On Saturday, the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction will begin with more than 550 players going under the hammer. Eight franchises will battle it out as they look to form a formidable squad for the 11th edition of the tournament that starts on April 4.
This auction, which will happen on Saturday and Sunday, will take place in Bangalore. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) allowed franchisees to retain five players each ahead of the mega auction, which will happen every 10 years. The teams will also be able to retain three more players through their Right to Match cards.
The player salary cap has increased from Rs 66 crore last year to Rs 80 crore this time. The teams can keep a maximum of eight overseas players and the minimum number of players for each team is 18.
The players have been bracketed into eight distinct slabs as per their profiles. The slabs for internationals (Indian and foreign) are Rs2 crore, Rs1.5 crore, Rs1 crore, Rs75 lakh and Rs50 lakh respectively while uncapped players have a base price of Rs40, 30 and 20 lakh respectively.
Here are some of the big talking points ahead of the auction.
Should Chennai Super Kings retain Ashwin Ravi?
What will happen to Krunal Pandya this IPL season?
What about Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh?
Will Rajashtan Royals try and recreate their glory days by opting for young Indian talent?
Will fortunes finally change for Kings XI Punjab?
Videos courtesy: Star Sports
(Watch the auction live on the Star Sports network and Hotstar starting at 9 am on Saturday)