IPL 2012: Kochi players set to be auctioned

Brendon McCullum will be part of the auction list for IPL 2012.

The franchise of Kochi Tuskers Kerela, which was terminated earlier this year by the BCCI, will see its players being auctioned when the franchise’s sit for the players auction for the 2012 season scheduled to be held in late January or early February next year. The franchise’s will also be given an additional salary cap of $2 million , as per the decision taken by the Governing Council at a meeting held in Chennai on Saturday.

The inclusion of Kochi players in the auction now means that there will be only nine teams featuring in next years IPL as opposed to ten this year. However, the governing council has decided to increase the number of players in each team from 30 to 33, with eleven foreign players in each squad,one more that the previous limit of 10.The number of overseas players in the playing XI still remains four.

Unlike this year, the league matches for the 2012 season will be played with the conventional home and away format, where all teams play each other twice with 16 matches for each team before the play-offs. However,the format of play-offs still remains the same. Last years finalist- Chennai and Bangalore will host the play-offs in 2012.

If the Kochi players fail to attract any buyers, the IPL will cover their salaries through the franchise’s Rs 156 crores worth bank guarantee that had been earlier encashed by the BCCI. Muttiah Muralitharan, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene are some of the top players that will feature in the auctions next year.