Quinton de Kock made a surprise return to the IPL mini auction list after the BCCI pruned it to 350 following consultations with the franchises.
The auction will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16, beginning at 2.30pm IST.
The South Africa wicketkeeper-batter did not figure in the original list, but his name was added later, on the recommendation of a franchise. He is in the third lot that is for wicketkeeper-batters.
De Kock recently come out of international retirement, and smashed a century in the third and final ODI against India in Visakhapatnam. His base price is ₹1 crore, a 50 per cent drop from the previous mega auction, when he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the floor price of
₹2 crore. The franchise decided to release him ahead of the mini auction.
Of the 350 players, 40 have listed themselves for the maximum base price of ₹2 crore, with Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi the only Indians among them.
Australia’s Cameron Green, who is tipped to be the most expensive buy, has listed himself as a batter and will appear in the first set. It implies that he will not bowl in the tournament.
Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller and Prithvi Shaw are the others in that set.
Of the shortlisted players, 240 are Indians and 110 overseas. The auction will begin with a full round of capped players. The order will be batters, all-rounders, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers and spinners, followed by a full round of uncapped players.
The accelerated process will begin after player No. 70 and will cover the rest of the players. The franchises will then be asked to submit the names of the unsold players from the overall list for further accelerated rounds.
“The first accelerated round will cover all the players from 71-350. Once these players have been presented, franchises will be requested to submit the names of the players (unpresented and unsold) from all those on the full list of 350 for further accelerated presentation,” the BCCI said.
The franchises will compete for 77 available slots overall, including 31 spots reserved for overseas players.
KKR have the biggest purse of ₹64.30 crore with 13 slots left to fill, including six overseas players. Chennai Super Kings are placed second with ₹43.4 crore and have nine slots vacant.
The Knights will need a wicketkeeper and are likely to target England’s Jamie Smith or Jonny Bairstow, both of whom have been listed at a base price of ₹2 crore.