IPL auction: Sehwag, Yuvraj's base price at Rs 2 crore, Pujara at 1.5 cr

Discarded veterans Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have kept their base price in the highest bracket of Rs 2 crore, while Zaheer Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara's will start with 1.5 crore, for the upcoming players' auction for the seventh edition of Indian Premier League.

There are 46 capped Indians in the list of 233 international players who have enrolled for the auction, to be held in Bangalore on February 12.

The base price for capped players (in Indian rupees) is 50 lakh, 1 crore, 1.5 crore and 2 crore respectively.

New Zealand's Corey Anderson, who has kept his base price at a moderate Rs 1 crore, is expected to be one of the most sought after players in the auction.

The left-hander grabbed headlines after smashing the fastest century in One-Day Internationals against the West Indies earlier this month and also dished out a superb all-round performance against India in the ongoing ODI series.

Meanwhile, Australia captain Michael Clarke has pulled out from the auction, but Ashes hero and former Mumbai Indians pacer Mitchell Johnson has pegged his base price at Rs 2 crore.

While Sehwag, who is horribly out of form in domestic cricket following his axing from the Indian team, has kept himself in the highest bracket, two other veterans Yuvraj and Ashish Nehra are also expecting to fetch at least Rs 2 crore or more at the auction if one goes by their decision to keep themselves in the highest bracket.

Dinesh Karthik, who was widely tipped to be retained by Mumbai Indians, has also kept a base price of Rs 2 crore.

Hard-hitting batsman Yusuf Pathan, who had three pathetic seasons with Kolkata Knight Riders is also in the highest bracket.

Swing bowler Praveen Kumar, leg-spinner Amit Mishra, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, Test opener Murali Vijay, Bengal's Manoj Tiwary and Karnataka veteran Robin Uthappa are the other capped Indian players in the highest bracket.

Veteran seamer Zaheer Khan, Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, talented Bhuvneshwar Kumar are in the Rs 1.5 crore bracket while fringe India players like Ashoke Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma are in the Rs 1 crore.

Delhi's Parvinder Awana, who played a couple of T20 internationals last season, has a base price of Rs 50 lakh.

Pacers Umesh Yadav has not yet confirmed his base price while that of Ishant Sharma's is Rs 1.5 crore.

Interestingly, Jharkhand speedster Varun Aaron's name is missing from the auction list. Perhaps, the rigours of T20 cricket are not to his liking.

Forty-three-year-old Australian chinaman bowler Bradd Hogg is the oldest player at the auction with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore while T20 freelancer Brad Hodge has kept his base price at Rs 2 crore.

Mike Hussey, who had said the sixth edition of the IPL would be his last, included himself in the list with highest base price.

Some Prominent Indian players and their base prices:

(Rs 2 crore): Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Robin Uthappa, Amit Mishra, Murali Vijay, Manoj Tiwary.

(Rs 1.5 crore): Zaheer Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma.

(Rs 1 crore): Parthiv Patel, Mohit Sharma, Ashoke Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha.

The retained players for IPL 7:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo.

Delhi Daredevils: No retention

Kings XI Punjab: David Miller, Manan Vohra

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn