The eight teams have $750,000 each at their disposal — a relatively minuscule amount by the IPL standards. And with just 12 slots up for grabs from a list of 66 players available, trading can be expected to be fierce, albeit not ambitious.
The list of players to be auctioned includes 11 each from Pakistan, Australia and South Africa, nine from Sri Lanka, eight each from England and the West Indies, four from New Zealand and one each from Bangladesh, Canada, Zimbabwe and Holland. Indian Cricket League returnees, including New Zealand pacer Shane Bond and Australian Damien Martyn, have also made the cut in the final list.
The number of players who will go under the hammer is slightly more than the 50 presented for the 17 available places in the franchises’ squads in 2009, even though the slots to be filled are lesser.The franchises will be judicious in their spending since any player picked on Tuesday would be contracted for only one season — December 31, 2010 to be specific — and that includes the Champions League Twenty20. The IPL management has also given enough indications to suggest that most of the players, if not all, will be up for a re-auction next year when two more teams are added.
“Teams won’t tinker much since most of them have set line-ups... what you’ll see is few tweaks here and there. Teams will only bid for those players who they think will satisfy their short-term needs ,” a KKR official told this newspaper on Monday. “The auction will essentially focus on players needed for just IPL-3.”
The trend was, in fact, set earlier this month when only three were traded in the IPL transfer window. Short-term goals notwithstanding, there are a couple who’d be a big draw at the auction. Two West Indies players — batting sensation Kieron Pollard who shone at the recently held Champions League in India and Kemar Roach — will be most sought after, and so will be Kiwi pacer Bond.
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