The 15th IPL mega auction is likely to be the last of its kind in the cash-rich T20 extravaganza as the BCCI is planning to do away with the concept, as most franchises do not want their stable core to be tinkered with.
Dashing batter Shreyas Iyer and the multi-skilled Shardul Thakur are expected to laugh their way to the bank as two of the costliest buys.
The 10 teams in the league, following the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants, will be bidding heavily for the Indian players in a list of 590 cricketers, including 227 overseas candidates up for grabs during the two-day event.
While Iyer could be the highest ever auction buy (in the 20 crore range), the likes of Shardul and Kishan (keeper-batter), with their bouquet of skills, can also fetch anything in the range of Rs 12-15 crore or even upwards if some franchises get into intense bidding wars.
The likes of Deepak Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal, who can also get anything in the range of $ 2 million (Rs 15 crore) as both of them are proven international performers.
While KL Rahul, at Rs 17 crore, is the player with highest retention price, former Delhi Capitals skipper Iyer might force some of the franchises like Punjab Kings (Rs 72 crore purse), Sunrisers Hyderabad (Rs 68 crore) and Rajasthan Royals (Rs 62 crore) to break the bank.
David Warner is back in form and expect at least three franchises to empty their coffers for the Australian opener who will grab anything between $D 1.5 to 2 million.
Apart from opening the batting, Warner is among the rare overseas captaincy candidates, having guided Sunrisers to the trophy back in 2016 before an ugly fallout last year.
It is expected that Lucknow Supergiants will bid handsomely for Warner while one candidate who can be the highest overseas buy is West Indies' Jason Holder.
His Windies teammates like veteran Dwayne Bravo, along with young bowlers like Odean Smith and Romario Shepherd, are also going to get good deals.
If anyone can match or even beat Holder and Warner for a bigger price tag, it is South African keeper-batter Quinton de kock, who will get multiple bids from franchises.