IPL 2018: Auctions to take place in January end

What’s the story?

The much anticipated Indian Premier League auctions will take place sooner than expected, and will see the light of the day at the end of January 2018, specifically the 27 and 28th of next month.

"Since most of the capped players will be back in auction, it will be a mega auction that will be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28. Since Bengaluru has been hosting all previous auctions, that was the choice of franchises," a senior BCCI official told PTI today.

The details

The upcoming auctions is generating a lot of interest since it will see the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

Also, the IPL Governing Council has hiked the salary budget of the franchises from Rs 66 crore to Rs 80 crore for the auction. “The minimum spend will be 75 percent of the salary cap for each season,” the BCCI stated.

“The player pool available for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for retention/Right to Match will be the players’ who played for them respectively in IPL 2015 and who were part of RPS and Gujarat Lions squads in IPL 2017,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said recently.

In case you didn’t know…

The IPL Governing Council has also given a green signal to player retentions and the franchises can retain five of their players including the right to match cards if they so wish.

This season will also see a new broadcaster in Star Sports telecasting the league as they bagged the rights for a whopping Rs 16347.5 crore.

What’s next?

With several of the franchises in favour of the player retention policy, the upcoming auctions will be a closely fought contest amongst the different teams.

Also, there will be keen interest in many new players who have made headways in several of the different leagues around the world.

Author’s take

With the dates announced, the ball will be firmly in the court of the franchises and how they mould their strategy might well determine how they fare in the IPL.

Also, the players they retain will be keenly observed as it will eat away significantly into the wallet.