The annual Indian Premier League auction is upon us.
A total of 578 players, including 24 New Zealanders, go under the hammer in Bengaluru from 4.30pm (9am local time), split across two days.
The event guarantees drama with its penchant for Machiavellian politicking as the trajectories of cricketing careers are decided with - or without - the bang of a gavel. Franchises try to throw rival teams off the scent by pitching for players who might not interest them, hoping word gets back. They then target alternative signings, thus aiming to get a bargain in the absence of a bidding war.
As the No.1 ranked country in Twenty20s, the New Zealand contingent's curriculum vitae bulges with talent.
A player would have to be Pinocchio to claim the money is of no consequence to their financial future.
The Black Caps have the No.1 batsman (Colin Munro) and bowler (Ish Sodhi) in the T20 rankings, two more batsmen in the top 11 (Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill) and two more bowlers in the top 13 (Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult).
Credibility relates to players' past performances in India. It will help that New Zealand played ODIs and T20s there in October and November, and that the 2017-18 Burger King Super Smash was broadcast into Indian living rooms for the first time.
Other domestic T20 franchise cricket and past IPLs dominate owners' thinking more than the international arena, but New Zealand has every chance of improving on last year's record of 11 contracts.
New Zealand's 2017 presence was weighted in favour of pace bowlers with Trent Boult (Kolkata Knight Riders), Matt Henry (Kings XI Punjab), Lockie Ferguson (Rising Pune Supergiant), Adam Milne (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Tim Southee and McClenaghan (Mumbai Indians) involved.
Colin de Grandhomme (KKR) and Anderson (Delhi Daredevils) flew the New Zealand all-rounder flag, while Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Guptill (KXIP) and Brendon McCullum (Gujarat Lions) had batting gigs.
Those numbers could expand.
Trent Boult. Photo / Getty Images
When is it?
Over this weekend, January 27-28 (NZT).
Highs and lows
- Corey Anderson earned a contract with the Mumbai Indians in 2014, for what was then valued at $866,000, principally on the back of his then world record 36-ball ODI century against the West Indies at Queenstown.
- Martin Guptill only got picked by the same franchise in 2016, as a replacement. After a stellar limited overs season he missed out in the auction, despite being listed as one of eight marquee players in the original bidding.
Facts and figures
1. Eighteen players, but no New Zealanders, have been retained by the eight IPL franchises. That means they all return to the bidding for the remaining 182 places. Franchises can keep up to five players. None have opted for more than three at present, but can exercise a "right-to-match" option during the auction.
2. A total of 360 Indian players (62 capped, 298 uncapped) will vie for the available slots alongside 216 overseas players from test nations (182 capped, 34 uncapped) and two cricketers from associate nations (Sandeep Lamichhane of Nepal and Hamza Tariq of Canada).
3. Wellington pace bowler Anurag Verma is the only New Zealander involved who has not been capped in any international format.
4. A total of 1122 players were on the original list, but that was trimmed to 578.
5. Two teams - the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals - are returning to the league after a two-season ban. They were suspended in 2015 following an illegal betting and match-fixing probe.
6. Indian news service NDTV reported viewership for 2017 swelled by 25 percent, with a total of 1.25 billion sets of eyes tuning in throughout the season (an average of almost 21 million per game). They compared that to the NFL which averaged 16.5 million viewers per game in 2016. Convert that to money: league-wide sponsorship began in 2008 costing US$6.3 million for a four-year deal. That has swelled to US$68.8 million in a decade.
7. Teams are allowed to spend up to 80 crore ($17 million) this year compared to 66 crore ($14 million) last year. That overall salary cap will gradually increase over the next two years. Teams have to spend a minimum of 75 per cent of that budget each year.
8. Among the 16 marquee players, only four – Kane Williamson, Shakib Al-Hasan, Joe Root and Faf du Plessis - are set below the maximum reserve price of two crore ($428,000). The other players in that group are: Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Ajinkya Rahane, Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes, Dwayne Bravo, Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.
The full 2018 player auction list is available on the tournament's official website.Click here
Quotes
"It's an auction, it's a lottery, it's like buying a house in Auckland, you've got to go out and have a few bids" – Colin Munro
"I have absolutely no expectations. I threw my name in the hat and managed to make the next round so we'll see what happens." – Seth Rance
"This year [in the Burger King Super Smash] I think we've proven our cricketing standards are good compared with around the world - and it was televised in India, which is a huge help for all our players with those aspirations." – Anurag Verma
The VIVO #IPLauction is just days away, and these are the Marquee players who'll have the teams digging deep into their pockets! Which of these would you like to see in your favourite team? pic.twitter.com/ikr7iJyuiu
