India, SA players will be keeping an eye on auctions

Members of the Indian cricket team are keeping an eye on the proceedings of the Indian Premier League auction where 353 players will go under the hammer in Bangalore tomorrow.

The high-profile two-day auction for the fourth edition of the IPL will feature many Indian players and it has kept the cricketers glued to the news emerging back home.

The highly successful tournament is set to feature 10 teams and a whopping 74 matches this season starting April 8 and many players feel the addition of the two new franchises would make the auction a tricky affair.

"Because of additional two teams things have become tricky. Even otherwise very few players from the core Indian players group are available for auction," said a player.

"I believe player like Yusuf Pathan is going to be the main draw during this year's IPL auction. Forming team is going to be difficult this time around," he added.

Another senior Team India player said they have already chalked out their plan for the auction and would look for two overseas players.

"We have retained more than one player so for us our core group is ready. We will gun for two more classy overseas players and then have to concentrate on local players. We are sure that we can manage with whatever funds we have in our hand," he said.

"If teams have not retained any player then they have power of purse at their disposal," said the player, who was surprisingly released by his franchise.

Another India player, who had a successful stint so far in the IPL, said he was surprised that Yusuf Pathan was not retained by Rajasthan Royals.

"I was very surprised to know that Rajasthan Royals retained Shane Warne and Shane Watson but did not retain player like Yusuf Pathan who was main player responsible for team's success," he said.

"Twenty20 is very difficult format and you have to zero in on certain type of players who can work magic for your team. For 20-20 you require different type of skill set.

"This time around there will be no emotional selections. All the franchises will come to auction with lot of home work and bidding will solely depend on professional basis. Instead of gunning for big names franchise will go after players who can deliver," he explained.

Not only Indian players, even the South African cricketers will be keenly following the proceedings of the Player's Auction tomorrow.