IPL 2018: Player auction gets underway; 1000 cricketers up for grabs

With Rs 4.35 billion available for player acquisition, this is one of the biggest auctions in the history of the annual T-20 tournament

The eight franchises in the vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) will be putting their best bids forward in perhaps the biggest auction in the tournament. Up to Rs 4.35 billion could be spent on player acquisition this year in an auction which has over 1000 players from 13 cricketing nations go under the hammer. A total of 18 players have been retained by the teams before the auction.

This year, 282 overseas players including 58 Australian players, 57 South African players and 39 each from West Indies and Sri Lanka will be up for grabs in the auction. There are