Day one of the Indian Premier League player auction witnessed some expensive buying and new records as Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant became the most expensive buy after Lucknow Super Giants bought him for massive ₹27 crore.
Moments before Pant emerged as the most expensive player, Shreyas Iyer held the record for just 22 minutes after Punjab Kings bought him for ₹26.75 crores.Rishabh Pant becomes most expensive IPL buy at ₹27 crore, Iyer fetches ₹26.75 crore deal
It means that the likes of Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran and Prithvi Shaw will be up for grabs at the start of Day Two.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the sequence in a communication to the franchises after Saturday night’s pre-auction briefing. It confirmed that the opening day will see the 12 12 sets being called, with one 30-minute break and two breaks of 15 minutes each during the proceedings.
A total of 574 players have been selected from an original pool of 1,574 candidates. These players will be auctioned on November 24-25 in Jeddah. The roster comprises 208 international players, 12 uncapped international prospects, and 318 uncapped Indian players.
This year’s auction will feature some high-profile India stars such as Rishabh Pant, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh. The 10 franchises will collectively have around ₹641.5 crore to spend for the available 204 slots.