Cheteshwar Pujara, Vihari & Arjun Tendulkar amongst 1097 players in IPL 2021 auction pool

Team India's Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari are amongst the 1097 players who have registered for the upcoming IPL 2021 auction, PTI reported on Friday night. The pool of players also includes Arjun Tendulkar - son of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar - who recently made his Mumbai debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy making him eligible for the auction. Arjun Tendulkar, who has been a part of Mumbai Indians' net practice sessions, has enrolled himself at a base price of Rs 20 lakhs. 

Significantly, Australia's lethal pacer Mitchell Starc has opted to stay out of the IPL 2021 auction. There has been a lot of talk around the Australian's probable teams in the upcoming season and if he would have been the most expensive buy of the season. Along with Starc, England's Test skipper Joe Root has also opted out of the IPL 2021. 

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Banton out, Shakib in

Other notable names that have registered themselves for the cash-rich tournament's auction slated to be held on February 18 in Chennai include Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan and India's Sreesanth, who recently completed his 7-year ban after he was convicted in a spot-fixing case. England players Harry Gurney and Tom Banton have also decided to give the IPL 2021 a skip. 

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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 current number one T20 batsman in the world, England's Dawid Malan has set his eyes on an IPL as he registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Australian pacer James Pattinson, who played a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' title-run last year, is a prominent absentee.

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). 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.  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. 

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IPL 2021 in India?

Meanwhile, with just months to go for the 14th edition of the IPL, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal stated that the board has its eyes set on hosting the T20 tournament in India after moving it to UAE in 2020 due to the COVID condition. With the pandemic situation improving in India, Dhumal asserted that BCCI does not feel the need to look at a 'back-up' overseas option as well. He added that the BCCI is also working on getting cricketers vaccinated as they continue to play within a bio-secure bubble. The franchises have already submitted their list of players retained and released to the BCCI. 

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