The IPL 2021 auction will be held in Chennai on February 18 and the BCCI issued a statement regarding franchise owners on the coronavirus situation.
The IPL 2021 auction is all set to be held in Chennai with 61 slots left to be filled after the end of the player retention and release list on January 18. The series between India and England, which will include four Tests, five Twenty20 Internationals and three ODIs will be the first major series that will be played in India amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali 2021 tournament is already been played in the bio-bubble. Ahead of the auction that will see franchise owners and some coaching staff members of the various teams, the BCCI has released a statement on the coronavirus protocols that the franchise owners will have to adhere to heading into the event.
According to a report on Cricbuzz, the franchise owners will have to undergo an RT-PCR Test on February 15, which is 72 hours before the auction. Once they arrive at the venue, which is the Grand Chola, the franchise owners will have to take another test. The BCCI statement added that only a maximum of 13 members will be allowed in the venue where the auction will be conducted. Out of the 13, eight will be allowed to sit at the auction table while five will have to be seated in the gallery. BCCI CEO Hemang Amin wrote the letter to the franchises and said that they have to submit a list of members who will be present for the auction in advance.
IPL 2021 a mini-auction
The IPL 2021 is currently undertaking the player registration for the auction and it will close on February 11 at 5:00 PM. The trading window will stay open until February 20 after which players cannot go from one franchise to the other. It is expected that the tournament will be played entirely in India after the IPL 2020 was shifted to the UAE and postponed from April-May to September-November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There is no clarity on whether India vs England Tests will see fans at the stadium and a call to whether include fans for the IPL matches might be taken later. There might be an option where the IPL is played in fewer venues in order to avoid the travel logistics in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The mega auction is slated for IPL 2022 in which either nine or ten teams will participate in the tournament.
Mumbai Indians are the reigning champions, having won IPL for the fifth time when they defeated Delhi Capitals in the final. Rohit Sharma's side will be hoping that they can become the first team to achieve a hat-trick of titles. With a budget purse of just over Rs 15 crores, they might not go big in the auction. Heading into the auction, Kings XI Punjab has the biggest purse of Rs 53.2 crore while Royal Challengers Bangalore has the most number of vacant slots. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders have the least purse among all the franchises with just over Rs 10 crore
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