Money, Money, Money. The cartoon dollar (rupee) signs will be flashing across the eyes of the world's finest cricket players as they imagine the riches that could enter their bank accounts if this weekend's Indian Premier League auction goes to plan. There will be 578 players sitting on the edge of their seats as they await the outcome of the money-spinning auction and we've taken a look at what the events in Bangalore will involve...
When? Where? How?
The eleventh edition of the IPL takes place from 7th April to 27th May but the real excitement starts this weekend as the player auction takes place during the course of the 27th and 28th January in Bangalore. The money will start to be splashed at 9am local time (3.30am BST) as eight franchises bid to build their squads.
The Figures
The IPL has never involved more money thanks to the introduction of a new lucrative broadcasting deal after the television and broadcasting rights sold for a massive £1.97bn in September.
Therefore, each of the eight franchises have an overall salary cap of INR 80 crore, which is an increase on the 66 crore cap from the 2016 and 2017 tournaments, as they build squads of between 18 and 25 players.
They can retain a maximum of five players from their most recent squad, with three retained prior to the auction and a maximum of three through 'right-to-match' cards during the auction (right-to-match cards give a franchise the ability to buy back its player during the auction by matching the highest bid from another franchise for the player)... Still following?
The Franchises
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are back among the eight-franchise tournament following their two-year suspension as a result of their owners' participation in a betting scandal. Check out which players have been retained and how much each franchise has got left to spend:
Chennai Super Kings
Retained: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravi Jadeja
Purse: 47 crore
Delhi Daredevils
Retained: Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Shreyas Iyer
Purse: 47 crore
Kings XI Punjab
Retained: Axar Patel
Purse: 67.5 crore
Kolkata Knight Riders
Retained: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell
Purse: 59 crore
Mumbai Indians
Retained: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah
Purse: 47 crore
Rajasthan Royals:
Retained: Steve Smith
Purse: 67.5 crore
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Retained: Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Sarfraz Khan
Purse: 47 crore
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Retained: David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Purse: 59 crore
The Players
There are 578 players going under the hammer at the auction, including 360 Indians and 218 overseas stars, and there will be plenty of disappointed as there are only 182 squad spots available. There will be 24 English players up for grabs, including Ben Stokes, who was the most expensive purchase of the auction in 2017, and Test captain Joe Root, who is in the auction for the very first time.
Both Stokes and Root have opted to set their auction base price for in the top bracket with the highest reserve price of INR 2 crore, along with 34 of the world's best.
Is The IPL Still Relevant?
It certainly is for the players as this could be a career-defining pay day and it is a tournament that continues to pull in the fans - 1.25 billion people watched the IPL in 2017, which is an average of 22.32m viewers per game.
Let the bidding commence!
