 "IPL 2016 player auction: Can Yuvraj do a hat-trick?")
With just under Rs 200 crore at the disposal of teams collectively, the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s player auction this year promises to be an exciting affair. Richard Madeley will resume his duties as auctioneer as the eight teams — six existing and two new — fight it out for the best players money can buy. The auction will take place on Saturday in Bengaluru.
Yuvraj Singh, who has been the most expensive player for the past two years, will once again command a premium, say experts. Giving him competition will be Australia’s Shane Watson, England’s Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Dale Steyn, Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill and Dwayne Smith, all of whom are in the marquee player bucket, and will be the first to come up for bidding.
This year, it seems to be a more level-playing field for international players, since six of the eight players in the marquee pool are foreign cricketers.
Traditionally, Indian players have always been the top picks by teams. For the past two years, Yuvraj Singh has been the most expensive player, followed by Dinesh Karthik. Foreign players do figure among the costliest, but not as much as the Indian players.
The stakes have become significantly higher since 2014, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) changed the currency for transaction to rupees from dollars. As a result, the auction purse in 2014 was capped at Rs 60 crore. It increased to Rs 63 crore in 2015. This year, the teams have Rs 66 crore to splurge on player acquisition.
“Apart from Yuvraj, all the other top players from Team India are already sorted into their teams. He, thus, becomes the most sought after Indian player. He will definitely be acquired for a rate above the base price (Rs 2 crore). However, the gap between the reserve price and the selling price may not be the same as in previous years, given his inconsistent form,” says Indranil Das Blah, partner, Caa Kwan, a sport and celebrity management agency.
Others agree that teams may not shell out the amount that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) did in 2014 (Rs 14 crore) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) in 2015 (Rs 16 crore).
“Last year, Delhi (Daredevils) paid a really huge amount for him and the returns were next to nothing. Teams will be wary of mindlessly spending on a player, especially since Yuvraj has not really played much T-20 until the auction," says another sport agent.
The teams also have the option of going for foreign players like Watson and Pietersen who have proved their mettle in the T-20 format, especially Watson who showed good form in the recently concluded T-20 series against India Down Under.
Das Blah adds that among the foreign players, there are 'T-20 specialists' who might seem like better choices for teams beyond the star players. Apart from a handful of players, most Indian and foreign cricketers have comparable base prices, and bidding for them would be heated.
The teams have considerably more cash to spend in the auctions. Last year, the collective sum available for player bidding was Rs 135 crore while this year, it is Rs 198 crore. Part of the reason is that teams have been judicious in retaining players. Also, the two new teams spent Rs 39 crore to draft five players and, hence, have a significant amount left to build the rest of their squad.
Yuvraj Singh, who has been the most expensive player for the past two years, will once again command a premium, say experts. Giving him competition will be Australia’s Shane Watson, England’s Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Dale Steyn, Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill and Dwayne Smith, all of whom are in the marquee player bucket, and will be the first to come up for bidding.
This year, it seems to be a more level-playing field for international players, since six of the eight players in the marquee pool are foreign cricketers.
Traditionally, Indian players have always been the top picks by teams. For the past two years, Yuvraj Singh has been the most expensive player, followed by Dinesh Karthik. Foreign players do figure among the costliest, but not as much as the Indian players.
The stakes have become significantly higher since 2014, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) changed the currency for transaction to rupees from dollars. As a result, the auction purse in 2014 was capped at Rs 60 crore. It increased to Rs 63 crore in 2015. This year, the teams have Rs 66 crore to splurge on player acquisition.
“Apart from Yuvraj, all the other top players from Team India are already sorted into their teams. He, thus, becomes the most sought after Indian player. He will definitely be acquired for a rate above the base price (Rs 2 crore). However, the gap between the reserve price and the selling price may not be the same as in previous years, given his inconsistent form,” says Indranil Das Blah, partner, Caa Kwan, a sport and celebrity management agency.
Others agree that teams may not shell out the amount that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) did in 2014 (Rs 14 crore) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) in 2015 (Rs 16 crore).
“Last year, Delhi (Daredevils) paid a really huge amount for him and the returns were next to nothing. Teams will be wary of mindlessly spending on a player, especially since Yuvraj has not really played much T-20 until the auction," says another sport agent.
The teams also have the option of going for foreign players like Watson and Pietersen who have proved their mettle in the T-20 format, especially Watson who showed good form in the recently concluded T-20 series against India Down Under.
Das Blah adds that among the foreign players, there are 'T-20 specialists' who might seem like better choices for teams beyond the star players. Apart from a handful of players, most Indian and foreign cricketers have comparable base prices, and bidding for them would be heated.
The teams have considerably more cash to spend in the auctions. Last year, the collective sum available for player bidding was Rs 135 crore while this year, it is Rs 198 crore. Part of the reason is that teams have been judicious in retaining players. Also, the two new teams spent Rs 39 crore to draft five players and, hence, have a significant amount left to build the rest of their squad.