Senior cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have set their base price for the Indian Premier League auction at Rs 2 crore, according to a report in the Times of India.
This is the highest available option for a base price for a capped India player. The other brackets are Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh.
Gambhir, who skippered Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, was not retained by the franchise for the upcoming 11th season. KKR chose to retain only foreigners Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.
Three-time IPL winner Harbhajan Singh was also not retained by Mumbai Indians, who chose to go with captain Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
KKR and MI do, however, have the option to use a Right To Match card for Gambhir and Harbhajan respectively but if this report is to be believed, it will cost them at least Rs 2 crore.
Harbhajan did not comment on his base price, but told the daily, “I’ve had a great decade-long relationship with Mumbai Indians. I’ll look to bowl well and win games for whichever team I play for in the IPL. Let’s see what happens at the auction.”
The other players who have also set their base price at Rs 2 crore, according to the report, are India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, and foreigners Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Brendon McCullum.
The IPL auction will be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.