IPL - Million Dollar Baby

It is history in making, with cricket's biggest auction to be held on Wednesday (Feb 20) at Hilton Towers, where a total of 84 players -- both Indian and international -- go under the hammer in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League.

It will be for the first time ever that international cricketers from around the world will be up for grabs by the eight city-specific franchises. The franchise owners - ranging from top industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya to Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, will bid for several top names in international cricket. The auction will be a private one to be conducted by an independent professional auctioneer -- Richard Madley -- who will be the sole arbiter to all aspects of the auction.

The biggest buzz though is about the Biggies -- the superstars who could be worth anywhere from US$ 600,000- 800,000. The favourites for sure will fill seats in the stadiums across the nation.

IPL's Twenty20 cricket championship will be played between April 18 and June 1 among the eight city teams in various parts of the country.

Rules of the auction

-- Each franchise will be allowed to bid any number of times for a player.

-- Bid to start with the annual "base player fee" that has already been fixed by the IPL.

-- Players will be divided into sets of 12 each, according to their base fee and availability.

--A random draw will decide the order in which players go up on the block.

-- Bids to start with a set of marquee players like Gilchrist, Dhoni, Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle.

-- A designated bidder from each franchise will indicate a bid, which will be the fee per season.

-- No bid can be withdrawn.

-- Minimum 16 players will be allowed per franchise.

-- Eight overseas players allowed in one team.

-- Only four overseas players can be included in the playing eleven.

-- Four players will be picked from the catchment area.

-- Four under-22 players mandatory for each franchise team.

-- Teams to spend minimum US$ 3.3mn & maximum US$ 5mn


The biggies...

The iconic names included in the IPL from different nations are as followers:-

India
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuraj Singh

Australia
Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Justin Langer

Bangladesh
Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza

New Zealand
Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendan McCullum

Pakistan
Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan

Sri Lanka
Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga

South Africa
Graeme Smith, Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs

West Indies
Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul


As the IPL takes its first big step, cricket will definitely enter uncharted territory. The Game of Willows has never seen anything like this before but it is still time before it can match its inspiration and the more glamorous English Premiership.