IPL auction: 1003 players for 70 spots

NEWDELHI: 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.

While the newest addition are players from the Northeastern states, Uttarakhand and Bihar, there will also be 232 overseas players, who have thrown their hat in the ring. There are 800 uncapped players with 746 being Indians.

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.

The list will be further pruned for the auction with franchises being given time till December 10 to submit their wish-list of players. Another notable development will be the absence of auctioneer Richard Madley. Hugh Edmeades will be the new gavel master.

RYAN HARRIS NAMED KXIP BOWLING COACH

NEW DELHI: Kings XI Punjab on Wednesday appointed Ryan Harris as their bowling coach for the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The former Australia fast bowler replaced Venkatesh Prasad, who assumed duties during IPL 2018. Apart from Harris, KXIP have also roped in New Zealand’s Craig Mcmillan (fielding coach), Brett Harrop (physio), Sridharan Sriram (batting coach) and Prasanna Raman (high-performance coach). “Quality coaches like Harris and Mcmillan are a great asset to the team,” said KXIP’S coach Mike Hesson.