Dean Elgar opens up ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction

The mega auction for this IPL 2022 is all set to take place on the 12th and the 13th of February. Over 590 players are set to go under the hammer. with 12 players registering themselves in the highest base price category of INR 2 Crores.

South Africa’s skipper in the longest format, Dean Elgar, who led his side to a memorable 2-1 victory in the Test series against India recently, predicted a “life-changing auction” for some of the South African players. 33 Protea players have registered themselves for the upcoming auction.

Quinton De Cock, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aiden Markram, Rassie Van der Dussen, Marco Jansen, and Kagiso Rabada are a few big names on the list. One of their players, tearaway quick Anrich Nortje has been retained by his side Delhi Capitals.

“Some guys might have the life-changing auction go their way and I’ll be the first guy to come and congratulate them because beers will be on them. I know I’m definitely not in that auction because I can’t stand another year of disappointment of not getting the satisfaction of knowing I’ll retire in two years’ time because of getting a million-dollar contract,” Elgar said while addressing reporters ahead of New Zealand tour.

“I’m a lot more optimistic than that, but I also see it as an opportunity for someone to have their lives changed through the cricket they have played,” he added.

Will IPL affect South Africa’s international schedule?

The IPL is unlikely to affect the Proteas upcoming tour to New Zealand. However, the availability of some of the players from mid-March is in doubt due South Africa‘s home series against Bangladesh.

Speaking about whether or not the upcoming auctions or the IPL tournament will affect South Africa’s international fixtures, the skipper said that he wants the guys to majorly focus on the New Zealand series and the fixtures after that.

“We can only control getting the guys in the right mindset to focus on the two-match series against New Zealand. We just need to make sure that guys are aligned and focus on the bigger picture for us, which is following our processes and they still have to play for us.”