IPL Auction 2020: Eoin Morgan touted to be the first player to go under the hammer

The Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction 2020 is set to take place on December 19 in Kolkata. A total of 971 players had registered for the auction and the BCCI had given time to the franchises to submit their final shortlist until December 9. Well, it seems that teams have trimmed down that list to 332 players, who will now go under the hammer in the auction, according to a report by a leading Indian media portal. A total of 24 new players are present in the list including 19 capped Indian players. Adam Zampa, Kesrick Williams and Mushfiqur Rahim have been shortlisted by the franchises. It is interesting to see Rahim being included in the list since he had opted out of the auction a few days ago.

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IPL Auction 2020: Eoin Morgan, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins could spark bidding war

There are a few international stars in the Rs. 2 crore base price category who are expected to start a bidding war. Glenn Maxwell, Eoin Morgan, and Pat Cummins are expected to be in high demand. Morgan is in the first set of players and is likely to be the first name to be announced by the auctioneer. The set also comprises of Robin Uthappa, who was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) along with other explosive batsmen such as Chris Lynn, Aaron Finch and Jason Roy.

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The auction is slated to start at 10.00 AM on Thursday, December 19. But there are speculations that it might be pushed to the prime time slot with only 73 slots at max to be filled. However, the BCCI and the official broadcaster should agree to it and there is no confirmation on the same yet. Also, the entire players’ list who will be in the auction is expected to put up on IPL’s official website on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, some of the top players have pulled their names out of the event. Mitchell Starc and Joe Root are two such big names surprisingly. Starc is in the best of form in international cricket at the moment and was the leading wicket-taker in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. England’s Test skipper wouldn’t have got a better platform to prove his skills in the shortest format and it would have given him some much-needed practice ahead of the T20 World Cup, which will be played in Australia next year.

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