Indian Premier League 2010 – Latest player auction set for January 19
by Juris Graney
A new year will usher in a brand new set of players for the Indian Premier League’s 2010 edition.
IPL 3.0 will explode into action on March 12 when Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders clash in Hyderabad but there is a lot of ground to cover before that happens including a new player auction and plenty of off-season trading.
This year’s tournament in India will span 45 days and will include 60 matches and usher in four new venues and some new rule changes.
Teams will be allowed to trade players between November 23 and January 5 including news that Pakistan’s players that were excluded last year following terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
But in 2010 the likes of Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Umar Gul will all be available for the richest cricket tournament in the world, pending visas of course.
The biggest news will be the player auction that will take place on January 19, which will see each of the eight teams splurge their allotted $750,000 on the best players in the world.
Following the spike of interest in the shortest form of the game following this year’s successful Twenty20 World Cup, which was won by Pakistan, there are plenty of young players and old warhorses looking to make some easy money and gain plenty of exposure across the sub-continent and indeed the world.
The success of Twenty20 cricket not only internationally but domestically will create much interest in the third instalment of the IPL which can be seen through the triumphant arrival of the recently completed Champions League Twenty20 (NOTE: highly searched tournament), which was won by the NSW Blues.
In other news from the just concluded three-day franchisee conference in Thailand is:
* Teams will be permitted the use of four fielding substitutes rather than the twelfth man;
* Any ball bowled above waist height regardless of the speed will be declared a no-ball,
and;
* IPL teams will test pink balls in their practice matches and sessions in partnership with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
