A shorter, smaller affair than usual.
Photo Credit: IPL/BCCI
The 2021 Indian Premier League auction is set for Thursday in Chennai, but it's not like the mega two-day IPL auction events you've seen in the past. This year's IPL auction will run for just a few hours, with a total of 292 players available for the eight 2021 IPL teams — Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad — to pick from. SRH have the fewest player slots (3) remaining as they have retained a lot of their existing players, while RCB have the most open slots (13).
The IPL 2021 auction kicks off 3pm IST on Thursday, February 18 in Chennai. It's expected to run for about six odd hours. There will be a post-auction show available at 9pm IST.
The live stream of the IPL 2021 auction is available on Disney+ Hotstar — IPL's official broadcaster. Disney+ Hotstar will let you pick from five language choices: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.
On TV, you can watch the IPL auction on Star India's primary sports channel, Star Sports 1. The IPL 2021 auction will be available in the same five language choices as Disney+ Hotstar. You will need to switch to the appropriate Star Sports 1 channel.
When does the cricketing action start, you ask? The IPL 2021 season is expected to return to its usual staging ground, April – May, after a COVID-19 induced delay last year that pushed the 2020 IPL season to a September start. On top of that, BCCI is confident that IPL 2021 will take place in India itself, unlike UAE, where it was held last year.
Mumbai Indians will come into the 2021 IPL season as two-time defending champions. IPL 2021 was initially going to go up to 10 teams again, but in the wake of the pandemic, BCCI opted to delay that for the 2022 IPL season.
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