Stokes, Archer, and Starc will not be a part of the IPL auction

Despite an initial promise of the Australian express man, Mitchell Starc returning to the Indian shores for the domestic extravaganza, it all fizzled away as several other foreign stars also decided to let go of the Indian domestic contest.

Four big names in the form of Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Mitchell Starc withdrew their names from the mega-auction that is all set to unfold on February 12th and 13th.

Root previously announced that he would not partake in the Indian Premier League as his focus will remain on the English resurgence. However, the backing out of Stokes, Archer and Starc came as quite a shocker for the Indian fans.

A total of 1214 players have enlisted themselves for the IPL auction in the initial list that was shared by BCCI on January 21st. A few big foreign names that will be doing the rounds are Pat Cummins (Australia, base price Rs 2 crore), David Warner (Australia, Rs 2 crore), Steve Smith (Australia, Rs 2 crore), Quinton de Kock (South Africa, Rs 2 crore), Faf du Plessis (South Africa, Rs 2 crore) and Mark Wood (England, Rs 2 crore).

The South African fast bowling trident of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi will also be available for grabs in the last edition of the mega-auction that is to unfold most likely in Bangalore.

Dwayne Bravo will also be there in the list of the notable foreign players but the biggest name that will no longer be a part of the mega-event is the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle. Alongside Gayle the Curran brothers will also be away from the Indian franchise extravaganza.

When it comes to the Rs 2 crore bracket for the Indian cricketers, there will be several blistering monikers to pick from. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dinesh Karthik and Shardul Thakur, all will be up for grabs.

Suresh Raina, Mohammed Shami, Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa will also be available for the auction and have been enlisted in the Rs 2 crore category.

Other Indian internationals include Deepak Chahar priced at Rs 2 crore while Rahul Chahar will be available for Rs 1 crore. Prasidh Krishna and T Natarajan has labelled themselves at Rs 75 lakhs while Sreesanth will be available for Rs 50 lakhs.

Out of the 1214 names on the auction register, there are 896 Indian players, 318 overseas players. The list boasts about 270 capped, 903 uncapped and 41 players from Associate nations like Nepal, UAE, Oman, Scotland and the Netherlands. In fact, USA also has 14 players enlisted.

BCCI has confirmed that if any franchise wants any further inclusion to the list, they will have to send the list by 25th January. BCCI wants to ensure that the best players go up for the final round so that the process remains compact and ensures a smooth transition.