IPL 2021: KXIP in trouble after BCCI sets minimum spending amount

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) had a torrid run in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as they finished at sixth position in the points table with 12 points in their bag from 14 games. The newly-appointed skipper KL Rahul succeeded all the expectations as he emerged as the highest run-getter of IPL 2020 with 670 runs but there were many disappointments for the Punjab side.

As a result, ahead of IPL 2021, KXIP’s team-management took some harsh calls as they released as many as 7 players while retraining 16 cricketers. The released players list included some big names like Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, K Gowtham, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen and Karun Nair, J Suchith, Tajinder Singh Dhillon.

With 9 remaining spots, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is quite excited for the upcoming IPL 2021 auction, scheduled on February 18 in Chennai. They have the biggest purse balance of all the 8 franchises; a whopping INR 53.2 crore.

Punjab required to spend a minimum of INR 31.7 crore in IPL 2021 auction

However, this can also be a cause of worry for the Punjab-based franchise as the IPL Governing Council has asked all the franchises to spend at least 75% of the purse allocated to them in the auction. Thus far, Punjab has invested Rs. 31.8 crore in acquiring the services of 16 players and can fill a maximum of nine spots in the upcoming auctions.

For spending at least 75% of the IPL purse (INR 85 crore), the Punjab owners need to shell out a minimum of INR 31.7 crore on February 18 in IPL auction. In case the franchise fails to spend the minimum amount decided by the IPL governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will get the deficit.

“All teams have to spend minimum amounts and we have kept the threshold levels at 75% of the 85 Cr player purse as the minimum amount that franchisees will have to spend. This has been the norm with IPL Auctions in past as well,” a top BCCI official to InsideSport.

KXIP current squad: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel