England’s Test captain Joe Root will available for the Indian Premier League auction for the first time with a total of 282 overseas players hoping for a contract, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Saturday.
There are as many as 1,122 players in the list that has been sent out to the eight IPL franchises, including 281 capped players, 838 uncapped players, including 778 Indians and three players from the Associate nations.
England will field 26 players for the auction, Australia have 58 representatives while there are 30 from New Zealand and 57 from South Africa while there are 39 players each from Sri Lanka and Windies.
The A-list Australian names who will be up for grab include Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Lynn and Pat Cummins. Retired internationals Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson have also given their nod.
Veteran Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis are some of the names from the Caribbean. Apart from Root, England all-rounder Ben Stokes – who earned a bumper contract with Rising Pune Supergiant last season – and limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan will continue their association with the IPL.
Hashim Amla, who hit two centuries for Kings XI Punjab last season, will be hoping for a high bid with compatriots Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller and speedsters Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada. Kane Williamson, Colin Munro and Tom Latham from New Zealand will add the Kiwi charm.
Afghanistan, too, will see 13 players along with eight from Bangladesh, two from Ireland, seven from Zimbabwe and two from the USA. India U-19 skipper Prithvi Shaw, Baroda skipper Deepak Hooda and all-rounder Krunal Pandya, and pacer Basil Thampi are a part of the uncapped players slot.
