The intense bidding war on some of world’s cricket renowned names will certainly grab the headlines in the forthcoming IPL auction as 578 players are all set to players go under the hammer. Earlier 1122 players have thrown their hat into the IPL auction ring, but the list was trimmed down to 578 on Saturday (January 20).

The list sent out to the eight IPL franchises boasts 360 Indians players and 218 players from all the major cricketing nations. Among the Indian players, all eyes will be on Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir. Aside from these three experienced campaigners, opening batsmen KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, classy Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane and the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav will be on every franchise's bucket list.

As far as the international stars are concerned – scandal-hit England all-rounder Ben Stokes and swashbuckling Chris Gayle are expected to have a fierce bidding war. While the veteran Gayle was not retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore, Stokes was the most expensive cricketer in last year’s IPL auction.

England Test skipper, Joe Root, for the very first time has shown interest to participate in the lucrative event. Chris Lynn, Eoin Morgan and pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will also be there in the mix. Kane Williamson, Colin Munro and Martin Guptill from New Zealand will add the Kiwi charm.

The much-awaited IPL auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.

Here is the list of the players released by IPLT20.com: