The BCCI has informed the franchises that the auction process, "will commence with the marquee set followed by a full round of capped players by specialism -- batsmen, all-rounders, wicket Keeper/batsmen, fast bowlers and spin bowlers and then move into a full specialism round of uncapped players."

 

The IPL on Tuesday released its final auction pool, which has been pruned to 590 from the original list of 1214 players, which was compiled and distributed on January 22. This final list includes 44 new names that were registered in the auction pool upon the request of the 10 franchises.

 

Those 44 also include England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently said is in the final stages of his recovery from elbow surgery with a planned return to all cricket in June.

 

In the email sent to franchises, IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin said Archer would be part of the accelerated set of players, which will commence from player No 161. Amin also added the ECB had made it clear that Archer was "unlikely" to play in IPL 2022 and if any franchise picks him up they will not be able to get a replacement.

 

"The ECB has registered Jofra Archer for the auction with a view to potential participation in 2023 and 2024, as due to his current injury it is unlikely that he can participate in IPL 2022," ESPNcricinfo quoted Amin as saying.

 

"Therefore, his name has been included in the auction list but he won't feature in the marquee or other sets to be presented. He will be available to be called during the accelerated auction and whoever picks him will not get a replacement player for IPL 2022 season for his place as he is already injured and unlikely to participate in IPL 2022 season," he added.

 

Another notable addition in the new list is Usman Khawaja, who had not enrolled initially. Apart from Archer and Khawaja, new additions include one from Afghanistan, five more from Australia, 11 from India, two Ireland, six from New Zealand, two from Scotland, four more from Sri Lanka and West Indies each, and seven more from South Africa.

 

A notable absentee from the additions is Chris Gayle. It has been learnt that at least a couple of franchises had requested for Gayle's inclusion, however, the West Indian legend has decided to stay away from the IPL this year. There were also requests for the recall of Ben Stokes and Mitchell Starc, but no success was there on that front.

 

Amongst 590 players (370 Indian, 220 overseas) who have registered for the auction, 228 are capped players, 355 are uncapped players and seven belong to Associate Nations.

 

"Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price and as many as 48 players have chosen to place themselves in this bracket," the BCCI said in a statement.

 

There are 20 players in the auction list with a reserve price of Rs 1.5 crore while 34 players are in the list of cricketers with a reserve price of Rs one crore.

 

A fierce battle among 10 franchises to acquire the services of some of the finest Indian and world cricketing talent is on the cards during an action-packed IPL 2022 player auction in Bengaluru.