Foreign players may steal the show at IPL 7 auction

The list of foreign players to go under the hammer in the 2014 auctions remains glitzy with several star players

Ahead of the February 12 auctions for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it is expected the show will be dominated by foreign stars.

A look at the list of players retained by their respective franchises shows major domestic cricketing stars have been retained.

In fact, Indian stars who accounted for 70 per cent of the last Indian One-Day International squad have been retained by their franchises; only a few domestic stars such as Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag will go under the hammer. While Sehwag has been out of the India squad for some time, injuries have plagued Singh of late. (LIST OF PLAYERS RETAINED)

Some foreign players such as Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga have been retained. But the list of foreign players to go under the hammer in the 2014 auctions remains glitzy — the list includes David Warner, Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Quinton de Cock, Steve Smith, Aaron Flinch, Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel and Dwain Smith.

Among franchises, Delhi Daredevils is the only team that hasn’t retained any player from its 2013 squad.

The IPL governing council allows players to be retained; a team can retain up to five players. For such teams, the auction purse is cut proportionately. Most franchises have opted for this route.

For the 2014 edition, the franchise’s full-squad salary payouts have been capped at Rs 60 crore. For the next two editions, this will rise five per cent annually, according to IPL governing council rules. According to norms laid down by the IPL governing council, Rs 12.5 crore will be slashed from the team budget for the first-capped player, Rs 9.5 crore for the second-capped player and Rs 7.5 crore for the third-capped player.

The ‘right to match’, introduced this year, will be crucial for franchises, as this will give teams a chance to retain a player being auctioned. The right of first match will enable a franchise to buy back a player even after other franchises have completed the bidding process for that player. The team owner, however, will have to match the price of the highest bidder.