The spotlight will be well and truly on England all-rounder Ben Stokes when the IPL player auction gets underway on January 27 after the final list of 578 players was released on Saturday.
Stokes is among the 16 marquee players picked for the upcoming auction in Bengaluru which will run across two days. India off-spinner Ravi Ashwin, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, England Test captain Joe Root and Aussie all-rounder Glenn Maxwell are among the top players who will go under the hammer.
Initially, more than 1,000 players had registered for the auctions but the Indian board cut the list to 578. The players have been distributed across eight categories.
“A lot of strategising and number-crunching is involved before a cricketer is picked at the IPL Player Auction. The dynamic nature of the auction makes it unpredictable and exciting,” IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said in a release.
The VIVO #IPLauction 2018 is just around the corner and here's the list of 16 marquee players:
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 20, 2018
Stokes
Starc
Gayle
Pollard
Yuvraj
R Ashwin
Gambhir
Dhawan
Maxwell
Rahane
Harbhajan
Root
Shakib
du Plessis
DJ Bravo
Williamson
“The eight franchises have given us an indication of what their core would be with their player retentions and IPL 2018 player auction will be an important step towards the creation of a successful team. The marquee list is full of star players, but I am also looking forward to the uncapped Indian players who have proved their mettle in the earlier editions of the IPL and are sure to attract high bids.”
According to reports, franchises will get to replace Stokes – who was charged with ‘affray’ over his brawl in Bristol last year – only if the all-rounder is not available for the entire tournament due to legal proceedings.
However, Stokes’ legal team is reported to have informed the England board that Stokes’ case is unlikely to impact his availability for the IPL.
Meanwhile, among the 16 marquee players in the ‘M1’ and ‘M2’ categories are India players Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and veterans Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir. Interestingly, Chris Gayle finds himself in the M1 category even though his batting has lost a lot of its sheen.
Former India captain MS Dhoni has stated that his team Chennai Super Kings will go for Ashwin when his name comes up during the auction.