IPL 2019 Auction: 70 spots, 1003 players and a new auctioneer

IPL 2019 Auction: A total of 1003 players have registered themselves for the 70 spots available in the eight IPL franchises for the upcoming mini-auction of the 12th edition of Indian Premier League on December 18 in Jaipur.

Available spots 70, applicants 1003. The current scenario of IPL mirrors the setting before the entrance exam for an Indian government job, where only a handful of wishes get wings. But that doesn’t deter the aspirants to chance their lock But this has pretty much been the scene every year. So it was not a surprise when cricketers from across the globe registered to be part an of IPL 2019 as the last date for player registrations closed on Wednesday.

232 overseas cricketers and a whopping 771 Indians have registered for the IPL 2019 auctions slated to take place on December 18 at Jaipur. The final draft, however, will be prepared after the franchises submit their list by 10th of December.

For the first time in the history of the Indian Premier League, cricketers from nine states – Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Puducherry – have registered and will hope to showcase their talent in the world’s biggest T20 tournament.

Among the foreign players, 35 Australians have registered themselves while 27 players are from Afghanistan. The highest number of players registered -- 59 -- are from South Africa while USA, Hong Kong and Ireland have one player each in the initial list.

Another notable development will be the absence of auctioneer Richard Madley, who became a regular feature during the IPL auctions over the years.

Hugh Edmeades described as an independent fine art, classic car and charity auctioneer will be the new gavel master.

With over 30 years of experience at auction company Christie's, Edmeades will be replacing Madley, whose absence from this edition has not been specified in the BCCI release.