COME FEBRUARY 4, 2012, IPL franchises will be ready to shell out up to USD 2million dollars as they will be taking part in an auction for IPL season 5. The auction would see around 144 players for sale from various cricket playing nations, reported The The Times of India. The auction, which is going to be held in Bangalore this time, is one of the most entertaining things that takes place months before the IPL saga takes off.
The scenes in the past auctions have always been full of drama. The franchises have their targets in their mind and try their best to get their player of choice. They are seen increasing their bids for key targets and do not stop unless their objective is achieved but only if their budget allows them to. IPL teams such as Bangalore Royal Challengers and Pune Warriors would not be able to spend their stipulated 2 million dollars, as they were clever enough in retaining their replacements. Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly are the two players retained by the respective teams. It would be players from Kochi Tuskers, who could be the most sought after players, after their team was scrapped by BCCI from the IPL.
Will they be cheaper? Many might say no, because if many franchises bid for these players then their rates could rocket into the sky, as it is sure that these Indian players would be available for the entire tournament. Here lies the catch. Some foreign players may not be available for the entire tournament, as has been the case in past seasons. The franchises are expected to do their homework well and head for the auctions.
Some Indian players who might be ‘most wanted’ are R. Jadeja, S Sreesanth, RP Singh, as they have proved themselves in the IPL and international matches too. So, IPL teams could be the most busiest, when these players go up in action, as each team can only have a maximum of four foreign players in their team and rest of the stops have to be filled in by Indian players.
Good Indian players have always been a costly bargain. Previous records prove it. Players such as Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir were purchased by KKR for more than USD 2 million each, but it showed that money cannot buy trophies, as it was Chennai Super Kings (CSK) who walked away with the title last year. CSK has been primarily playing with the same bunch of players, since the first season of IPL kicked off.
Other players such as Jacob Oram, Lou Vincent (New Zealand), Mark Boucher (South Africa), Michael Klinger (Australia), Graeme Swann, James Anderson (England) could be some major players who would be sold off in the auction. Teams are bound to use their money wisely and not go for players who are above their budget. Hence, low cost players such as Xavier Doherty, Adam Voges (Australia), Dilhara Fernando (Sri Lanka), and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (South Africa) could be a target for many teams.
But do not be surprised if these players are brought by teams at a price for more than what is given as a base price, as they are quality players. No doubt about it. But there is a huge doubt,whether VVS Laxman, who has a base price of USD 400,000, would find any taker in the auctionS. The answer may be, Sorry mate, your time is up. The level of competition in IPL 5 is expected to increase.
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