IPL 2020: 332 players enlisted in final shortlist for the auction

The IPL auction on December 19 in Kolkata will witness 332 players going under the hammer. The final shortlist was forwarded by the eight franchises to the BCCI with a total of 971 players registering for the event. The franchises have now trimmed down the list and there is likely to be a bidding war for some high-profile players during the one-day event.

According to a report in ESPN Cricinfo, the first set of players going under the hammer will include the marquee batsmen. This set will include seven players and will feature Aaron Finch, Chris Lynn, Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan and Robin Uthappa. The second set will include the all-rounders and there is likely to be a heavy bidding war for big names like Glenn Maxwell and Chris Morris. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Dale Steyn are some of the marquee stars which will feature in the fast bowling set of the auctions.

The order of the auctions will be according to the speciality of the players – batsmen, all-rounders, wicketkeeper-batsmen, fast bowlers and spinners. The capped players will first go under the hammer followed by the uncapped ones.

24 new players enlisted

The final list also includes 24 new players who were not initially a part of the 971 players who had registered for the event. Some of the names who will now go under the hammer include Keserick Williams, Dan Christian, Adam Zampa, Mushfiqur Rahim and Will Jacks.

Only 73 slots will be up for grabs during the auction in Kolkata. Out of these, only 29 will be reserved for overseas players. The IPL auctions are slated to begin at 10 am with franchises looking to address some key areas of weaknesses. The auction purse of the various franchises will largely dictate their strategy with a bidding war looming large for some of the big names. All in all, it promises to be an exciting event which will give the spectators a fair idea about how the squads pan out ahead of the 2020 season.