3:30 pm IST: The IPL Auction has come to an end. We will bring you the final list of players soon.
Ishant Sharma's story has been a shocking one. None of the franchisees thought he is worthy of getting picked!
READ: The complete list of sold and unsold players!
3:25 pm IST: The re-submissions post-break
Gujarat Lions purchase Aksh Deep Nath for 10 lakh INR.
KKR purchase Darren Bravo for 50 lakh INR.
Manoj Tiwary is bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for 50 lakh INR.
David Wiese remains UNSOLD!
Sayan Ghosh bought by KKR for 10 lakh INR.
Kanishk Seth is UNSOLD!
Lockie Ferguson is bought by RPS for 50 lakh INR.
C Bishnoi is UNSOLD!
3 pm IST: So the bidding war for the unsold players have come to an end. Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab have completed their requirement of 27 players in their squad. Time for them to take a chill pill now!
The AFTERNOON SESSION bidding
Pratham Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Rahul Tripathi - Base price: 10 lakh INR
RPS open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Ishank Jaggi - Base price: 10 lakh INR
KKR open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Sanjay Yadav - Base price: 10 lakh INR
KKR open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Ashton Turner - Base price: 20 lakh INR
Unsold!
Himmat Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Amit Verma - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Shubam Agrawal - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Shelley Shaurya - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
B Indrajith - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Mahmudullah - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Shabbir Rahman - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Mehedi Hasan - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Manjeet Kumar Chaudhary - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Chirag Suri - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Virat Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Tajendra Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
K Williams - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Ben Wheeler - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
D Pretorius - Base price: 30 lakh INR.
Unsold!
A Phelukwayo - Base price: 1 crore INR
Unsold!
Grandhomme - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
K Khejroliya - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Mumbai Indians open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Milind Tandon - Base price: 10 lakh INR
RPS open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Shashank Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Delhi Daredevils open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Rinku Singh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
KXIP open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Harpreet Singh Bhatia - Base price: 20 lakh INR
Unsold!
Munaf Patel - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Lockie Ferguson - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
M Santner - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Darren Sammy - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Kings XI Punjab open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Rovman Powell - Base price: 30 lakh INR
KKR open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Wayne Parnell - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
James Neesham - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Colin Munro - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Daniel Christian - Base price: 1 crore INR
RPS open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
A Gunarathna - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Mumbai Indians open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Joe Burns - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Saurabh Kumar - Base price: 10 lakh INR
RPS open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Rahul Chahar - Base price: 10 lakh INR
RPS open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Mohd Siraj - Base price: 20 lakh INR
RCB open the bidding. SRH join them. War between the two for the lesser-known Indian player.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have the final bid.......and they PURCHASE him! 2.6 crore INR
Kanishk Seth - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Sayan Ghosh - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
R Beaton - Base price: 20 lakh INR
Unsold!
Rishi Arothe - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Dishant Yagnik - Base price: 20 lakh INR
Unsold!
Pankaj Jaiswal - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
A Herwadkar - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Akash Bhandari - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
AV Wankhede - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Himanshu Rana - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Billy Stanlake - Base price: 30 lakh INR
RCB open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Ben Laughlin - Base price: 30 lakh INR
SRH open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
David Wiese - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Parvez Rasool - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Thisara Perrera - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Manoj Tiwary - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Evin Lewis - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Unsold!
Darren Bravo - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Expecting a bidding war for him! But...UNSOLD!
M Swepson - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Mayank Dagar - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Navdeep Saini - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Delhi Daredevils open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Vishnu Vinod - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Aksh Deep Nath - Base price: 10 lakh INR
Unsold!
Praveen Dubey - Base price: 10 lakh INR
RCB open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Unmukt Chand - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Imran Tahir - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Shocker again! No bids for the highly-rated spinner......UNSOLD!
I. Sodhi - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Unsold!
Pragyan Ojha - Base price: 30 lakh INR
UNSOLD!
Ishant Sharma - Base price: 2 crore INR
Absolute SHOCKER! No bids for him. UNSOLD!
Nathan Coulter-Nile - Base price: 1 crore INR
KKR open the bidding. Sunrisers Hyderabad gets involved in the bidding war. What a war this is between them!
KKR have that last bid........AND SOLD! 3.5 crore INR
Kyle Abbott - Base price: 1.5 crore INR
Again.....UNSOLD!
Jonny Bairstow - Base price: 1.5 crore INR
Again.....UNSOLD!
Irfan Pathan - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Again....UNSOLD!
Chris Jordan - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Sunrisers Hyderabad open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Sean Abbott - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Again...UNSOLD!
Saurabh Tiwary - Base price: 30 lakh INR
Mumbai Indians open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Jason Roy - Base price: 1 crore INR
Gujarat Lions open the bidding......and PURCHASE him!
Martin Guptill - Base price: 50 lakh INR
Kings XI Punjab open the bidding.........and PURCHASE him!
2 pm IST: Welcome to the afternoon session of the IPL auction~! Richard Madley, the man with the hammer, is HERE!
1:40 pm IST: So here's the purse remaining for the franchisees ahead of the afternoon session -
1:30 pm IST: So we have 30 odd minutes to go before the bidding war starts again and Richard Madley keeps on laying down the hammer, let's have a look at the top players yet to be sold!
- Ishant Sharma is the big name. The only player to remain UNSOLD from the 2 crore INR base price list.
- UNSOLD players from the 1.5 crore INR list: Kyle Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Brad Haddin, Jason Holder, Jonny Bairstow.
- UNSOLD players from the 1 crore INR list: Marlon Samuels, Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Nathan Coulter-Nile.
- TO BE AUCTIONED: Andile Phehlukwayo (1 crore INR base price), Daniel Christian (1 crore INR base price), Grant Elliott (1 crore INR base price).
1:18 pm IST: Here's a gist of the other big news that's happened in the cricket world today -
- Shahid Afridi has called it a day.....well yet again!
- Unfortunate news: Former IPL bowler arrested just before the auction!
- Yet more 100 crore deals raining for Kohli!
1:10 pm IST: Thanks for your time Ashim.
Okay guys, so here's me Sayantan, taking you through to the second session of the IPL auction. Daang! Hasn't it been a drama so far?
Ben Stokes going for a whopping 14.5 crore INR, former Sunrisers Hyderabad man Karn Sharma becoming the highest-paid Indian player in the IPL 2017 auction so far...and what an impact by Afghan player Rashid Khan Arman, who was bought for 4 crore INR.
Here's a brief of all the top buys so far:
We break for Lunch now and will be back at 2 PM IST #IPLAuction. Take a look at the top buys from the morning session. pic.twitter.com/idSdy3GNg2
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 20, 2017
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12:41: The morning session is over, but before these teams move out of the auction room for lunch, franchises have to submit the list of unsold players, who they want in the afternoon session, which starts at 2 pm. That is it from me folks, signing off, as my colleague Sayantan Maitra will take care of the proceedings post-lunch.
12:40: Fawad Ahmed, Michael Beer, Akila Dananjaya, Nathan Lyon, Rahul Sharma - ALL UNSOLD
12:38: Manpreet Gony - The pacer has a base price of Rs 30 lakhs, and GL, KKR are involved in battle for the pacer. KKR are out at Rs 60 lakhs. Gony SOLD to GL.
12:35: Varun Aaron: The pacer, who has played for India, gets the opening bid from DD. GL gets in, wants to sign the former RCB pacer. As of now, it is only DD and GL, but KXIP also gets in the race. There is another serious bidding as neither team wants to stop bidding. It has reached Rs 240 lakhs now, and it further increases to Rs 280 lakhs. GL opts out of the race, and KXIP gets the player for Rs 280 lakhs.
12:30: Ben Laughlin - UNSOLD.
12:29: Jaydev Unadkat - SOLD to RPS for Rs 30 lakhs.
12:28: Billy Stanlake, Pankaj Singh: UNSOLD.
12:26: Matt Henry: The Australian gets the opening bid from Kings XI Punjab, and there is no competition from any other team. Kings XI Punjab sign Henry for Rs 50 lakhs.
12:25: RP Singh - UNSOLD
Moving onto the fast bowlers
12:24: Anamul Haque, Shane Dorwich, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Brad Haddin, Glenn Philips - ALL UNSOLD.
12:20: Thisara Perera, Farhan Behardien - BOTH UNSOLD.
12:19: Rishi Dhawan - RPS starts bidding at Rs 30 lakhs and KKR steps in. RPS opt out at Rs 55 lakhs. Rishi sold to KKR for Rs 55 lakhs.
12:18: David Wiese - UNSOLD.
12:17: Karn Sharma - Mumbai Indians with the maiden bid and Gujarat Lions in the mix. From Rs 30 lakhs, there has been some serious bidding and it has crossed Rs 200 lakhs too. GL officials in a chit-chat moment - should we raise our paddle? Yes, they say and goes for Rs 300 lakhs. Mumbai come back with Rs 320 lakhs. GL back out and MI snaps Karn for Rs 320 lakhs.
12:12: Jason Holder - UNSOLD.
12:10: Chris Woakes: This player should get some bidders. He is a quality all-rounder. KKR makes the first move and SRH in battle with Kolkata Knight Riders for the Englishman. KKR needs an all-rounder, and SRH are out at Rs 420 lakhs. Woakes sold to KKR for Rs 420 lakhs. I will call this bargain buy for KKR.
12:09: All-rounders now, could be interesting. Parvel Rasool, former RCB spinner, and no bid for him.
12:08: Nic Maddinson - UNSOLD.
12:07: Evin Lewis, Darren Bravo - BOTH REMAIN UNSOLD.
12:06: Marlon Samuels - The West Indian receives no bid,
12:05: Manoj Tiwari, C Pujara, Abhinav Mukund, Michael Klinger, Subramaniam Badrinath - ALL UNSOLD.
12:02: Pravin Tambe - SOLD to SRH for opening bid of Rs 10 lakhs.
12:01 pm: Akshay Wakhare - UNSOLD.
11:59: M Swepson - The Australian spinner remains UNSOLD.
11:55: Rashid Khan - Battle between MI and SRH for the Afghan spinner. SRH have their paddle up, and he seems to be as their priority player. MI opt out, but again come back in at Rs 380 lakhs. SOLD to SRH for Rs 400 lakhs.
11:54: Sarabjeet Ladda - UNSOLD.
11:52: Tejas Singh - SOLD to GL for Rs 10 lakhs.
11:51: Mayank Dagar - UNSOLD.
11:50: M Ashwin - DD with a real late bid for the spinner and RPS also wants to sign him. RPS opts out at Rs 100 lakhs, and DD gets the player for the same amount.
11:49: Uncapped spinners now.
11:48: Basil Thampy - Battle between GL and RPS for Thampy, who is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 85 lakhs.
11:47: Umar Nazir, Navdeep Saini, Pawan Suyal - ALL UNSOLD
11:46: Nathu Singh - GL with the first bid and RPS joins in. Nathu Singh sold to GL for Rs 50 lakhs.
11:45: T Natarajan - RPS with the first bid and KXIP also wants the player. It is such uncapped players, which makes it interesting in the auction. RPS is out and now KKR is the new entrant in the race to sign Natarajan. KXIP is aggressive, and KKR are also out at Rs 150, and SRH enters in the fray. SRH opts out at Rs 300 lakhs.
Natarajan SOLD to KXIP for Rs 300 lakhs (Rs 3 cr)
11:40: Aniket Choudhary - RCB opens the bid and GL joins in. Both teams are going for it. They value the player, as the auction tells us. RCB are not too sure about the price as it has touched Rs 75 lakhs, but they increase it to Rs 80 lakhs. The battle is on. GL are keen on Aniket. Only two teams in the race - RCB and GL. RCB officials looking at one another in the table, should we? Yes, we should as they go to Rs 120 lakhs, and GL makes it Rs 130 lakhs. Now, time for GL to think. They are in a discussion. Brad Hodge passing inputs. GL opts out at Rs 200 lakhs. Aniket Choudhary SOLD to RCB for Rs 200 lakhs (Rs 2 cr)
11:33: Abu Nechim Ahmed,
UNCAPPED FAST BOWLERS NOW. This should be interesting.
11:32: Mohamad Shahzad, Mohit Ahlawat, Manvinder Bisla - ALL UNSOLD.
11:30: Eklavya Dwivedi - The domestic player seems to have attracted some interest as his base price from Rs 30 lakhs has gone to 65L. Gujarat Lions wins the bid with Rs 75 lakhs.
11:28: Aditya Tare - RPS with the first bid of Rs 20 lakhs, but DD gets the player for Rs 25 lakhs.
11:27: Shreevats Goswami - UNSOLD
11:26: Now, we move onto uncapped wicketkeepers. The first name out of the bag is Vishnu Vinod, who is UNSOLD.
11:24: Praveen Dubey, Shivam Dubey, Manan Sharma, Rush B Kalaria, Priyank Panchal - ALL UNSOLD.
11:22 Rahul Tewatia: Kings XI Punjab and RPS show interest in the player and KXIP gets the player for Rs 25 lakhs.
11:20: Gowtham K - KKR and MI are involved in somewhat of a close battle for the player, whose base price stood at Rs 10 lakhs and has increased to Rs 120 lakhs. KKR drops out, and SRH gets in. Mumbai are desperate for the player, it seems. There is some talk in the SRH table, and they also opt out. Gowtham sold to MI for Rs 2 cr.
11:17: Mohammad Nabi - SRH with the maiden bid of Rs 30 lakhs, and it is the closing bid as well. First Aghan player to play in the IPL.
11:15: Aksh Deep Nath, Mahipar Lomror - BOTH UNSOLD.
Now, uncapped all-rounders
11:14: Tanmay Agarwal: SRH gets the player with an opening bid for Rs 10 lakhs.
11:13: Asghar Stanikzai - The Afghan player remains UNSOLD
11:12: Unmukt Chand - The talented batsman from India goes UNSOLD.
11:11: Ankeet Bawane - DD with the first bid of Rs 10 lakhs and gets the batsman.
11:10: Prithvi Shaw - UNSOLD
11:09: We are back, and the first uncapped batsman is Umang Sharma, who goes UNSOLD.
ANOTHER MINI-BREAK.
No spinners sold so far. All these unsold players will once again be auctioned later during the day.
10:55: Imran Tahir: UNSOLD.
10:54: Pragyan Ojha - An Indian spinner - anyone? No one. UNSOLD.
10:53: L Sandakan, Ish Sodhi, Brad Hogg - ALL UNSOLD.
Spin bowlers now.
10:47: Ishant Sharma - UNSOLD. Surprise. Too high base price?
10:46: Kyle Abbott - UNSOLD.
10:45: Mitchell Johnson - Mumbai Indians with the first bid of Rs 200 lakhs, and it is the closing bid too. Johnson SOLD to MI for Rs 200 lakhs. (Rs 2 cr)
10:43: Pat Cummins - SRH with the opening bid of Rs 200 lakhs. DD joins yet again. It is a battle between DD and SRH. Teams, it seems, are keen on getting quality fast bowlers in this auction. The paddles are lifted from both the camps, and this is another bidding. SRH are out at Rs 450 lakhs, and DD gets Cummins for Rs 450 lakhs.
10:41: Tymal Mills - Mumbai Indians starts the bidding process and the battle is between Kings XI Punjab and MI. Both teams are eager for the England bowler. The bidding shows that as it has crossed the Rs 600 lakhs mark too, and there is no stopping the two as it has crossed the 700 lakhs too. RCB joins in at Rs 750 lakhs and also KKR. This is great news for Mills, who is creating a bidding war. Did anyone see this coming? Yes, to a certain extent, but 11 crores and still counting. Mills SOLD to RCB for 12 crores.
10:36: Trent Boult - Another pace bowler, who is in good demand in the auction. KKR and MI are going all out as it reaches 500 lakhs. MI opts out and KKR gets BOULT for 500 lakhs.
10:34: Kagiso Rabada: He should spark a bidding war. Kings XI Punjab starts the bid and Delhi Daredevils joins in for the South African. Both teams are keen on the player as the bid has crossed 300 lakhs. Just two teams so far, and this is interesting - touched 500 lakhs.
Rabada sold to DD for 5 crore.
10:30: Nathan Coulter-Nile is unsold.
Now, we move onto the fast bowlers.
10:29: Dinesh Chandimal - UNSOLD.
10:28: Johnson Charles - This guy can bat, but no bid. UNSOLD.
10:27: Nicholas Pooran - Mumbai Indians with the first bid of Rs 30 laks, and it is the closing bid as well. Pooran sold to MI for Rs 30 lakhs.
10:26: Andre Fletcher - UNSOLD.
10:25: Jonny Bairstow - UNSOLD.
10:24: The auction is back. The first list of wicketkeepers, and Ben Dunk goes UNSOLD.
SHORT BREAK NOW.
As expected, Ben Stokes has bagged headlines, so far, with Rising Pune Supergiants getting the English all-rounder for 14.5 crores. Mumbai Indians were desperate to get the player, but a late, really late huge bid from RPS did the job. However, there have been a few surprises too, with the likes of Jason Roy and Chris Jordan not even getting an opening bid.
10:05: Chris Jordan - The former RCB bowler goes UNSOLD. Quite a surprise, I tell you.
10:04: Sean Abbott - UNSOLD.
10:03: Corey Anderson: DD opens the bid, and no further bids as he is sold to Delhi Daredevils for 100 lakhs.
10:02: Ben Stokes - This is going to be exciting. Mumbai Indians with the maiden bid of Rs 200 lakhs, and RCB joins in and it goes to 400 lakhs. DD also joins in, and Mumbai Indians seem to be desperate for the all-rounder as it has increased to 650 lakhs. This is what an IPL bidding war means - MI and DD going all out for Stokes. Plenty of discussion on both the tables, and it has reached 1000L. SRH with a late bid and it has gone to 1300 lakhs. Three teams for Stokes - SRH, MI and DD. Delhi Daredevils are involved in some serious talks among themselves. DRAMA, as RPS gets into the act. Bid stands at 1450 lakhs now. SRH opts out of the race
RPS SNAPS STOKES FOR 14.5 cr. Five teams bid for the player.
9:52: Irfan Pathan - UNSOLD.
9:51: Angelo Mathews - Delhi Daredevils with the opening bid and the Sri Lankan goes to DD for Rs 200 lakhs (2 cr)
9:50: Next set comprises all-rounders. There should be some buyers here. Let us see. The first name is Pawan Negi, who was the costliest Indian player last season. RPS with the opening bid at Rs 30L, Gujarat Lions comes in. There is some mini war going on between the two teams. RCB also gets in with a late bid and is challenged by Sunrisers Hyderabad, but RCB gets the all-rounder. NEGI is SOLD for 100L (Rs 1 cr) to RCB
9:43: Saurabh Tiwary - There should be some bidding here for the Indian player, but again another player goes without anyone bidding. UNSOLD.
9:42: Ross Taylor - UNSOLD
9:41: Alex Hales - The England opener. No one wants him. UNSOLD.
9:40: Faiz Fazal - No bidder for the first Indian player from the hat. UNSOLD
9:39: Jason Roy - It is surprising. No one bids for him. UNSOLD.
9:38: Next player out of the hat is Eoin Morgan, who has a base price of 200 lakhs. Kings XI Punjab opens the bid, and gets Morgan for 200 lakhs (Rs 2 cr)
9:37: The first set of IPL 2017 auction comprises capped batsmen. Martin Guptil's name is the first player out of the hat, and he goes UNSOLD.
The stage is set, and here we go...................
9:30: BCCI CEO Rahul Johri welcomes all the teams ahead of the IPL auction, which is followed by some clips of the last nine editions of the cash-rich league. This is just delaying the excitement.
9:25: All the bigwigs, and the concerned officials of all the eights teams are out there in the venue with files in their hands. They look into the cameras and give a smile, which could soon fade if they do not get players of their choice.
9:10: We are allllllmost there. It looks bright and wonderful. Come on, we are talking about IPL 2017 auction, it has to be colourful.
Here we are at the #IPLAuction .
— Richard Madley (@iplauctioneer) February 20, 2017
Just running sound checks pic.twitter.com/aI7DxNzyTR
9 am: Honey, it is all about the money today. Here is a look at the purse available for all the eight teams ahead of the auction, which is just 30 minutes away.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP): Purse available: Rs 23.35 crore.
Delhi Daredevils (DD): Purse available: Rs 23.10 crore.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Purse available: Rs 20.9 crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Purse available: Rs 19.75 crore.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Purse available: Rs 17.82 crore.
Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS): Purse available: Rs 17.5 crore.
Gujarat Lions (GL): Purse available: Rs 14.35 crore.
Mumbai Indians (MI): Purse available: Rs 11.555 crore.
8:45: Here is Richard Madley talking about the past IPL auctions. This is quite interesting as he talks about his preparations ahead of IPL auctions, which is unique for him as he has to practice his pronunciations of cricketers, and he stresses on players from Sri Lanka. Madley is going to be THE MAN for today. He and his gavel will rule the IPL world.
Richard Madley is here with us LIVE as he shares his experiences with us #IPLAuction https://t.co/9SsvuPZuKN
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 19, 2017
8:30: We are inching closer towards the auction, and the anticipation is already building. One expects some big players to be sold for massive money. It remains to be seen which team will sign the big-fish - Ben Stokes? A number of teams have already showed some interest. It will come as no surprise if there is a bidding war for the all-rounder and he becomes the highest paid player in the auction.
7:55: Here is some interesting reading material for you. International Business Times, India has done a number of quality stories in the build-up to the auction. Here are some of them, and I hope you will like it.
Grading the England players in the Indian Premier League auction pool
Kolkata Knight Riders need to go all out for Ben Stokes as Andre Russell's replacement
What to expect in the IPL 2017 auction
7:30: The IPL auction has always been one of the most watched events, and even those who do not follow cricket, they do enjoy the festivity of the day, where players are sold for big bucks. The IPL auction has become a you-cannot-miss-event.
7:10 am IST: If you did not check on the IPL updates yesterday, you did miss out on some massive news. MS Dhoni has been removed as Rising Pune Supergiants captain, and Steve Smith will lead the side in IPL 2017. In another big news, which will have a major impact on Royal Challengers Bangalore's auction plan, Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has decided to pull out of IPL 2017, meaning Virat Kohli's team will have to hunt for his replacement in the next few hours.
Hello everyone. Welcome to International Business Times, India live blog coverage of the IPL 2017 auction, where cricketers are sold for huge money. Yes, you heard it right, SOLD. This is Ashim Sunam here, and I will provide you all the interesting details, and more importantly, which team buys who, as players go under the hammer in Bengaluru in a few hours time.
The countdown has already begun (can you hear the tick, tock...tick, tock) for the auction battle among eight teams.
The well-known auctioneer from Wales, Richard Madley is already here and he must have come well prepared for the auction, attending his gym sessions as he needs to use that gavel innumerable times in the auction. Madley, with his experience, takes the excitement level to another level. He has been hosting the IPL auctions ever since the first edition, and will once again be in charge of the same.
Madley's famous words 'SOLD' are what cricketers love to hear (make no mistake, cricketers watch the auction and those who are travelling, can log onto my updates) when their bids are closed by a particular team with some mammoth money.
It is in such IPL auctions, where players become millionaires overnight, and then these cricketers go into the land of imagination – what should I do with that money? They can do whatever they want, but franchises will hope that their money is paid back by the player in the form of runs or wickets, eventually leading to the IPL 2017 title. Else, the axe may be waiting for them before the next season starts.
IPL owners hate losing, in fact who does, and they do so everything within their jurisdiction to get their key targets in auction. Sometimes, they face disappointment too, as they fail to sign their desired target. But that is part and parcel of the game. Isn't it? You win some, you lose some.
The IPL 2017 auction, as one has witnessed in the past, can be competitive and equally mad. It can go absolute crazy, and if you do not believe me, stay here with me for all the live updates, where money blows through the roof too, at times.
