Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have been bracketed at the top base price of Rs 2 crore, with 10 Australians also making the grade ahead of the IPL Auction which will be held in Bangalore on 12 February.
Sehwag was not retained by his IPL franchise the Delhi Daredevils, the only team that the flamboyant opener has played for during the six seasons of the IPL, while Yuvraj was a default player for the auction after the Pune Warriors were terminated by the BCCI.
There are 46 capped Indian players in all at the IPL auction, with an overall total of 233 players vying for some big bucks, according to ESPN Cricinfo.
The other notable Indian names at the top base price of Rs 2 crore include Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha and Robin Uthappa, but whether the IPL franchises will be willing to pay top money for the likes of Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra and Saurabh Tiwary, also in the first bracket, remains to be seen.
The Australians are the ones most likely, apart from the home players of course, to be most wanted with Ashes heroes Brad Haddin, Steven Smith, George Bailey and Mitchell Johnson among a strong 10-man list in the top base price.
Also in there are Kevin Pietersen, surprisingly not retained by the Daredevils and reportedly given the blessing by the England and Wales Cricket Board to participate in the IPL this season, Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene, all of whom will be sought after by the eight franchises.
Not too surprisingly, however, Pakistan players have not been listed for the auction, while big names like Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Clarke are missing.
Clarke has reportedly decided to concentrate on Australia for the moment and, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, will not put his name up for auction, while Sangakkara might have also decided to take a break from cricket, with Sri Lanka also touring the UK towards the tail end of the IPL season.
New Zealand's latest find - Corey Anderson - has been pegged at a base price of Rs 1 crore, but with the form that the all-rounder has shown of late, no doubt, the bidding will go to stratospheric heights for the left-hander who can wield a mean willow, while also do more than an admirable job with the ball.
The Daredevils are likely to be the most aggressive franchise at the auction, having not retained a single player, while the likes of the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals will have to be more careful after deciding to keep hold of the maximum five players.
Players at Rs 2 crore base price: India: Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Murali Vijay.
Australia: George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc.
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor.
England: Alex Hales, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen.
South Africa: Jacques Kallis.
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews.
West Indies: Marlon Samuels.
