Heena Sharma Blog

The player auction for the 13th edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) will take place in Kolkata on Thursday (December 19). Ahead of the auction, the eight IPL franchises released some of their players from last season; the 72 vacant spots thus created will be filled through a bidding process on Thursday. Even as many big names of the game queue up to be picked up in the IPL 2020 auction, Business Standard lists the cricketers who drew the biggest pay cheque in IPL 2019. The richest from last season was India cricket team captain Virat Kohli, who has been representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) since the inaugural season of the IPL, with a salary of Rs 17 crore. He was followed by former Indian captain MS Dhoni, young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and Team India vice-captain (limited overs) Rohit Sharma, at Rs 15 crore each. Read More

The champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals, have released 11 of their players from last season (including left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat and four overseas players), ahead of IPL 2020 auction in Kolkata on December 19. This is not the first time that Unadkat is being released by the Jaipur franchise. Bought for a whopping Rs 11.5 crore during the IPL 2018 auction, he had been released at the end of the season. Again, Unadkat was bagged by Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2019 auction for a hefty sum of Rs 8.4 crore. However, the left-arm pacer’s IPL record last season was not exceptional; he scalped only 10 wickets in 11 matches with an economy rate of 10.66. Besides, Rajasthan Royals traded Ajinkya Rahane to Delhi Capitals for Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia. Rahane led Royals in 24 of the team’s 100 matches between 2011 and 2019. He was also the leading run-getter for the franchise (2,810 runs at an average of 34.23 and a strike rate

As many as 332 cricketers will go under the hammer at the IPL 2020 auction in Kolkata on December 19 with Australia's Glenn Maxwell and South African Dale Steyn among those opting for the highest base price of Rs 2 crore. "While 997 players had initially registered for the auction, the final list has been pruned after the eight franchises submitted their shortlist of players," read an official IPL statement. Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and Sri Lanka veteran Angelo Mathews too have opted for the Rs 2 crore base price. Only 73 slots are there to be filled in the eight franchises and only 29 of them can be foreign buys. Robin Uthappa, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders last month, is the sole Indian player in the auction list with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Premier Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, who has never played in the IPL, has put himself in the highest base price bracket alongside bowling partner Pat Cummins, who has represented KKR