Mumbai: From an initial count of 799, the IPL 2017 auction will now feature 351 players after the teams submitted their wishlists for the event which will take place in Bengaluru on February 20.
There are seven players with a maximum base price of Rs. 2 crore including Ishant Sharma, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, three England players – all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, ODI and T20I captain Eoin Morgan, two Australian pacers Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins.
Six players from ICC Associate countries have also made the final list with Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai the standout name along with four of his countrymen. Chirag Suri of the UAE was the other Associate player in the list.
The three English players are attracting a lot of interest from all the teams despite claims from some franchise officials that they would not be too aggressive in buying players this season.
Although the rules of retention are yet to be decided, the right-to-match option is expected to be available. This option will allow a franchise to buy back a specific number of the players that they released for the auction, by matching the highest bid those players attract.
