Thaindian News

Panaji, Feb 5 (IANS) Eight Indian Premier League franchisees will have a choice to pick 17 players from a pool of 50 going under the hammer in the second auction of the Twenty20 tournament here Friday.Players from Australia (18), England (7), Sri Lanka (5), New Zealand (3), South Africa (7), West Indies (6) and Bangladesh would (4) will be up for grabs as the IPL teams shell out $13.59 million

“This time only 17 slots are available and the franchisees can spend a total amount of $13.59 million in the auction,” Modi said.

Regarding the Pakistani players whose participation have been stopped by the government owing to the bilateral ties post Mumbai attacks, Modi said that six of them have been released by the franchisees.

“Six Pakistan players, including Younis Khan, the captain, Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, have been released from their IPL contracts. The others are Shahid Afridi, Salman Butt and Mohammed Hafeez, Modi said.

Four IPL franchisees have opted to retain their Pakistani contracted players — Umar Gul, (Kolkata), Misbah-ul-Haq (Bangalore), Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan).

Kolkata Knight Riders (1), Bangalore Royal Challengers (1) and Rajasthan Royals (2) have been thus allowed to rope in replacement players, post-auction, for their Pakistani recruits.

England’s Kevin Pietersen (base price: $1.35 million) and Andrew Flintoff ($950,000) are two of the biggest stars to be auctioned.

Australian stand-in captain Michael Clarke has pulled out of the tournament, citing a tough international schedule for the team.

South Africa’s new star Jean Paul Duminy could be the smartest pick. Duminy, who is also a brilliant fielder, played a key role in South Africa’s success in Australia and is now being tagged by the franchisees as a favourite and one of the top three picks for the season.

Duminy’s base price is $300,000 but what has made him a particularly attractive purchase, is that he will be available for most of this tournament, which starts April 10. England players on the other hand have got a window of three weeks for the cash-rich league.

Last year, the inaugural IPL auction had featured over 75 top cricketers and the auction spilled over well into the evening.

Modi also announced some rule changes for this year’s tournament.

“The winner of a match in the situation of a tie will be decided by One over eliminator instead of bowl-out.”

Modi also said about extending the franchisees’ catchment areas to neighbouring countries.

Modi also ruled out mid-season replacements this time.

List of IPL auction players:

Australia: Aaron Bird ($45,000), Brett Geeves ($45,000), Bryce McGain ($50,000), Daniel Harris ($50,000), Dominic Thornley ($50,000), George Bailey ($50,000), Jonathan Moss ($50,000), Michael Dighton ($85,000), Michael Hill ($50,000), Phil Jacques ($100,000), Shane Harwood ($75,000), Shaun Tait ($250,000), Steven Smith ($75,000), Stuart Clark ($250,000).

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza ($50,000), Mohammad Ashraful ($75,000), Shakib Al Hasan ($75,000), Tamim Iqbal ($50,000).

England: Andrew Flintoff ($950,000), Kevin Pietersen ($1,350,000), Luke Wright ($150,000), Owais Shah ($150,000), Paul Collingwood ($250,000), Ravi Bopara ($150,000), Samit Patel ($100,000),

New Zealand: James Franklin ($50,000), Jesse Ryder ($100,000), Kyle Mills ($150,000).

South Africa: Gulam Bodi ($100,000), Jean Paul Duminy ($300,000), Morne Van Wyk ($100,000), Tyron Henderson ($100,000), Yusuf Abdullah ($25,000).

Sri Lanka: Chamara Kapugadera ($150,000), Kaushalya Weereratne ($50,000), Nuwan Kulasekera ($100,000), Thilan Thushara ($100,000).

West Indies: Dwayne Smith (TBC), Fidel Edwards ($150,000), Jerome Taylor (TBC), Kemar Roach ($50,000), Kieron Pollard ($60,000)