The countdown for the great Indian cricketing mela, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has started. Franchises and their thinktanks are getting fidgety with all the last-minute calculations and combinations, leaving nothing to chance.
In the meanwhile, it has been learnt that a mammoth total of 799 players have enrolled their names ahead of the Indian Premier League 2017 auction, that is slated to take place on February 20, in Bengaluru.
The big names that will go under the hammer are Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Eoin Morgan apart from Mitchell Johnson, Pat Cummins, Angelo Matthew and the lanky Indian pacer, Ishant Sharma.
This will be the last of auctions before there is a complete overhaul in 2018.
England cricketers Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Eoin Morgan are among the seven players who have opted for the highest base price of Rs. 2 Crore, according to an ESPNCricinfo.
Among the 799 players in the initial list, 160 are capped players from countries barring Pakistan and Bangladesh. Among them also are 24 capped Indians who have their base prices at Rs. 30 Lakh, except Ishant, who is in the 1.5 cr bracket.
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews and Australia pacer Pat Cummins are the other players who have chosen to be placed in the highest bracket while Trent Boult, Brad Haddin, Nathan Lyon, Jonny Bairstow, Kyle Abbott and Jason Holder are the seven players who have been listed in the Rs. 1.5 crore bracket.
The franchises and their managers have until this weekend to submit their choices following which the list will be trimmed.
