IPL 2019 auction: No Indian player in Rs 2-crore club, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch opt out

The upcoming IPL 2019 auction, which will be held in Jaipur on December 18 and 19, will see over 1000 players trying to fill up 70 spots. Unlike previous auctions, this event will be a low-key affair, considering that the 2019 World Cup will be played immediately after the tournament ends. The low-key build-up for the auction is also the main reason why there are not many players in the elite base price of Rs 2-crore. According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, no Indian players are in the Rs 2-crore base price range while only nine players, all of them overseas are in the Rs 2-crore club.

Out of the nine players, the franchisees might be tempted to get England all-rounder Sam Curran in the side. Curran was one of the stand-out players in the recent series against India which England won 4-1. His timely contributions with the bat lower down the order, combined with his wicket-taking ability, make him a valuable asset. Apart from Curran, the other notable name in the Rs 2-crore list is Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga. Malinga, who has played for Mumbai Indians, was not retained by the side in the last couple of seasons but last year, he was the bowling mentor of the side.

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Others in the list include Corey Anderson, Colin Ingram, Shaun Marsh, Angelo Mathews, Brendon McCullum, D'Arcy Short and Chris Woakes.

No Indian in elite list

However, no Indian is in the Rs 2-crore list. Jaydev Unadkat, who became the highest Indian to be bid in the auction last year with Rs 11.4 crore, has the highest base price of Rs 1.5-crore. The other big names in the list like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Shami are priced at Rs.1-crore.

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Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel are the others in the Rs.1 crore list while Ishant Sharma is priced at Rs.75 lakhs.

No big Australian names

Cricket Australia announced that most of the players will miss close to two-three weeks in the Indian Premier League as they had to prepare for the World Cup. This has resulted in names like Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch opting out of the auction. Maxwell was part of the Delhi Daredevils side, now renamed as Delhi Capitals while Finch was part of the Kings XI Punjab side.

With many teams preparing for the World Cup, the IPL itself faces a scheduling headache. With the General Elections in India to be held anytime from April to May, the chances are that like in 2009 and 2014, the IPL might be shifted overseas.