Clarke, Ponting top IPL auction list

Chennai - Australia captain Michael Clarke and former captain Ricky Ponting attracted the highest base price in the list of 101 players that feature in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction to be held here on Sunday.

The Australian duo will go under the hammer with highest reserve price of $400,000 (approx Rs.2 crore).

Clarke played for Pune Warriors India in IPL 2012 after they bought him on a one-year contract outside of the auction. Ponting was part of the inaugural IPL season, in 2008, playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was released by the franchise in 2010.

Along with the two Australians, South African all-rounder Johan Botha ($300,000) and Indian medium pacer RP Singh ($100,000) form the list of four marquee players.

West Indies’ World Twenty20 2012 winning captain Darren Sammy will feature in the player auction for the first time with a reserve price of $100,000.

The list of 101 players feature seven Indians, including Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy winning all-rounder Abhishek Nayar ($100,000), who has been released by Kings XI Punjab.

Nayar’s Mumbai team-mate Wasim Jaffer, who scored a century in the Ranji Trophy final, is also on the list at a reserve price of $50,000.

Pacers Sudeep Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat, Pankaj Singh and Manpreet Gony are the remaining Indians to go under the hammer.

On the list that is dominated by the South Africans, Sri Lankans and the Australians, Ireland’s all-rounder Kevin O’Brien is the lone representative of the associate countries.