form that longer list.
There are nine players, all overseas, who have listed themselves at the highest base price of 2 crore (£220,000) – Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Lasith Malinga, Colin Ingram, Shaun Marsh, Corey Anderson, Sam Curran, Angelo Mathews and D’Arcy Short.
The highest-priced Indian player is Jaydev Unadkat, who has listed himself at 1.5 crore (£116,000).
The number of players from each country in the shortlist: India: 226, South Africa: 26, Australia: 23, England: 18, West Indies: 18, New Zealand: 3, Afghanistan: 8, Sri Lanka: 7, Zimbabwe: 2, Bangladesh: 2, Netherlands: 1, USA: 1, Ireland: 1
Sam Curran is listed at the highest base price of 2 crore (£220,000)
No UK broadcaster will be showing the auction live, however, if you have access to watch India’s Star Network, you will be able to watch it on Star Sports 1.
The Cricketer will be providing updates of the biggest deals.
The IPL starts on March 23, with the final scheduled to take place on May 12
The Cricketer has a handy list of who has been retained or released by each team.
IPL RETAINED AND RELEASED LISTS
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