IPL 8 Auctions: Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen among players to go under the hammer

Yuvraj Singh could be the biggest attraction in IPL auctions tomorrow

Bengaluru, Feb 15 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Daredevils (DD), who finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, are expected to see most action in the player auction to be held here on Monday ahead of the eighth edition of the popular and cash-rich Twenty20 tournament beginning on April 8.

12 marquee players

In all, 122 players including 78 Indian and 44 overseas cricketers have been retained by the franchises for the 2015 season, while six Indians have been traded during the window for player trade this year.

Among the biggest releases has been Yuvraj Singh who was picked up for Rs.14 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last year, but did little to justify the high price.

Much of the attention will be on the 12 marquee players who will be up for bids: Hashim Amla, Yuvraj, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik (all base price Rs.2 crore), Angelo Mathews, Eoin Morgan (both Rs.1.5 crore), Kumar Sangakkara, Aaron Finch, Mahela Jayawardene, Amit Mishra (all Rs.1 crore), and Murali Vijay and Kane Williamson (both Rs.50 lakh).

Top batsmen available:

Batsmen	Base Price
Michael Hussey	?1,50,00,000
Alex Hales	?1,00,00,000
Brad Hodge	?1,00,00,000
Ross Taylor	?1,00,00,000
Subramaniam Badrinath	?30,00,000
Cheteshwar Pujara	?1,00,00,000
Hamish Rutherford	?30,00,000
Callum Ferguson	?30,00,000
Craig Simmons	?20,00,000
Evin Lewis	?10,00,000

Top bowlers available:

Bowlers	Base Price
Ben Hilfenhaus	?1,00,00,000
Zaheer Khan	?1,00,00,000
Doug Bollinger	?1,00,00,000
Sean Abbott	?50,00,000
Trent Boult	?50,00,000
Praveen Kumar	?50,00,000
Munaf Patel	?50,00,000
Brad Hogg	?50,00,000
Ajanta Mendis	?50,00,000
Pragyan Ojha	?50,00,000
Joel Paris	?30,00,000
Mitchell McClenaghan	?30,00,000
Rudra Pratap Singh	?30,00,000
Krishmar Santokie	?30,00,000
Adam Milne	?30,00,000
Ben Laughlin	?30,00,000

Top all-rounders available:

All-rounders	Base Price
Tillakaratne Dilshan	?1,50,00,000
Irfan Pathan	?1,50,00,000
Marlon Samuels	?1,50,00,000
Albie Morkel	?30,00,000
Darren Sammy	?1,50,00,000
Azhar Mahmood	?50,00,000
David Hussey	?1,00,00,000
Grant Elliott	?30,00,000
James Neesham	?30,00,000
Kevon Cooper	?30,00,000

Find the full list here.

What teams did during the player release window

The Daredevils are looking for a complete revamp of the side that struggled last year and have released 13 players, including former England star Pietersen, opener Murali Vijay and wicket-keeper Karthik who was purchased for Rs.12.5 crore.

The Sunrisers have released 11 players, most notably opener Finch who marked his ICC World Cup debut on Saturday with a century for Australia against England.

Similarly, 2013 champions Mumbai Indians (MI), who finished fourth last season, have given up 10 players including the likes of former India opening bowler Zaheer Khan and ex-Aussie star Michael Hussey.

The other teams, including last year's winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), have opted to retain a sizeable lot, which indicated they are more or less worked out their respective combination.

Budget available and traded players

Thus, the eight teams have a total salary purse of Rs.63 crore for the 2015 season, a five percent increase over the 2014 purse. The salaries of the players retained will be deducted from this amount.

Teams and amounts available are: CSK - Rs.4.80 crore, DD - Rs.39.75 crore, KXIP - Rs.12.60 crore, KKR - Rs.13.20 crore, MI - Rs.10 crore, RR - Rs.12.75 crore, RCB - Rs.20.80 crore and SRH - Rs.21.05 crore.

The three trading windows saw six players switching teams: Iqbal Abdulla from Rajasthan Royals to Royal Challengers Bangalore; Manvinder Bisla from Kolkata Knight Riders to RCB; Parthiv Patel from RCB to Mumbai Indians; Unmukt Chand from Rajasthan Royals to MI; R Vinay Kumar from KKR to MI and Mandeep Singh from Kings XI Punjab to RCB.