Focus on marquee players in IPL-8 auction (Preview)

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Daredevils (DD), who finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, are expected to see most action in the player auction to be held here Monday ahead of the eighth edition of the popular and cash-rich Twenty20 tournament beginning April 8.

In all, 122 players including 78 Indian and 44 overseas cricketers have been retained by the franchises for the 2015 season, while six Indians have been traded during the window for player trade this year.

Among the biggest releases has been Yuvraj Singh who was picked up for Rs.14 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last year, but did little to justify the high price.

Much of the attention will be on the 12 marquee players who will be up for bids.

These dozen marquee players in the auction ring are Hashim Amla, Yuvraj, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik (all base price Rs.2 crore), Angelo Mathews, Eoin Morgan (both Rs.1.5 crore), Kumar Sangakkara, Aaron Finch, Mahela Jayawardhene, Amit Mishra (all Rs.1 crore), and Murali Vijay and Kane Williamson (both Rs.50 lakh).

The Daredevils are looking for a complete revamp of the side that struggled last year and have released 13 players, including former England star Pietersen, opener Murali Vijay and wicketkeeper Karthik who was purchased for Rs.12.5 crore.

The Sunrisers have released 11 players, notably opener Finch who marked his ICC World Cup debut Saturday with a century for Australia against England.

Similarly, 2013 champions Mumbai Indians (MI), who finished fourth last season, have given up 10 players including the likes of former India opening bowler Zaheer Khan and ex-Aussie star Michael Hussey.

The other teams, including last year's winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), have opted to retain a sizeable lot which indicated they are more or less worked out their respective combination.

Thus, the eight teams have a total salary purse of Rs.63 crore for the 2015 season, a five percent increase over the 2014 purse. The salaries of the players retained will be deducted from this amount.

Teams and amounts available are: CSK - Rs.4.80 crore, DD - Rs.39.75 crore, KXIP - Rs.12.60 crore, KKR - Rs.13.20 crore, MI - Rs.10 crore, RR - Rs.12.75 crore, RCB - Rs.20.80 crore and SRH -Rs.21.05 crore.

The three trading windows saw six players switching teams.

They were: Iqbal Abdulla from Rajasthan Royals to Royal Challengers Bangalore; Manvinder Bisla from Kolkata Knight Riders to RCB; Parthiv Patel from RCB to Mumbai Indians; Unmukt Chand from Rajasthan Royals to MI; R Vinay Kumar from KKR to MI and Mandeep Singh from Kings XI Punjab to RCB.