No Pakistani is expected to figure in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played in April-May.
The Indian cricket Board has circulated a list of 47 players who would be up for auction on Sunday in Chennai, with South African and West Indies players making up the lion's share. Several Indian players, too, would be up for grabs. (India Today Reported)
However, since the upcoming tournament would be the last year of the second round of three-year cycle for players' contracts, only franchises who are desperate to consolidate any of the departments would be willing to spend too much money.
Next year, all the players expected to be auctioned when a fresh cycle would begin.
Each of the nine franchises, including the latest addition, Hyderabad Sunrisers, would be allowed a uniform purse of $12.5 million at the auction that begins at 11 am at the ITC Grand Chola hotel.
Sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said no Pakistani players have been included in the list that has been sent to the franchises.
"There are 47 players in the list for the auction, but there is no Pakistani on it," a source told Mail Today. However, the BCCI can rejig the list just before the auction.
"It should be understood that IPL is a purely commercial venture and people have invested big sums of money in their teams. So, nobody wants to take the risk by including Pakistani players in his team, lose sponsors etc. and invite wrath. We have recently seen what happened to the Pakistani women's team's matches that were scheduled in Mumbai."
The Indian cricket Board has circulated a list of 47 players who would be up for auction on Sunday in Chennai, with South African and West Indies players making up the lion's share. Several Indian players, too, would be up for grabs. (India Today Reported)
However, since the upcoming tournament would be the last year of the second round of three-year cycle for players' contracts, only franchises who are desperate to consolidate any of the departments would be willing to spend too much money.
Next year, all the players expected to be auctioned when a fresh cycle would begin.
Each of the nine franchises, including the latest addition, Hyderabad Sunrisers, would be allowed a uniform purse of $12.5 million at the auction that begins at 11 am at the ITC Grand Chola hotel.
Sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said no Pakistani players have been included in the list that has been sent to the franchises.
"There are 47 players in the list for the auction, but there is no Pakistani on it," a source told Mail Today. However, the BCCI can rejig the list just before the auction.
"It should be understood that IPL is a purely commercial venture and people have invested big sums of money in their teams. So, nobody wants to take the risk by including Pakistani players in his team, lose sponsors etc. and invite wrath. We have recently seen what happened to the Pakistani women's team's matches that were scheduled in Mumbai."
Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta bids for a player.
Interestingly, the Pakistani men's cricket team played a series of three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches recently without incident. But immediately after the series, tension erupted at the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to anti-Pakistan protests.
The biggest names up for auction will be that of Australia captain Michael Clarke and South African fast bowler Vernon Philander, according to the source. Among the Indians would be left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, who has been released by the Mumbai Indians. They have also released South African batsman Richard Levi, who had joined them after their regular Andrew Symonds announced his retirement from all forms of the game.
The Mumbai franchise has also transferred batsman T Suman to Pune Warriors. "There is a uniform purse for all the franchises. Each one would get to spend $12.5 million at the auction. And whatever money is left from this purse, they can use for buying Indians in the second window for player trading that would open immediately after the auction," said the source.
"It's expected to be a subdued auction as franchises would like to spend money pragmatically. The main reason is that the players who would be bought for just one season as IPL-6 would be the last of the three years of the players' contracts. The money the franchises have spent on buying players earlier this season would not be deducted from the $12.5 million auction cap, which is a good thing."
However, the auction would be important for the Sun TV Network owned Hyderabad Sunrisers as they would like to buy a few big-name players to consolidate their team.
They have retained 20 players who were with the erstwhile Deccan Chargers, terminated by the BCCI due to breach of contract, paving the way for fresh bidding for the Hyderabad franchise.