The BCCI has confirmed that 350 players will feature in the IPL mini auction on 16 December in Abu Dhabi, trimming the list from 1,390 initial registrations. For Bangladesh, the announcement carries particular significance, with seven players included in the final group that will go under the hammer.
Mustafizur Rahman leads the Bangladeshi contingent as the only player from the country in the top base price bracket of two crore rupees. The left arm seamer, who played for Delhi Capitals last season and has 60 IPL matches behind him, remains Bangladesh’s most established name in the league. He is joined on the list by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Rakibul Hasan and Shoriful Islam. Shakib Al Hasan was part of the preliminary intake but has been left out of the final version.
The auction pool includes 240 Indian and 110 overseas players. Franchises have 77 slots available, 31 of them for overseas signings. Kolkata Knight Riders hold the largest purse, worth 64.30 crore rupees, and are in position to recruit 13 players including six overseas.
Rishad Hossain enters the auction with a base price of 75 lakh rupees, the same category that contains the remaining five Bangladeshi players. The BCCI has kept the eight tier base price structure, with the top band of two crore rupees followed by 1.5 crore, 1.25 crore, 1 crore, 75 lakh, 50 lakh, 40 lakh and 30 lakh rupees.
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock is one of 35 new entrants added to the list, and his inclusion has generated notable interest. His base price is set at one crore rupees, reduced from the two crore figure that Kolkata Knight Riders paid for him in the previous mega auction. After a disappointing campaign he was released, but his return from international retirement and a century against India in Visakhapatnam have raised his stock again. Sri Lankans Travin Mathew, Binura Fernando, Kusal Perera and Dunith Wellalage are among other late additions.
The BCCI has indicated that capped players will appear first, divided into batters, all rounders, wicketkeeper batters, fast bowlers and spinners, with uncapped players following later.
Bangladeshi eyes will likely track the early sets that feature high profile names. Set one lists batters Devon Conway, Jake Fraser McGurk, Cameron Green, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller and Prithvi Shaw. The all rounders in set two include Gus Atkinson, Wanindu Hasaranga, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Liam Livingstone, Wiaan Mulder and Rachin Ravindra. The wicketkeepers in set three include Finn Allen, Jonny Bairstow, Srikar Bharat, Quinton de Kock, Ben Duckett, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jamie Smith. Set four, which is particularly relevant for Bangladesh, features Mustafizur Rahman among fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee, Akash Deep, Jacob Duffy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Matt Henry, Spencer Johnson, Shivam Mavi, Anrich Nortje and Matheesha Pathirana. The fifth set contains spinners Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar, Akeal Hosein, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Maheesh Theekshana.
