The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction list is out. The list features 333 cricketers, who are scheduled to go under the gavel in Dubai on December 19, 2023. Out of 333 players, 214 are Indians and 119 are overseas players of which 2 players are from associate nations. The total capped players are 116, uncapped players are 215 and 2 from associate nations. A maximum of 77 slots are now available with up to 30 being slotted for overseas players.
INR 2 crore is the highest reserve price with 23 players choosing to be slotted in the highest bracket. 13 players are in the auction list with a base price of INR 1.5 crore.
Australia’s World Cup-winning stars Travis Head, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins headline the list of 119 overseas players. Starc, who represented RCB in 2014 and 2015, returns to the Player Auction for the first time since 2018, while Head went unsold ahead of IPL 2023. Meanwhile, Cummins had pulled out of IPL 2023 due to international commitments. Starc was bought buy Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 9.4 crore, but the player decided not to feature due to the same reason.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has raised a similar concern. “Mitchell Starc would take away a million dollars. Almost everyone who plays in Australia have registered for the Tata IPL auctions. But the most popular of them is undoubtedly Starc. He is a gun bowler with the new ball, picks up early wickets and bowls yorkers as well. Starc is also a good death bowler and has impressive IPL numbers, as well. He did well playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past. However, since then, the number of times he has backed out from playing in the league is definitely a concerning factor,” Aakash Chopra said on Jio Cinema.
“After a team buys him, if he backs out at the last moment in order to focus on the Ashes or any personal reason, then the team is in a spot of bother. They will have the money released but key players will not be there. Even in this auction, apart from Starc, there will be other key bowlers like Gerald Coetzee, Josh Hazlewood, Dilshan Madushanka, Ben Dwarshuis and more. But, if you buy Starc and he backs out later, then you cannot go back to these names as well as they won’t be available anymore. I won’t be surprised if Starc goes for a huge sum of money but I will be a little sceptical, what if he backs out.”
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