Star Sports confirms the timing of IPL 2020 auction

The next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is still quite some time away but the euphoria has already started to build. After the pre-season draft window came to an end last month where a plethora of cricketers was released or traded by the respective franchises, it is now time for the auction to take centre stage.

The 2019 Indian Premier League auctions are just a week away now. The star-studded affair will take place in Kolkata on December 19th. This is the first time that the IPL auction will take place away from the Garden City-Bengaluru- the traditional hosts of the glitzy affair since the tournament’s inception back in 2008.

Naturally, from cricketers who have thrown their hat in the ring for the mega-affair to the pundits as well as the fans, everyone is gearing up for the auction and now the official broadcaster of the competition- Star Sports- have announced the timing as to when the auction will get underway

Replying to one of the fan’s queries where he had asked about the timings the event, Star Sports India took to Twitter to confirm the time. According to their reply, the broadcast of the auction ceremony will commence from 2:30 PM India Standard Time and can be viewed on its various regional platforms like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla and of-course Hindi.

Star Sports India said, “Hi! Catch the #VIVOIPLAuction on December 19 from 2:30 PM, LIVE on Star Sports 1 Hindi/1 HD Hindi, Star Sports First, 1 Tamil, 1 Telugu, 1 Kannada, 1 Bangla; from 3:20 PM on Select 1/1 HD.”

332 cricketers shortlisted for the auction

This, of course, will be a mini-auction before all the franchises go in for a mega-auction next year, and all eyes will be on teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab who will be hoping to address the chinks in their armour- those which have plagued their past seasons.

The Kings XI Punjab traded their last two seasons’ captain Ravichandran Ashwin to Delhi Capitals for Jagadeesha Suchith while Rajasthan Royals, too, traded their former captain Ajinkya Rahane to Delhi Capitals. Trent Boult was also traded from DC to the Mumbai Indians while Virat Kohli’s RCB released the likes of Shimron Hetmayer, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee and Henrich Klaasen.

The likes of Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Glenn Maxwell are expected to be the hottest overseas buys while uncapped Indian players like Priyam Garg and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be the one to watch out for as 332 cricketers go under the hammer, come December 19th.

Watch – Chris Gayle makes a cry-baby face while appealing