India's up and coming young talent, including Unmukt Chand and Rishi Dhawan, are expected to feature in the IPL auction for the first time, having been named in a 651-man list of uncapped players that will go under the hammer on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore.
The franchises have received the list of uncapped players and have time till February 3 to send the names they are interested in to the IPL authorities, who will then make a final shortlist for the players' auction.
Manish Pandey, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdullah and T Suman are some of the other names that figure in the long list, which was drawn up after receiving nominations from all state associations in India and eight other countries.
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The list has been divided into two groups: the first comprises 127 players who have already played in the IPL, while the second has potential first-timers.
The base prices of these uncapped players is between Rs 10 and Rs 30 lakh.
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Pandey, the IPL's first Indian centurion, and Dhawan, this season's leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, have listed their base prices at Rs 20 lakh.
The likes of India's Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Chand, Suman, Bhatia and Abdulla are in the top uncapped bracket of Rs 30 lakh.
A further 50 names are likely to be added to the list.
With the IPL restricting the squad strength to 27 this year, including a cap of nine overseas players, the franchises have been forced to lay more emphasis on domestic Indian players.
This is the first time that uncapped players will feature in the auction. Their absence thus far had become a controversial topic, with many franchises alleging horse trading by richer rivals with under-the-table deals.
In 2011, Pandey, Ambati Rayudu and Suman were the most sought after Indian uncapped players. After uncertainty over where they would go, Pandey eventually played for Pune Warriors while Rayudu and Suman were bought by Mumbai Indians.
The IPL defended the non-inclusion of uncapped players in the auction then, saying there were rules in place, with players getting a fixed fee of Rs 1 to 3 million and the contracts being governed by the BCCI.
Meanwhile, 12 players have been added to the list of capped players, which now stands at 244.
Those added are Varun Aaron, Hemang Badani, Laxmi Shukla, Aavishkar Salvi, VRV Singh (all from India), Chris Lynn (Australia), Simon Jones (England), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Roelof van de Merwe, David Wiese (all from South Africa) and Andre Russell (West Indies).
Image: Unmukt Chand
Photograph: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
