Delhi Capitals looking for 2 batters, all-rounder, and 2 pacers in IPL Auction: Ricky Ponting

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting shared his strategy ahead of today's Indian Premier League (IPL) players auction for the upcoming season here.

Ponting said the Capitals will bid for two batsmen, an all-rounder, and two pacers. He further said that they have a strong group of Indian players in the squad and their goal is to make the best use of them.

"Really excited for the #IPLAuction tonight. We'll look at two batters, potentially an all-rounder and two fast bowlers. We've got a strong contingent of Indian players already so our main goal is to get the best players available. @DelhiCapitals," Ponting tweeted.

A total of 186 Indian players, 143 overseas players and three players from Associate Nations will be auctioned. Hugh Edmeades will be the auctioneer.

A total of 332 cricketers will be auctioned for the 13th edition. While 997 players had initially registered, the final list has been pruned after the eight franchises submitted their list of shortlisted players.

Seven overseas players - Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Dale Steyn, and Angelo Mathews - have opted to be slotted in the highest bracket (Rs 2 crore).Robin Uthappa is the only Indian player in the auction list with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, and Jaydev Unadkat have set their base price at Rs 1 crore.

Delhi Capitals have released Chris Morris, Colin Ingram, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Colin Munro, Bandaru Ayyappa, Manjot Kalra, Jalaj Saxena, and Nathu Singh.

Their squad before the auction has Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, R Ashwin, and Ajinkya Rahane.

A total of 127 players, including 35 overseas cricketers were retained by the eight IPL franchises.

In the last season, Delhi qualified for the play-offs and lost to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).