IPL 2017 auction to be held on Feb. 20

New Delhi [India], Feb.3 (ANI): The player auction for the upcoming tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held on February 20 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bengaluru. The IPL franchises will go into the player auction with a maximum of Rs. 143.33 crores purse for 2017 season. Each franchise can have a maximum of 27 players including 9 overseas players. A maximum of 76 players, including 28 overseas, can be bought at the auction. So far, more than 750 players have registered for the Player Auction 2017. The deadline for player registration ends today, February 3, 2017. Interestingly, the first IPL Player auction in the year 2008 was also held on February 20, 2008. Originally proposed to be held on February 4, the auction was earlier delayed as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) grappled with the fallout of the Supreme Court removing its president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke on January 2. Earlier on Wednesday, the Committee of Administrators (COA) had confirmed that the IPL 2017, which will be the final under the existing 10-year contract, will begin as per schedule on April 5 while adding that the existing processes for availing the services and appointment of vendors will continue for this edition. The COA had further assured the franchises and all the stakeholders that all the IPL preparations will be promptly dealt with under the supervision and directions of the COA by the BCCI and the IPL management team.(ANI)