According to IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, the eight franchises of the lucrative league has been given a deadline of January 21 to submit the names of their retained players. Earlier this week, a virtual meeting took place between Patel and the other members of the league’s governing council where the planning and preparations of the next edition were discussed thoroughly.
“We will have players’ retention till January 21 and the trading window for the franchises closes on February 4,” Patel told PTI. He also informed that the date of the auction is yet to be finalized.
A mini-auction is set to take place between the eight existing teams in the second or third week of February.
The usual players’ purse of Rs. 85 crore will be given to the eight teams and there will be no increase of purse for the 2021 auction, Patel said.
It is most likely that two big salaried players, Piyush Chawla and Kedar Jadhav, will be offloaded by the Chennai Super Kings. The men in yellow are the only team who had Rs. 15 lakh left after the last auction and they would further increase their purse by releasing the duo.
Mumbai Indians boast of a very set team and therefore are expected to retain most of its players. However, they might release a few players here and there to increase their purse from Rs. 1.95 crore.
Rajasthan Royals have the maximum purse 14.75 crore, followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (10.1 crore), Delhi Capitals (9 crore), Kolkata Knight Riders (8.5 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (6.4 crore).
India is the first choice to host the 14th edition of the IPL but a lot will depend on how the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is conducted. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been marked as the second option if the need arises.
“The BCCI will wait for a month to see how the Covid-19 situation is in India before finalizing the schedule. Everyone wants it to be held in India but we still need to wait for some more time before taking a call,” a BCCI source said.