Hope cards fall our way: Brendon McCullum on upcoming IPL auction

Ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) coach Brendon McCullum on Tuesday expressed hope of picking up the players they want to put together a strong team for the tournament.

"On the way to Kolkata for the @IPL Player Auction. Our @KKRiders squad will be completed in just a couple of days' time. All the planning & preparations behind the scenes will require some luck come auction night. Here's hoping the cards fall our way," McCullum tweeted.

Ahead of the auction, KKR released 11 players from their lineup while they retained 12.

The list of released and retained players is as follows:

Released: Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Anrich Nortje, Piyush Chawla, Joe Denly, Yarra Prithviraj, Nikhil Naik, KC Cariappa, Matthew Kelly, Shrikant Mundhe and Carlos Brathwaite.

Retained: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Siddhesh Lad.

On December 13, it was announced that a total of 332 cricketers will be auctioned in Kolkata on December 19 for the 13th edition of the IPL.

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 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.

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