The Indian Premier League's high-profile players' auction got underway in Mumbai on Wednesday in the presence of its franchise owners and former India captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
The auction at the Hilton hotel in Mumbai, expected to start at 1100 IST, was delayed by around 30 minutes due to late arrival of some franchise owners. It is being conducted by London auctioneer Richard Madley.
Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise, and Mumbai franchise owner and billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani did not turn up; their representatives will do the bidding.
Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne is reported to be the most-expensive player with a base price starting at 1.8 crores.
Among Indians, one-day international team captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most expensive player with a base price starting at 1.6 crores.
The annual base player fee will be the fee at which the bidding for that player starts.
It is the first time in the history of any sport that such a high-profile auction is being conducted. Each franchise will have a table with a computer screen, where he will bid for the player displayed on the big screen. The franchise that bids the highest will be accepted by the auctioneer as the buyer at that price.
Each franchise has a total "purse" of up to $5m (around Rs 20 crores) that it can spend on purchase of the players for 2008. The franchises will not be able to make a bid for a player that will take them beyond this total purse.