India (BCCI) on Tuesday released the complete list of players who will go under the hammer in the upcoming mega-auction ahead of the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). West Indies great Chris Gayle, who played for the Punjab Kings last season, and England all-rounder Ben Stokes are the notable absentees from the list.
"The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Player Auction list is out with a total of 590 cricketers set to go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction which will take place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, 2022," said the board in its statement.
Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price and 48 players have chosen to place themselves in this bracket. There are 20 players in the auction list with a reserve price of Rs 1.5 crore while 34 players are in the list of cricketers with a reserve price of Rs 1 crore.
Amongst 590 players who have registered for the auction, 228 are capped players, 355 are uncapped players and 7 belong to Associate Nations.Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc is also absent from the auction. His team mates Steve Smith, David Warner and Test captain Pat Cummins have all entered. England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who was ruled out of all cricket in August, is also present in the list. However, it is reported that he will be available only from the 2023 season.
South Africa batter Rassie Van der Dussen has also entered the auction while limited overs captain Temba Bavuma is absent. Van der Dussen and Bavuma played an integral role in South Africa's victories in their home Test and ODI series against India recently.
Considered one of the biggest stars of the IPL, Gayle has not entered the 2022 auction. He has scored six centuries, which is the most by any batsmen and with 4965 runs in 142 matches, Gayle is the seventh highest run scorer of all time in the history of the tournament.
It was reported in the British media that Stokes may not enter his name in the IPL auction and play County cricket instead after England's humiliating 4-0 loss in the Ashes. Stokes missed much of last season after sustaining a finger injury while fielding for the Rajasthan Royals.
Virat Kohli said he was leading the U19 team in the World Cup in Malaysia when the draft process for the inaugural edition of the IPL took place. As per the IPL draft policy, every franchise had the option of picking two U-19 players and there was a salary cap set for them.
Virat Kohli was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a reported price of USD 30,000 (in 2008). However, Kohli revealed that he heard from people that Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) were also interested in going for the then India U19 captain. However, Delhi opted for Pradeep Sangwan, a left-arm pacer, to beef up their bowling unit and eventually Kohli ended up being at RCB.
"We were all in Malaysia for the U-19 World Cup. I remember the day when the drafts were happening. The U-19 dynamic was a little different, because we very rightly so had a money cap, if I could say. That was the only time where I saw a restriction on how much you can be picked for if you haven't played for India
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