England star batsman lines up for first IPL auction

NEW DELHI: England Test skipper and star batsman Joe Root is among 282 foreign players looking to play in this year’s big-paying Indian Premier League (IPL), the cricket board announced Saturday.

The player auction for the 11th IPL Twenty20 tournament is set for January 27-28 in Bangalore, the BCCI said. Some 1,122 players will be on the auction block for the eight teams to bid for.

“The list that has been sent out to the eight IPL franchises has 281 capped players, 838 uncapped players, including 778 Indians and three players from the associate nations,” said a BCCI release.

It predicted “a fierce bidding war” for Indian stars Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, with spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Kuldeep Yadav and openers Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay also going under the hammer.

Foreign stars will include Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Gayle, Chris Lynn, Eoin Morgan and Australian pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. While Root is a new IPL entrant, England stars like Stokes and limited-overs captain Morgan will be in running to hit the jackpot.