Kane Williamson marquee player at IPL auction

Twenty-four New Zealand cricketers have been confirmed in the Indian Premier League auction, where power hitting allrounders Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme are among the first hopefuls up.

IPL organisers culled the initial list of 1122 to a final 578 for the twoday auction in Bangalore starting on Saturday.

It includes all the frontline Black Caps and three former internationals Brendon McCullum, Mitchell McClenaghan and Luke Ronchi.

Captain Kane Williamson is the only New Zealander in two marquee groups of eight who will go under the hammer first.

Williamson set his reserve price at 150 lakh rupees (about NZ$323,000) and will be alongside the likes of Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Chris Gayle and his England opposite number Joe Root.

Stokes, the controversial England allrounder, was the top-priced player at last year’s auction at a record 14.5 crore rupees (NZ$3.12 million).

He faces court on February 13 on a charge of affray, which will delay his arrival for the New Zealand series, but his representatives told IPL organisers they didn’t expect the court process would force him to miss any part of the tournament.

There will be plenty of New Zealand interest early, with Williamson, Martin Guptill, McCullum, Munro and de Grandhomme all in the first 40 players to be auctioned.

After their hitting exploits of recent weeks Munro and de Grandhomme should both be sought after.

Munro played in the 2016 IPL but missed out at last year’s auction, and set his reserve price at 50 lakh (NZ$107,500), while de Grandhomme – who played for Kolkata Knight Riders last year – went slightly higher at 75 lakh (NZ$161,500). Both are in the top allrounder group alongside Australians Marcus Stoinis, James Faulkner and Shane Watson.

Legspinner Ish Sodhi, who surprisingly missed out last year and helped spin the Knights to a Twenty20 Super Smash final victory over the Stags, is in the top spinners group at a reserve of $107,500. Sodhi will be alongside Afghanistan legspin sensation Rashid Khan and his Indian chessplaying buddy Yuzvendra Chahal.

Fellow spinner Mitchell Santner, another hoping for his first IPL deal, is up later in the auction in the third allrounders group at a reserve of $107,500.

Fast bowler Trent Boult, who fetched 5 crore (NZ$1.08 million) to Kolkata Knight Riders at last year’s auction, is in the second group of fast bowlers at a reserve of $323,000.

New Zealand’s two quickest, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson, both look certain to be picked up again with the faster bowlers among the more sought after. Both are in the same group and set their reserve at $161,500.

Allrounder Corey Anderson, currently recovering from back surgery, set his reserve price high at $430,500, having been a consistent IPL performer.

Anderson was one of 11 New Zealanders who played in last year’s IPL and that number could well be matched, even if predicting the auction is a lottery in itself. Experienced trio Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Neil Wagner are trying their luck while youngsters Glenn Phillips and Ben Wheeler are two who could snare their first IPL contracts.

There were no New Zealanders among the 18 players retained by their franchises, meaning everyone went back in the pot for the mega auction.