Steve Smith went unsold in the first round of IPL auction.
A total of 333 players are up for grabs to fill 77 slots in this mini-auction. 47 slots are to be filled by Indians and 30 slots are for overseas players. Each franchise has INR 100 crs as purse for the auction.
This is also the first time the IPL auction is being conducted by a female auctioneer as Mallika Sagar took over the duties from Hugh Edmeades for this event. She has been handling the auction duties for the past two WPL auctions.
Meanwhile the first set of the players in the IPL 2024 auction was that of the batters.
Rovman Powell, the West Indies T20I captain, was the first name out. After a bit of tussle between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, the Sanju Samson-led franchise bought Powell for INR 7.40 crores.
Next name out was Rilee Russouw, but the South African couldn’t find any buyers. So did Indian talent like Manish Pandey and Karun Nair, along with Steve Smith, who all remained unsold as of now.
Harry Brook, who recently won England a T20I against West Indies, hitting 24 runs in last over, was bought by Delhi Capitals for INR 4 crores.
The ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final and final Player of the Match, Travis Head was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 6.80 crores.