The next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is still quite some time away but the buzz around it has already been started. After the pre-season draft window came to an end last month where a plethora of cricketers was released or traded by the respective franchises, it is now time for the auction to take center stage.
The auctions for the next season of the IPL are just a week away now. The star-studded affair will take place in Kolkata on December 19th. This is the first time that the IPL auction will take place away from the Garden City-Bengaluru- the traditional hosts of the glitzy affair since the tournament’s inception back in 2008 as it will be happening in Kolkata. Now the official broadcaster of the competition- Star Sports- have announced the timing as to when the auction will get underway
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Replying to one of the fan’s queries where he had inquired about the timings the event, Star Sports India took to Twitter to confirm the time. According to their reply, the broadcast of the auction ceremony will commence from 2:30 PM India Standard Time and can be viewed on its various regional platforms like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla and of-course Hindi.
Star Sports India reply read, “Hi! Catch the #VIVOIPLAuction on December 19 from 2:30 PM, LIVE on Star Sports 1 Hindi/1 HD Hindi, Star Sports First, 1 Tamil, 1 Telugu, 1 Kannada, 1 Bangla; from 3:20 PM on Select 1/1 HD.”
Hi! Catch the #VIVOIPLAuction on December 19 from 2:30 PM, LIVE on Star Sports 1 Hindi/1 HD Hindi, Star Sports First, 1 Tamil, 1 Telugu, 1 Kannada, 1 Bangla; from 3:20 PM on Select 1/1 HD.
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 12, 2019
In this season it will be a mini-auction before all the franchises go in for a mega-auction next year, and all eyes will be on teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab who will be hoping to address the chinks in their armor- those which have plagued their past seasons.
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The KXIP traded their last two seasons’ skipper Ravichandran Ashwin to Delhi Capitals for Jagadeesha Suchith while Rajasthan Royals, too, traded their former skipper, Ajinkya Rahane to Delhi Capitals. Trent Boult was also traded from DC to the Mumbai Indians while Virat Kohli’s RCB released the likes of Shimron Hetmayer, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee and Henrich Klaasen.
The likes of Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Glenn Maxwell are expected to be the hottest overseas buys while uncapped Indian players like Priyam Garg and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be the one to watch out for as 332 cricketers go under the hammer, come December 19th.
