The 2021 IPL auction is likely to be conducted on February 11. The IPL has also set January 20 as the deadline for the 8 suffrage to submit the lists of retained and released players.
Those were two of the key making decisions taken by the IPL Governing Council which met virtually on this week. The dates and venue(s) haven’t been finalised yet for the 2021 edition which the BCCI just decided would still an 8 team event.
However, the venue for the auction, which will be a day-long occasion, has not been announced yet either. It will take place in the short break between the first and the 2nd Test of the India-England Test series which starts in February. The first two Tests of the England series are programmed in Chennai with the first match to be played between February 5-9. The 2nd Test will be held from 13th to 17th.
IPL in India? Still do not certain
It is accepted the three-person panel, which is directed by former India batsman Brijesh Patel and also has former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha as a member, considered on the different options for the venue. With the covid-19 pandemic continuing to surge in India, the Governing Council is realized to have retained the UAE as one of the options.
With the pandemic shoot up several challenges at regular intervals, the IPL remains unsure about whether to conduct matches on a home-and-away basis which would mean having a minimum of 8-venues. The other option, which was also addressed last year before moving the tournament to the UAE, is to organise the tournament at few venues which would involve minimum travel for teams.
The balance pocket
Although the vote would want the IPL to thicken the tournament venue, they are currently busy completing the list of players they wanna retain and release. That is the initial step to prepare in front of the auction which for several teams this time would be more about plugging holes than making wholesale changes.
Like every year the IPL is possible to enhance the auction purse by INR 3 crore. By the way, the Chennai Super Kings, who had glaring holes and finished joint-last on points in IPL 2020, had the smallest purse after the last auction.
They had just 0.15 crore left in their funds while the Kings XI Punjab had the greatest balance of INR 16.5 crore. Here’s the balance prize for the rest of the teams: Rajasthan Royals (14.75 crores), Sunrisers Hyderabad (10.1 crores), Delhi Capitals (9 crores), Kolkata Knight Riders (8.5 crores), Royal Challengers Bangalore (6.4 crores), and Mumbai Indians (1.95 crores).
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