IPL 2017 auction postponed: When will the players go under the hammer?

IPL 2017 will be held in April-May, but there is a slight doubt over the exact date for the IPL 2017 player auction

Ben Stokes, England, T20, IPL 2017, auction — Ben Stokes will have to wait for a little while longer before finding out which team he will be playing for in IPL 2017Reuters

As the BCCI begins a new era in administration there will be some growing (changing) pains and one of those comes with the postponement of the IPL 2017 Player Auction.

The purse available to all franchises

Scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on Saturday, there were doubts that the auction would go ahead after the BCCI lost the major chunk of its officials.

After the Supreme Court appointed a Committee of Administrators (COA), led by former CAG Vinod Rai, the COA have decided to postpone the IPL 2017 auction.

The auction will now be held in late February, although the COA assured the IPL owners that the season would not be affected.

Having gone through a major overhaul at the BCCI – the richest body in the game of cricket – the COA have brought the IPL back into their plans, having taken charge earlier this week.

"The IPL 2017 season will commence as scheduled from 5th April 2017," a media release on Wednesday said. "The IPL operational timelines for 2017 season will be communicated shortly by the BCCI/IPL management team.

"The Committee of Administrators met the concerned BCCI officials today (Wednesday) to take stock of the urgent and important matters mainly concerning the successful conduct of IPL 2017."

According to ESPNCricinfo, the franchises expect the auction to be held somewhere between February 20 and 25, with the location set to stay in Bengaluru.

While that suits the eight teams, because they will be able to take a better look at the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20 tournament, what the franchises are keen to get their hands on is the IPL auction player list.

That remains the most crucial aspect, because only after they know the names of the players that will be available at the auction will they be able to make concrete plans.

While several big names were released by the franchises earlier, we also know that quite a few star players will be putting their hats into the ring for IPL 2017, including England's Ben Stokes and Jason Roy. They should all be in demand, but the key will be to lock up an auction date and set forth the plans moving forward.

"The COA further assures the Franchisees 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/IPL management team."