The IPL (condensed form of Indian Premier League) has emerged as the nationally adopted festival of India. The first IPL auction in 2008 changed India’s cricket landscape forever. Ever since, auctions have been taking place yearly to decide the participating players’ fate in the league.
Like cricket as sport, IPL auction has an unpredictable nature that makes it extremely exciting. An unknown domestic player strikes a multi-millionaire deal whereas many star performers don’t find a buyer.
For T20 betting, you don’t need to know the auction process. However, as a cricket fan and bettor, you may feel interested to know IPL auctions and rules.
Understanding Details of IPL Auction
The IPL auction is an annual multi-day event organized and managed by BCCI. The event involves auctioning cricket players, both Indian and Foreign, to different franchises. An experienced auctioneer dedicatedly controls the event.
The auctioning event is highly competitive as IPL franchises bid for the listed players. After every IPL team gets a settled squad, the organizer brings the curtain down on the auction event.
The auction process continues for a few days. One can get to know all the details of the IPL auction on print media, TV and the internet. However, all the teams do extensive preparation for months though remain tight-lipped about what goes behind the scene. These teams develop bidding strategies to employ during the auction.
Every franchise does thorough research on the kind of players they need for their team, the target players’ international commitment, past performances, injury history and relation with the coach before bidding for a player. They also work out a budget for bidding.
How Does the Auction Work in IPL?
IPL fans stay glued to their TV sets for the updates about the team, players, coaches, and managers to figure out the odds of winning the tournament. Analysts also attend the multi-day IPL auction and grace the assigned tables while everything is telecast on the television to quench people’s curiosity.
IPL has its own set of rules and regulations about squad formation and every franchise is obliged to comply with it. The highest bidder for a player from the common pool contracts him for a minimum one year.
What goes before and after the auction in terms of teams retaining some players while letting go of others are hush-hush affairs. However, most of the purchase and sale happen during those few days of auction.
After a lot of drama, some teams get their favorite players whereas others leave the auction with a drooping face. The question remains how some teams outsmart others? Does everything boil down to the budget? Or do some other factors also have a role to play in the grand scheme of things?
What is the Budget for Each Team?
Each IPL franchise receives an amount of INR 80 crore to assemble a team of players of Indian and foreign origins. If it comes to Indian players, both domestic and international cricketers are listed for auction. The names of capped, uncapped along with offshore players from the associated countries are put up for auction.
IPL franchises have no obligation to empty their purse in auction. However, recent rules make it mandatory for a franchise to spend 75% of what they receive in their kitty.
The franchises develop their strategy around their budget and the players they want to purchase. Franchises usually don’t empty their purse and utilize the remaining money at the right moment.
All reputable cricket betting apps give details of IPL auctions.
IPL Auction: Different Categories of Players
- Capped Indian players
- Uncapped Indian Players
- Foreign or Overseas Players (Non-Indian Players)
Capped players are Indian players who have played for India seniors’ team at least once in any format of the game.
Uncapped players are Indian domestic players who have represented the Indian first-class circuit but have never played international cricket.
Overseas players can be capped or uncapped players or players from associated cricket nations.
Under-19 players are not slotted in the uncapped category unless they have already played List-A cricket or some first-class cricket.
How the IPL auction happens makes no difference for the players. Only the team squad can affect the player type. Each team squad can contain a maximum of 8 foreign players but only 4 of them can make it to the Playing XI at any given point in time in a match.
You will get a complete list of players for any squad on T20 betting apps.
How Many Players are Listed for the IPL Auction?
There are no rules regarding the number of players that can be listed for the auction. Since the first auction in 2008, the number has always been different.
The players signing up for the auction should receive NOC from their respective cricket boards. Moreover, players are shortlisted based on a variety of factors including the availability of players.