Chennai: As many as 1,097 players have registered for the much- awaited IPL auction to be held here on February 18 with most entries coming from the West Indies (56) followed by Australia (42) and South Africa (38).
Kerala pacer S Sreesanth is in the fray with a base price of Rs 75 lakh, The former Indian speedster returned to the field in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Championship after serving a seven-year ban for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam.
Sreesanth, who turned 38 on Saturday, has played for Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in the past.
Young Kerala opener Mohammed Azharuddeen, who smashed a 37-ball 100 against Mumbai in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, is also part of the group.
The player registration deadline closed on Thursday and the list comprises 207 international players including 21 capped Indians.
Twenty seven players will represent the associate nations and 863 uncapped cricketers, including 743 Indians and 68 overseas.
The number of uncapped Indians who have played at least one IPL game stands at 50 and two for overseas uncapped players.
"If every franchise were to have the maximum of 25 players in their squad, 61 players will be taken in the auction (of which up to 22 may be overseas players)," read the IPL statement on Friday.
The auction, scheduled a day after the second Test between India and England, will start at 3 pm IST.
Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the biggest purse available at with Rs 53.20 crore, followed by Royal Challengers Banglore (Rs 35.90 crore), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 34.85 crore), Chennai Super Kings (Rs 22.90 crore), Mumbai Indians (Rs 15.35 crore), Delhi Capitals (Rs 12.9 crore) and Rs 10.75 crore each for Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 2020 edition was held in the UAE due to the pandemic but the upcoming edition is likely to be played in India.
Top Australian draws like Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were released from Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab respectively on the last day of the retention deadline on January 20.
The other notable names to be released were Chris Morris, Harbhajan Singh and Aaron Finch. A total of 139 players were retained by the franchises and 57 players were releases.
Country-wise breakdown of 283 overseas players who have registered: Afghanistan (30), Australia (42), Bangladesh (5), England (21), Ireland (2), Nepal (8), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (29), Scotland (7), South Africa (38), Sri Lanka (31), UAE (9), USA (2), West Indies (56), Zimbabwe (2).
(With inputs from PTI)
