IPL 2020: 332 players shortlisted for the auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the 2020 season is only seven days away now with the event slated to take place on December 19 in Kolkata. A total of 971 players across the world had registered for the auction and the BCCI had given time for the franchises to submit their final shortlist until December 9. And the teams have whittled down the list to 332 players who will now go under the hammer in the auction.

Meanwhile, like every year, even this time around, some of the top players have pulled their name out of the event. Mitchell Starc and Joe Root are two of the big names in the list which is highly surprising. While the Aussie pacer is in the best of forms in international cricket at the moment, England’s Test skipper wouldn’t have got a better platform to prove his skills in the shortest format.

As far as the auction is concerned, one of the franchise heads confirmed to Sportstar that the players’ list has been shortlisted to 332. He also informed that a total of 24 new entrants are present in the list including 19 capped Indian players. Kesrick Williams, Mushfiqur Rahim and Adam Zampa have been shortlisted by the franchises. However, Rahim has pulled himself out of the auction.

Morgan, Maxwell and Cummins likely to spark a bidding war

During the auction, a few of the top international players in the higher base price category are expected to start of a bidding war. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Eoin Morgan and Pat Cummins are expected to be in demand with most of the times likely to go for them. Robin Uthappa who was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is another player in the top base price list along with Chris Lynn, Aaron Finch and Jason Roy.

As of now, the auction is set to commence at 10 AM on December 19. But there are speculations that it might be pushed to the prime time slot with only 73 slots at max to be filled. However, the BCCI and the broadcaster should agree to it and there is no confirmation on the same yet. Also, the entire players’ list who will be in the auction is expected to put up on IPL’s official website on Thursday.

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