The players are raring to go for the next edition of the
Indian Premier League as a total of 1122
players have enlisted themselves in the auction—and Joe Root is also among
them. The England captain was advised to not play in the tri-nation T20I series
against Australia and New Zealand by coach Trevor Bayliss, but he went ahead
and chose to take part in the series.
And now, he has also expressed his desire to play in the
Indian Premier League and has signed up for the auction for the first time in
his career. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is also among the entrees in the list despite
still being under investigation for the physical assault case outside a Bristol
bar.
There are 281 capped players and 838 uncapped
ones. Out of the 1122 players, 778 are Indians while the rest are foreigners.
Among them, Australia have the most number of players with 58 players.
South Africa are close behind with 57 players while West
Indies and Sri Lanka have 39 players each. Meanwhile, surprisingly, Afghanistan
have 13 players—which is 5 more than the number of Bangladeshi players.
The auction will happen in Bengaluru on the 27th
and 28th of January and the 8 Bangladeshi players—Mustafizur Rahman,
Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton Das, Abul Hasan, Shakib al-Hasan, Mehidy
Hasan Miraz and Sabbir Rahman—will be hoping to get picked by a franchise.