IPL 2021: Arjun Tendulkar, Sreesanth among 1097 players who registered for IPL auction
Joe Root, Mitchell Starc out
Chennai, Feb 5: England Test skipper Joe Root and Australian speedstar Mitchell Starc opted out while tainted Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and India's S Sreesanth were among the 1097 players who registered for the much-awaited IPL auction to be held here on February 18.
Left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar, son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, also enrolled in the auction with a base price of Rs 20 lakh.
A total of 814 players from India and 283 from overseas - registered for the auction with most entries coming from the West Indies (56) followed by Australia (42) and South Africa (38).
While Starc, who last played in the T20 league in 2015, misses out once more, Root -- centurion on the first day of the ongoing opening Test against India, too didn't enroll for the second successive time, joining fellow England players Harry Gurney and Tom Banton, who also did not register.
Shakib, who served a suspension by ICC for not reporting corrupt approach, listed at the highest base price of Rs 2 crore, while Sreesanth, who returned to cricket after seven years by featuring in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 for Kerala, set his base price at Rs 75 lakh, according to ESPNCricinfo.
The 37-year-old pacer was initially banned for life by BCCI for his role in the spot-fixing scandal in the 2013 IPL but the ban was reduced to seven years in August 2019.
Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and Colin Ingram -- all set their base price at Rs 2 crore.
Hanuma Vihari (Rs 1 crore) and Cheteshwar Pujara (Rs 50 lakh), who played pivotal roles in India's incredible 2-1 Test win over Australia, also registered for the auction.
The current number one T20 batsman in the world, England's Dawid Malan might make his debut in IPL as he also registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
Among others to list at the same price are Alex Carey, Tom Curran, Mitchell Swepson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Hales, Jhye Richardson, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Adam Lyth and Lewis Gregory.
Australian pacer James Pattinson, who played a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' title-run last year, is a prominent absentee.
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 3pm local time.
Kings XI Punjab go into the auction with the biggest purse available at with Rs 53.20 crore, followed by RCB (Rs 35.90 crore), RR (Rs 34.85 crore), CSK (Rs 22.90 crore), MI (Rs 15.35 crore), DC (Rs 12.9 crore) and Rs 10.75 crore each for KKR and SRH.
The 2020 edition was held in the UAE due to the pandemic but the upcoming edition is likely to be played in India.
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).
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BJP turning EC into tool for vote chori: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the BJP is turning the Election Commission into a "tool" for "vote chori".
Sharing a clip of his speech during a discussion on election reforms in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Gandhi said on X, "India's public is asking these 3 very important and direct questions: 1. Why was the CJI removed from the EC selection panel? 2. Why was almost complete legal immunity given to the EC before the 2024 elections? 3. Why the hurry to destroy CCTV footage within 45 days?"
"The answer is one - BJP is turning the Election Commission into a tool for vote theft," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.
In a no-holds-barred attack, Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission were "colluding to destroy" India's democracy and "rob people of their voice".
Participating in the discussion on election reforms, Gandhi claimed the BJP is "directing and using" the Election Commission to damage India's democracy.
Making suggestions, Gandhi called for providing machine readable voter list to all parties one month before elections, taking back the law that allows destruction of CCTV footage after 45 days, giving access to EVMs, and changing the law that allows election commissioners "to get away with whatever they want to do".
