Indian Premier League IPL Auction 2024

IPL Auction 2024 Live Updates: The clock starts to tick and the countdown begins. It’s that time of the year, folks, when all 10 IPL franchises go on a splurging spree to assemble the best possible squad for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. That’s right. It’s the day of the IPL auction, where over 300 players have been lined up to go under the hammer. Originally, over 1100 players had submitted their names for the auction, out of which the teams shortlisted 333. And last evening due to a withdrawal, the final count now stands at 332. Will all of them be sold? Most probably not, but most of them promise to find takers in today’s ‘mini’ event.

Having said that, don’t let that word fool you. Today’s event in Dubai may not be a grand spectacle of the two-day behemoth that the IPL mega auction is, it is nothing less. The star-studded list featuring Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra and more promises to deliver a charismatic 8-plus hours of entertainment. And hello, hello! Returning Rishabh Pant will be on that Delhi Capitals table using all his tactics and strategy to get some of the best guys on offer.

Now on to some trivia. The 10 franchises have a whopping purse of ₹262.95 crore to spend from, out of which, Gujarat Titans have the most capacity – a hefty sum of ₹38.15 crore, followed by the second-biggest purse of ₹34 crore for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings are the other two franchises with a bag of over ₹30 crore to splurge. Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings have plenty of money too with ₹28.95 crore, ₹23.25 crore and ₹29.1 crore respectively to fine tune their squad of players. Mumbai Indians ( ₹17.75 crore), Lucknow Super Giants ( ₹13.15 crore), and Rajasthan Royals ( ₹14.5 crore) have the smallest war chests compared to their competitors.

A total of 77 slots are available for the franchises to fill, out of 213 Indians and 116 foreigners. The format is simple. Players are categorized into different sets on the basis of their skills and will be up for grabs as and when their names are withdrawn from the bag. Mallika Sagar, who recently conducted the WPL auction will take over from Hugh Edmeades to become the first female auctioneer in the 16-year-long history of the IPL. As for the price brackets – there are quite a few. The highest price category is ₹2 crore, for which 23 players have registered for, Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel and Umesh Yadav included. Then there is the ₹1 crore bracket, ₹75 lakh bracket, ₹50 lakh, ₹20 lakh and so on.

While the presence of some players has risen the stocks for the IPL 2024 auction, there are some notable absentees too, the most prolific being the England duo of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Joe Root. Nonetheless, the magnitude of this gala event is such that none of it can take any sheen away from what lies in store. The auction is just the kind of precursor fans needed as the 2024 edition of the IPL promises to be bigger. In a development that has already caused a huge stir, Hardik Pandya will captain Mumbai Indians for the first time in an IPL season which also happens to be MS Dhoni’s swansong. The return of two young India captains to the fore in Shreyas Iyer and Pant, and the homecoming of Gautam Gambhir to KKR as their mentor has already made heads turn, and we haven’t even entered the new year yet. Although an official date hasn’t been announced yet, the IPL 2024 is believed to kick off from March 22.

So hey! sit back, relax and get set for a bumpy-yet-enthralling ride. Which player will break the bank? Will Sam Curran’s record buy of ₹18.5 crore by PBKS last year be broken? If yes, who will it be? All these questions will be answered over the next 12 hours.

Below are a few key pointers regarding IPL Auction 2024:

– A total of 332 players will be up for grabs, including 213 Indians and 116 foreigners.

– The 10 franchises have an overall purse of ₹262.95 crore to spend, out of which Gujarat Titans have the highest capacity at ₹38.15 crore.

– Mallika Sagar will be the auctioneer.

– A total of 77 slots are to be filled.

– Players have been divided in a total of 19 sets.

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