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Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting,
the current Australian Test captain and his predecessor, have attracted
the highest base price of $400,000 each ahead of the IPL player
auction, which will be held on February 3 in Chennai. The Australian duo
form part of the 101-strong list comprising players from eight countries, which was finalised by the IPL on Wednesday and distributed to the nine franchises.
In addition to a host of lesser-known players mainly from Australia and
South Africa - the breeding ground for Twenty20 cricket - the list
includes seven Indians, two Englishmen and Kevin O'Brien, the Ireland
allrounder, who is the lone representative from the Associates. The list
once again does not feature Pakistan players.
Though Clarke has not played for Australia in Twenty20s since he retired
from the format couple of years ago, he was signed by the Pune Warriors
last year outside of the auction.
But now released by the franchise, Clarke is expected to be one of the
few marquee names to go under the hammer. What stands in his favour are
his successful leadership abilities along with a strong batting form
last year.
In comparison, the 38-year-old Ponting, who retired from all forms of
international cricket last November, may not sell as an equally-hot
entity. Ponting made his IPL debut in 2008 with the Kolkata Knight
Riders, but in 2010 the franchise bought out his contract.
Darren Sammy, who led West Indies to the World Twenty20 crown last year,
tops the list of first-timers with a base price of $100,000, and is
part of the allrounders set. Ravi Bopara, the England allrounder, also
has a list price of $100,000, the same as last season when he remained
unsold. Another England player who was ignored last year, but has once
again put his hat in the ring, is Matt Prior ($200,000), who is one of
the wicketkeepers available.
RP Singh and Abhishek Nayar top the list of players whose fortunes
crashed badly last season. Singh, who was bought by Mumbai Indians in
2012 for $600,000, was released by the franchise after a lukewarm
performance where he bagged 10 wickets from 11 matches and thereafter
has failed to impress in the domestic cricket.
But a player who could curse his luck would be Nayar, who hit prolific
form during Mumbai's victorious Ranji Trophy season this year to finish
as the second-highest run-scorer
in the tournament. Nayar was bought by Kings XI Punjab in 2011 auction
for $800,000, but after a dismal form in the 2012 edition, the
franchise opted to release him. Nayar has now entered the auction with a
reserve price of $100,000.
Among the overseas players, Johan Botha is back in the auction at a list
price of $300,000, after the Rajasthan Royals released him. The Royals
had paid an eyebrow raising $950,000 during the 2011 player auction to
bag Botha, a move that seemed puzzling considering Shane Warne was still
the leading spinner for the inaugural IPL champions. Last year Botha
fetched a poor return, bagging just nine wickets and scoring 58 runs in
the eleven games he played.
This time around the majority of the franchises have predicted a low-key
auction, reasoning that they had most bases covered during the previous
two auctions. "Apart from filling in certain small gaps, I do not see
any big action happening this time around. Also with the player
contracts expiring after the 2013 season, it would be difficult to place
your bets on any big buys," a franchise official told ESPNcricinfo.
Even the trading window, which opened on November 19, attracted scant
attention from the franchises with one formal trade registered: T Suman,
who played for Mumbai Indians in 2012, shifting to neighbouring Pune
Warriors. The second trading window will be open from February 4 to 15.
Each franchise has a salary cap of up to $12.5m to spend on their 2013
squad, which can contain a maximum of 33 players, including 11 from
overseas.
Click here for the full list of players and reserve prices.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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