Australia batsman Shaun Marsh, New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson and former South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel are part of the 17 new names to feature among the 292 players shortlisted for the 2021 IPL auction, scheduled in Chennai on February 18. The auction pool, whittled down from 1097, includes 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players and three from the Associate countries.
A total of 61 slots have to be filled by the eight franchises including 22 overseas players. There are 10, including the Indian pair of Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav, that have listed the maximum base price of INR 2 crore (US $274,000). The other eight are: Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith (both Australia), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy and Mark Wood (England) and Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan. South Afrcian batsman Colin Ingram, who had originally been part of the highest base price bracket, is no longer part of it.
In a note to the franchises, the IPL said the auction, which is scheduled to start at 1500 IST, will start with the capped international players whose names will come down based on their speciality: batsmen, allrounders, wicketkeeper-batsmen, fast bowlers and spin bowlers. The same order will be followed for uncapped players.
The IPL also said that the accelerated process is set to start after player 87. "The accelerated process will cover all the unpresented players and unsold players, with the unpresented players appearing first."
Of the 17 new names, which were added subsequently on request of the franchises, there are four capped players in Marsh, Anderson, Morkel and Australian fast bowler Jack Wildermuth. Marsh, the left-hand batsman, who once made headlines playing for Kings XI Punjab, has listed his base price at INR 1.5 crore (US $206,000 approximately).
Morkel, too, has listed the same base price. The former South African fast man has played for three IPL franchises: Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders. Recently Morkel, who is 36, turned up to bowl for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. Wildermuth, Morkel's Heat team-mate, who played two T20Is for Australia, has listed his base price at INR 50 lakhs. Anderson, who last played for Barbados Tridents in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League, has listed his base price at INR 75 lakhs (US $103,000).
At 16, uncapped Afghanistan left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad is the youngest player in the auction pool. Ahmad, who recently featured in the BBL for Melbourne Renegades, has listed his base price at INR 20 lakhs. The youngest Indian in the pool is uncapped Nagaland legspinner Khrievitso Kense, who impressed IPL scouts during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Kense, too, is in the lowest base price bracket of INR 20 lakhs.
The oldest player to feature in the auction is 42-year-old spinner Nayan Doshi, son of former Indian left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi. Nayan, who lives in England, previously represented Saurashtra, and has listed his base price at INR 20 lakhs.
Also listed among the new names is Sadiq Kirmani, son of former India wicketkeer Syed Kirmani. The 31-year-old Sadiq, too, is a wicketkeeper batsman, but has played just two List A matches for Karnataka.
Former India fast bowler Sreesanth, who returned to the game recently after serving a five-year ban, is not part of the final list. Sreesanth had set his base price at INR 75 lakhs (US $103,000), having played the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Kerala in January.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo