Arjun Tendulkar registers for IPL auction, Mitchell Starc opts out
A total of 1097 players, including 814 Indian and 283 overseas players, have registered for the IPL 2021 auction. Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Sachin Tendulkar, is a notable entrant in the list. The left-arm seamer, who played the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, has enlisted for a base price of Rs. 20 lakh. Meanwhile, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc remains unavailable this time too.
Arjun made his T20 debut last month
Arjun was recently included in the Mumbai squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, he had a forgettable T20 debut as he returned with figures of 1/34 against Haryana. The young fast bowler will aim to make it to the Mumbai squad for the impending Vijay Hazare Trophy. Interestingly, he has been training with Mumbai Indians for a few years.
Starc opts out of IPL auction
Australian pace spearhead Starc has stayed away from the auction. He hasn't played the last few editions due to combination of injuries and the decision to manage his workload. The 31-year-old was expected to take part in the tournament, with the T20 World Cup set to take place in India this year. It is understood that he will prepare for the home Ashes series.
Shakib, Sreesanth return to IPL auction
Shakib Al Hasan and Sreesanth will be a part of the auction this year. The star all-rounder made a comeback after serving a ban for not reporting corrupt approaches. Sreesanth, who got embroiled into the IPL spot-fixing controversy, also played domestic cricket recently. He has set his base price at Rs. 75 lakh, while Shakib has kept the highest price of Rs. 2 crore.
Pujara, Harbhajan enter the auction
Among Indians, Kedar Jadhav has put his base price at Rs. 2 crore. Interestingly, Hanuma Vihari (Rs. 1 crore) and Cheteshwar Pujara (Rs. 50 lakh) have registered as well. Harbhajan Singh, who was released by CSK, has also registered at a base price of Rs. 2 crore. He was expected to retire after he skipped IPL 2020, but it was only a short break.
Other international stars who have registered
International players, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Colin Ingram, Mark Wood and Moeen Ali have all set themselves a base price of Rs. 2 crore. Besides, Dawid Malan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Swepson among others have set their base price at Rs. 1.5 crore. The players in the Rs. 1 crore bracket are Aaron Finch, Marnus Labuschagne, Sheldon Cottrell.
A look at the other details
The IPL player registration for the auction closed on February 4. The auction register incorporates 207 capped, 863 uncapped and 27 Associate players. Of these, there are 21 capped Indians, while the list comprises 186 capped international and 745 uncapped Indians. Notably, the auction for the IPL 2021 edition is set to take place on February 18.
