Delhi Daredevils has deepest pockets in Feb IPL auction

The team, which retained 13 players from its 2015 squad, goes into the auction with Rs 37.15 cr to spend

Come February 6, cricket fans in the country will witness the Vivo Indian Premier League player auction for 2016. As the teams battle it out over multiple rounds of bidding to get their hands on the best Indian and international players for this year’s tournament, it will be the GMR-owned Delhi Daredevils with the most to splurge.

The team, which retained 13 players from its 2015 squad, goes into the auction with Rs 37.15 crore to spend. It has not retained any of the capped Indian or international players.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that the Daredevils have thought of revamping their team. Even last year, the team management disbanded the entire team in hopes of building a new one from scratch. (UP FOR GRABS)

In 2015, the Delhi-based team outbid its peers to acquire southpaw Yuvraj Singh for a staggering Rs 16 crore. Singh, despite being the most sought-after player for two years in a row, was relieved by Delhi Daredevils and finds himself in the auction pool of players.

Going into the auction with the tightest budget will be Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians. The team will have Rs 14.4 crore at its disposal to bid for players. It has retained 19 players in all, including the maximum allowed five capped players — Rohit Sharma, Keiron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have retained 15 players, including two capped players, while Royal Challengers Bangalore go into the auction with 14 players and a purse of Rs 21.6 crore. The two new teams, Pune and Rajkot, go into the auction with the five players they picked up in the draft conducted late last year. As a result, the two have Rs 27 crore each at their disposal to bid for players. The total salary cap for the teams this year is Rs 66 crore, Rs 3 crore more than last year.

While all eyes will be trained on whether Singh achieves a hat-trick as the most sought-after player at the 2016 auction, teams will be on the lookout for many other players as well. Those available for bidding include Ishant Sharma, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn and Kevin Pietersen.