The upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction is set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. This event marks the second time the auction is being held outside India, with 574 players up for grabs, including 48 capped Indians and 195 overseas capped players. Each IPL team can have a maximum of 25 players in their squad, with a limit of eight overseas players.
Key players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Jos Buttler, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami have set their base price at INR 2 crore. The auction will also introduce the right-to-match (RTM) card, allowing teams to bring back a player from their previous season squad if they didn’t use their full quota of player retentions.
However, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are unable to exercise the RTM option as they retained their full quota of six players. The auction will feature an accelerated process where not all 574 players will be presented initially. The first phase of the accelerated auction will begin after 116 players have been presented, with the second phase held on November 25 for unsold or unpresented players.
Marquee Sets consisting of top players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Mitchell Starc will be presented first at the auction. The auction timings are set to start at 3:30 PM IST, with a break between sessions and the final session lasting from 5:45 PM to 10:30 PM IST. With exciting bidding wars expected, the IPL mega auction promises to be a thrilling event for cricket fans worldwide.
