Rashid Khan
Afghan spinner Rashid Khan got a whopping Rs 9 crore from SRH at IPL 2018 Auction.Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

England all-rounder Ben Stokes emerged as the highest earner on the opening day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 Players Auction today (January 27) in Bengaluru. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for Rs 12.5 crore. Among Indians, KL Rahul and Manish Pandey were the costliest at Rs 11 crore each.

Full list of players sold on Day 1

In all 78 players were sold including 29 from overseas. A total of 581 cricketers are part of this two-day mega auction. A whopping Rs 321.1 crore was spent on Saturday.

KKR reveal why they did not bid or use RTM for Gambhir

Here are the funds remaining after Day 1

TEAM FUNDS REMAINING OVERSEAS PLAYERS TOTAL PLAYERS
Chennai Super Kings Rs 17 cr 4 11
Delhi Daredevils Rs 12.3 cr 5 15
Kings XI Punjab Rs 21.9 cr 3 10
Kolkata Knight Riders Rs 7.6 cr 4 12
Mumbai Indians Rs 15.8 cr 3 9
Rajasthan Royals Rs 23.5 cr 5 9
Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 15.85 cr 6 14
Sunrisers Hyderabad Rs 7.95 cr 5 16

Here are the players bought by teams today

Chennai Super Kings

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Kedar Jadhav All-Rounder Rs 7,80,00,000
Dwayne Bravo All-Rounder Rs 6,40,00,000
Karn Sharma Bowler Rs 5,00,00,000
Shane Watson All-Rounder Rs 4,00,00,000
Ambati Rayudu Wicket Keeper Rs 2,20,00,000
Harbhajan Singh Bowler Rs 2,00,00,000
Faf Du Plessis Batsman Rs 1,60,00,000
Imran Tahir Bowler Rs 1,00,00,000

 Delhi Daredevils

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Glenn Maxwell All-Rounder Rs 9,00,00,000
Kagiso Rabada Bowler Rs 4,20,00,000
Amit Mishra Bowler Rs 4,00,00,000
Vijay Shankar All-Rounder Rs 3,20,00,000
Rahul Tewatia All-Rounder Rs 3,00,00,000
Mohammad Shami Bowler Rs 3,00,00,000
Gautam Gambhir Batsman Rs 2,80,00,000
Colin Munro All-Rounder Rs 1,90,00,000
Jason Roy Batsman Rs 1,50,00,000
Prithvi Shaw Batsman Rs 1,20,00,000
Avesh Khan Bowler Rs 70,00,000
Harshal Patel All-Rounder Rs 20,00,000

 Kings XI Punjab

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
KL Rahul Batsman Rs 11,00,00,000
Ravichandran Ashwin All-Rounder Rs 7,60,00,000
Aaron Finch Batsman Rs 6,20,00,000
Marcus Stoinis All-Rounder Rs 6,20,00,000
Karun Nair Batsman Rs 5,60,00,000
Ankit Singh Rajpoot Bowler Rs 3,00,00,000
David Miller Batsman Rs 3,00,00,000
Yuvraj Singh All-Rounder Rs 2,00,00,000
Mayank Agarwal Batsman Rs 1,00,00,000

 Kolkata Knight Riders

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Chris Lynn Batsman Rs 9,60,00,000
Mitchell Starc Bowler Rs 9,40,00,000
Dinesh Karthik Wicket Keeper Rs 7,40,00,000
Robin Uthappa Wicket Keeper Rs 6,40,00,000
Kuldeep Singh Yadav Bowler Rs 5,80,00,000
Piyush Chawla Bowler Rs 4,20,00,000
Nitish Rana All-Rounder Rs 3,40,00,000
Kamlesh Nagarkoti All-Rounder Rs 3,20,00,000
Shubman Gill Batsman Rs 1,80,00,000
Ishank Jaggi Batsman Rs 20,00,000

 Mumbai Indians

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Krunal Pandya All-Rounder Rs 8,80,00,000
Ishan Kishan Wicket Keeper Rs 6,20,00,000
Kieron Pollard All-Rounder Rs 5,40,00,000
Pat Cummins Bowler Rs 5,40,00,000
Suryakumar Yadav Batsman Rs 3,20,00,000
Mustafizur Rahman Bowler Rs 2,20,00,000

 Rajasthan Royals

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Benjamin Stokes All-Rounder Rs 12,50,00,000
Sanju Samson Wicket Keeper Rs 8,00,00,000
Jofra Archer All-Rounder Rs 7,20,00,000
Jos Buttler Wicket Keeper Rs 4,40,00,000
Ajinkya Rahane Batsman Rs 4,00,00,000
Darcy Short All-Rounder Rs 4,00,00,000
Rahul Tripathi Batsman Rs 3,40,00,000
Stuart Binny All-Rounder Rs 50,00,000

 Royal Challengers Bangalore

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Chris Woakes All-Rounder Rs 7,40,00,000
Yuzvendra Singh Chahal Bowler Rs 6,00,00,000
Umesh Yadav Bowler Rs 4,20,00,000
Brendon McCullum Batsman Rs 3,60,00,000
Navdeep Saini Bowler Rs 3,00,00,000
Quinton De Kock Wicket Keeper Rs 2,80,00,000
Colin De Grandhomme All-Rounder Rs 2,20,00,000
Moeen Ali All-Rounder Rs 1,70,00,000
Manan Vohra Batsman Rs 1,10,00,000
Kulwant Khejroliya Bowler Rs 85,00,000
Aniket Choudhary Bowler Rs 30,00,000

 Sunrisers Hyderabad

PLAYER TYPE PRICE PAID
Manish Pandey Batsman Rs 11,00,00,000
Rashid Khan Arman Bowler Rs 9,00,00,000
Shikhar Dhawan Batsman Rs 5,20,00,000
Wriddhiman Saha Wicket Keeper Rs 5,00,00,000
Siddarth Kaul Bowler Rs 3,80,00,000
Deepak Hooda All-Rounder Rs 3,60,00,000
Syed Khaleel Ahmed Bowler Rs 3,00,00,000
Kane Williamson Batsman Rs 3,00,00,000
Carlos Brathwaite All-Rounder Rs 2,00,00,000
Shakib Al Hasan All-Rounder Rs 2,00,00,000
Yusuf Pathan All-Rounder Rs 1,90,00,000
Basil Thampi Bowler Rs 95,00,000
T Natarajan Bowler Rs 40,00,000
Ricky Bhui Batsman Rs 20,00,000

6.15 PM: That concludes proceedings for the first day. Tomorrow it starts at 9.30 AM

6.13 PM: Ankit Singh Rajpoot SOLD to KXIP for Rs 3 cr

6.08 PM: Avesh Khan to play for DD for Rs 70 lakh. RCB don't use RTM

6.05 PM: Syed Khaleel Ahmed SOLD to SRH for Rs 3 cr. Navdeep Saini too gets Rs 3 cr, from RCB

5.54 PM: Aniket Choudhary SOLD to RCB for Rs 30 lakh

5.52 PM: Paceman Basil Thampi to SRH for Rs 95 lakh. Rajneesh Gurbani, the Ranji Trophy hero from Vidarbha, goes UNSOLD. He played a big part in team's maiden Ranji Trophy title win

5.50 PM: SRH buy Siddharth Kaul for Rs 3.8 cr. SRH also buy T Natarajan for Rs 40 lakh. Last year he won Rs 3 cr bid from KXIP

5.45 PM: Next up uncapped fast bowlers. Bidding now for Kulwant Khejroliya. He is bought by RCB for Rs 85 lakh

5.41 PM: Sheldon Jackson, Vishnu Vinod, Ankush Bains, Aditya Tare all UNSOLD

5.36 PM: Ishan Kishan SOLD to Mumbai for Rs 6.2 cr. Nikhil Naik UNSOLD. Ben McDermott too attracts no bids

5.29 PM: Next up is uncapped wicketkeepers. Jitesh Sharma UNSOLD

5.26 PM: Intense bidding for 22-year-old Archer. Rajasthan get him for a whopping Rs 7.2 cr. This is huge as he gets 18 times more than his base price (Rs 40 lakh). 

5.22 PM: Another player who impressed in BBL is up for grabs. West Indies' all-rounder Jofra Archer

5.20 PM: RR buy D'Archy Short at Rs 4 cr. Next up is Shivam Dube who is UNSOLD

5.17 PM: Bidding now for D'Archy Short, the Australian left-hander who set the Big Bash League alight with a record tally of runs this season. DD coach Ricky Ponting had predicted a "big payday" for him. Will he prove him right?

5.15 PM: Left-hand batsman Nitish Rana bought by KKR for Rs 3.4 cr

5.08 PM: Big money coming Krunal's way. He gets Rs 8.8 cr bid from RCB and MI are quick to use RTM. He stays with Mumbai

5.05 PM: Next up is all-rounder Krunal Pandya. He played for Mumbai Indians (MI) last season. They have the  option of RTM. His brother Hardik was retained by MI

5.03 PM: KKR pick young paceman Kamlesh for Rs 3.2 cr. This is huge for him

5 PM: India Under-19 fast bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who bagged headlines with his impressive pace in excess of 140kph at the ongoing U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, is up next

4.59 PM: Paceman Harshal Patel gets Rs 20 from DD

4.57 PM: Vijay Shankar SOLD to DD for Rs 3.2 cr

4.55 PM: Deepak Hooda stays with SRH for Rs 3.6 cr as the franchise uses RTM

4.46 PM: We are back for the evening session of the auction. First up is Rahul Tewatia, uncapped all-rounder. He bags Rs 3 cr from DD. SOLD

4.45 PM: KKR have revealed the real reasons for not bidding or using RTM for captain and left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir. Full story here

4.23 PM: Prithvi Shaw goes to Delhi for Rs 1.2 cr. It is tea break now. Auction to resume after 15 minutes

4.20 PM: Siddhesh Lad UNSOLD. Next up is India Under-19 World Cup captain Prithvi Shaw. He has hogged the limelight with his batting in domestic tournaments. How much will he get?

4.18 PM: Manan Vohra SOLD to RCB for Rs 1.1 cr. KXIP don't exercise RTM on the batsman

4.16 PM: Rahul Tripathi gets Rs 3.4 cr from Rajasthan. Last year he was with Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS)

4.09 PM: Next up is Mayank Agarwal. He had a record-breaking Ranji Trophy season for Karnataka scoring over 1,000 runs in the span of 30 days. He is sold to Punjab for Rs 1 cr. Himanshu Rana is UNSOLD

4.04 PM: Ishank Jaggi SOLD to KKR for Rs 20 lakh. SRH pick Ricky Bhui for Rs 20 lakh, his bas price

4.02 PM: India Under-19 World Cup batsman Shubman Gill SOLD to Kolkata for Rs 1.8 cr

3.59 PM: Suryakumar SOLD to Mumbai for Rs 3.2 cr

3.52 PM: Time for Set No. 8. Uncapped batsmen. First - Suryakumar Yadav. Mumbai and Kolkata bidding. Late entry from Delhi at Rs 3 cr

3.48 PM: Kuldeep Yadav gets bids from Punjab and Mumbai. Bangalore too are in it. Kolkata can use RTM. His top bid is Rs 5.8 cr from Bangalore. KKR use RTM

3.44 PM: Chahal is in demand. His bid has gone up to Rs 6 cr. Delhi in it. RCB use RTM and Chahal will remain in Bengaluru. Australia's Adam Zampa is UNSOLD

3.41 PM: Yuzvendra Chahal next. RCB might use RTM for him. He has done extremely well for them and through IPL earned a place in Indian limited-overs team

3.39 PM: Legspinner Amit Mishra bought by Delhi for Rs 4 cr. Next up is West Indies' leggie Samuel Badree. He is UNSOLD

3.35 PM: A historic day for Afghanistan cricket. 19-year-old Rashid Khan goes for a whopping Rs 9 crore. Hyderabad use RTM to keep him for one more year. Punjab had bid Rs 9 cr

3.32 PM: High competition for Rashid. Punjab, Delhi and Bangalore in it. His bid has crossed Rs 7 cr. His base price - Rs 2 cr. Last time he got Rs 4 cr from Hyderabad

3.26 PM: Young Afghan legspinner Rashid Khan is up next. He should get big money. Rs 2 cr base price. KXIP open the bidding. RR are also in it. SRH have RTM for him

3.25 PM: Chennai opt for another legspinner - Karn Sharma is bought for Rs 5 cr

3.21 PM: Chennai now have offspinner (Harbhajan), left-arm spiner (Jadeja) and also legspinner Imran Tahir as they pick the South African for Rs 1 cr. New Zealander Ish Sodhi is UNSOLD

3.20 PM: Rs 4.2 cr for Piyush. Bid by Chennai. KKR have option of using RTM. They say YES after a lengthy discussion. Piyush stays in Kolkata

Ben Stokes, RPS, IPL 2017, playoffs, Qualifier 1
Ben Stokes was bought for Rs 12.5 crore by Rajasthan.IANS

3.13 PM: Spin bowlers time. Piyush Chawla is the first one to be drawn out of the bag

3.06 PM: 5-minute break now

3.05 PM: Lasith Malinga is UNSOLD. Kagiso Rabada will pay for Delhi (RTM) again - Rs 4.2 cr. Mohammed Shami SOLD (RTM) to Delhi - Rs 3 cr. Ishant Sharma, Mitchell McCleneghan UNSOLD

2.54 PM: Umesh Yadav goes to RCB for Rs 4.2 cr

2.48 PM: Australian quick Pat Cummins goes to Mumbai for Rs 5.4 cr. DD don't use RTM

2.44 PM: Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman will play for Mumbai for Rs 2.2 cr. Mitchell Johnson is UNSOLD

2.39 PM: Jos Buttler is SOLD to Rajasthan for Rs 4.4 cr. That concludes the first set of wicketkeepers. Next we move on to fast bowlers

2.37 PM: Englishman Sam Billings, who has played for Delhi, is UNSOLD

2.34 PM: Rs 2.2 cr for Ambati Rayudu. He will be with Chennai. He was listed as wicketkeeper. We doubt he will get to do that as MS Dhoni is there. May play as specialist batsman

2.29 PM: Bidding for Sanju Samson. It is between Mumbai and Rajasthan. It has touched Rs 7 cr. Will they go further? Yes. SOLD to Rajasthan Rs 8 cr. Big surprise. He is the costliest wicketkeeper so far in this auction

2.22 PM: Rs 6.4 cr for Robin Uthappa. He is back with KKR. They used RTM after MI's bid

2.18 PM: Naman Ojha is UNSOLD. Next up is Robin Uthappa. He should excite the franchises. He was with KKR last year

2.16 PM: SOLD - Dinesh Karthik has a new home in Kolkata, he gets Rs 7.4 cr

2.11 PM: England stumper Jonny Bairstow is UNSOLD. His base price - Rs 1.5 cr

2.10 PM: Rs 5 cr bid for Wriddhiman Saha. He will play for Hyderabad. Punjab did not exercise their RTM

2.05 PM: de Kock's current bid is at Rs 2.8 cr with RCB. DD have RTM for him. But they don't want him. de Kock goes to Bangalore

2.03 PM: South Africa's Quinton de Kock at Rs 2 cr base price. RCB open bidding, MI join in

2 PM: Welcome back to the afternoon session, says Richard Madley as auction restarts. It is time for wicketkeepers - Parthiv Patel's name is out of the bag first (Rs 1 cr base price). He is UNSOLD

1.45 PM: This is from Virender Sehwag on Preity Zinta shopping for players. As always Sehwag doesn't disappoint us with his tweets. He says, "...women like shopping... she wants to buy everything."

1.14 PM: In the morning session 32 players (20 overseas) were sold. In all a whopping Rs 160 crore was spent till the lunch break. Check out the full list of sold players here

Also read: Preity Zinta steals the show at auction

1.11 PM: Funds remaining for each team

CSK - Rs 25.2 cr

DD - Rs 31.8 cr

KXIP - Rs 25.9 cr

KKR - Rs 40 cr

MI - Rs 41.6 cr

RR - Rs 50.5 cr

RCB - RS 34.1 cr

SRH - Rs 33.9 cr

1.10 PM: Top buys of the morning session

Ben Stokes (RR) - Rs 12.5 cr

RL Rahul (KXIP) - Rs 11 cr

Manish Pandey (SRH) - Rs 11 cr

Chris Lynn (KKR) - Rs 9.6 cr

Mitchell Starc (KKR) - Rs 9.4 cr

Glenn Maxwell (DD) - Rs 9 cr

1 PM: That concludes the morning session. Auction to resume at 2 PM after lunch

12.59 PM: England all-rounder Moeen Ali to play for RCB for Rs 1.7 cr

12.55 PM: Marcus Stoinis will stay at Punjab for Rs 6.2 as they use RTM. Stuar Binny returns to Rajasthan for Rs 50 lakh

12.52 PM: Next all-rounder is Stuart Binny

12.51 PM: New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme SOLD to RCB for Rs 2.2 cr. Yusuf Pathan SOLD to SRH for Rs 1.9 cr. Colin Munro Rs 1.9 cr to DD. James Faulkner UNSOLD

12.42 PM: Kedar Jadhav goes to Chennai for Rs 7.8 cr. RCB did not use RTM

12.38 PM: Watson SOLD to Chennai for Rs 4 cr. RCB have RTM for him. They don't. So Watson is CSK player

12.32 PM: Auctioneer announces Shane Watson's name next. His base price - Rs 1 cr. CSK start bidding

12.31 PM: West Indies' all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite SOLD to SRH for Rs 2 cr. DD don't use RTM

12.30 PM: RCB buy Woakes for Rs 7.4 cr

12.24 PM: Round 4 begins. Time to shop for capped all-rounders. Englishman Chris Woakes is the first player picked out of the bag. Chennai open bid at Rs 2 cr. Bangalore get in

12.19 PM: Here is an update on funds remaining for teams

TEAM FUNDS REMAINING OVERSEAS PLAYERS TOTAL PLAYERS
Chennai Super Kings Rs 37 cr 2 6
Delhi Daredevils Rs 33.7 cr 3 6
Kings XI Punjab Rs 32.1 cr 2 7
Kolkata Knight Riders Rs 40 cr  4 4
Mumbai Indians Rs 41.6 cr 1 4
Rajasthan Royals Rs 51 cr 2 3
Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 45.4 cr 2 4
Sunrisers Hyderabad Rs 37.8 cr 3 6

12.18 PM: In the third round, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey were the biggest gainers. They got Rs 11 crore each - joint highest for Indian players so far. Punjab opened their purse strings freely. They have Rs 32.1 cr left

12.14 PM: New Zealander Martin Guptill UNSOLD. That concludes third set of players. It is time for a short break of 5 minutes

12.12 PM: Finally, Manish is SOLD to Hyderabad - Rs 11 cr. KKR don't use RTM

12.10 PM: New bidder at Rs 8.4 cr for Manish. It is Hyderabad. Punjab won't give up though. They have been agressive throughout, especially co-owner Preity Zinta

12.08 PM: Manish played for KKR last year. It is between KXIP and RCB now. KKR have had option of using RTM

12.07 PM: Manish Pandey (Rs 1 cr). Chennai start bidding

12.06 PM: South Africa's Hashim Amla is UNSOLD

12.04 PM: SOLD - KKR win bid for Lynn. They pay Rs 9.6 cr

12.03 PM: DD pull out of bidding for Lynn. It is at Rs 8 cr with KKR but hang on RCB have entered  the fray now. It keeps going on, Rs 9 cr breached

12.01 PM: KKR Vs RR for Lynn. DD also join in. Who will get him finally? It has crossed cr. DD vs KKR now

11.59 AM: Australian batsman Chris Lynn is next. He should trigger a bidding war. His base price - Rs 2 cr

11.58 AM: England batsman Jason Roy SOLD to Delhi for Rs 1.5 cr

11.56 AM: Brendon McCullum. RCB open the bidding. Rs 2 cr is base price. RCB buy him for Rs 3.6 cr. This is Bangalore's first pick of the day. They had retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfraz Khan

11.51 AM: Aaron Finch - SOLD to Punjab for Rs 6.2 cr. Last five players bought have all been by Punjab

11.46 AM: Punjab use RTM to retain David Miller for Rs 3 cr. Mumbai had bid for him for that money

11.43 AM: South African David Miller is the next batsman to shop. His base price - Rs 1.5 cr. Mumbai open bidding, Delhi join in

11.42 AM: Murali Vijay is UNSOLD

11.40 AM: SOLD - Rahul to play for Punjab for Rs 11 cr. RCB refuse RTM

11.39 AM: Heavy bidding for Rahul between Punjab and Hyderabad. It reaches Rs 10 cr. Big money

11.37 AM: Next up is opening batsman KL Rahul. He is currently playing the 3rd Test against South Africa in Johannesburg

11.35 AM: Bid with Punjab at Rs 5.6 cr. Delhi have RTM. They don't use it. So Karun will play for Punjab

11.29 AM: Auction resumes. Next is capped batsman. Karun Nair to go under the hammer.

11.21 AM: Short break of 5 minutes. End of marquee set of players (16). Ben Stokes at Rs 12.5 crore is still the costliest. So far two players UNSOLD - Chris Gayle and Joe Root

11.20 AM: Next up is veteran India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Punjab is bidding. He is SOLD at his base price Rs 2 cr. SRH don't use RTM

11.18 AM: England Test skipper Joe Root is the penultimate marquee player up for grabs. This is the first time he is in IPL auction. He is UNSOLD

11.16 AM: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson up next. He played for SRH last year. He is SOLD to SRH for Rs 3 cr

11.15 AM: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. KXIP and MI bidding. CSK have option to use RTM. He is back in Chennai with Rs 6.4 cr (bid by KXIP)

11.11 AM: Gautam Gambhir is up next. He was not retained by KKR. DD open the bidding. He had previously played for them. RR enter. DD buy him for Rs 2.8 cr. Surprise that he went for so less. KKR don't use RTM

11.08 AM: Maxwell is in demand. SRH, MI and DD in the fray. Who will manage to pay big? Last year he played for KXIP. They have RTM for the Australian. SOLD to DD for Rs 9 cr. Remember DD's new coach is Ricky Ponting. KXIP don't use RTM

11.04 AM: Bidding starts for Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell

11.01 AM: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will play for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 2 cr

10.58 AM: Auction resumes. It is time for 2nd set of marquee players. 8 more to be on view. Harbhajan Singh (Rs 2 cr base price). Chennai open the bidding, no more bids. SOLD to CSK Rs 2 cr

10.53 AM: Take a look at the funds remaining for each team after the first round

TEAM FUNDS REMAINING OVERSEAS PLAYERS TOTAL PLAYERS
Chennai Super Kings Rs 45.4 cr 1 4
Delhi Daredevils Rs 47 cr 1 3
Kings XI Punjab Rs 59.9 cr 0 2
Kolkata Knight Riders Rs 49.6 cr 3 3
Mumbai Indians Rs 41.6 cr 1 4
Rajasthan Royals Rs 51 cr 2 3
Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 49 cr 1 3
Sunrisers Hyderabad Rs 53.8 cr 1 3

10.49 AM: The trio of Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and Ajinkya Rahane are back for the same team again. Last year they played for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). Smith was retained by RR before the auction

10.43 AM: Players SOLD so far - Shikhar (Rs 7.2 cr RTM Hyderabad), Ashwin (Rs 7.6 cr Punjab), Pollard (Rs 5.4 cr RTM Mumbai), Stokes (Rs 12.5 cr Rajasthan), Du Plessis (Rs 1.6 cr RTM Chennai), Rahane (Rs 4 cr RTM Rajasthan), Starc (Rs 9.4 cr Kolkata)

10.40 AM: A 15-minute break now. First set of marquee players completed. Stokes was highest buy at Rs 12.5 crore. Next best Star - Rs 9.4 cr. Gayle the only unsold among the 8 on view so far

10.36 AM: Last player from first set of marquee players - Mitchell Starc of Australia. It is between Punjab and Kolkata. Star is SOLD to KKR - Rs 9.4 cr

10.34 AM: Ajinkya Rahane is next. Punjab bid at Rs 4 cr but Rajasthan use RTM. He is back at Royals

10.32 AM: South Africa captain Faf du Plessis is next. His base price is Rs 1.5 crore. He is SOLD to Punjab Rs 1.6 cr. Chennai use RTM. So Faf is back at CSK

10.30 AM: New bidder for Stokes at Rs 12.5 cr from Rajasthan. It is against Punjab. RR BUY him for Rs 12.5 cr

10.27 AM: England all-rounder Ben Stokes is next. He was the costliest at Rs 14.5 crore in last year's auction. Chennai and Punjab bidding. Kolkata enter at Rs 6.8 cr. It has no crossed Rs 8 cr. It is between Punjab and Kolkata. Punjab take it up to Rs 10 cr. KKR not letting it go. Now it has reached Rs 11.5 cr. Punjab bidding at Rs 12 cr

10.25 AM: Chris Gayle is up next. No bids. He had a poor IPL last time. UNSOLD

10.23 AM: Kieron Pollard SOLD to Delhi - Rs 5.4 crore but MI use RTM to bringing him back to Wankhede Stadium

10.21 AM: Next up is West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard (Rs 2 cr base price). He was not retained by Mumbain Indians (MI). It is between Punjab and MI. Delhi also entry. It crosses Rs 5 crore. Who will get him?

10.18 AM: Still bidding for Ashwin as Punjab and Rajasthan are going all out. The offspinner is SOLD to Punjab for Rs 7.6 cr

10.16 AM: Next up is Ravichandran Ashwin (Rs 2 crore base price). Chennai and Punjab bidding. Remember Chennai can't use RTM for Ashwin

10.11 AM: FIRST player to be drawn out for auction - Shikhar Dhawan (Base price Rs 2 crore). Kings XI Punjab start the bidding. Rajasthan Royals enter now. Mumbai join later. Shikhar SOLD to KXIP - Rs 5.2 crore but Sunrisers use Right to Match (RTM) card to bag him

10.08 AM: Richard Madley is up on stage. He will conduct the auction. All set. First will be marquee players (16) to shop. Overall 581 players to go under the hammer. Three more additions from the original list

10.04 AM: Chairman of IPL Rajiv Shukla next up. "I welcome all. We have been waiting for long for this event. This is mega auction. Last one was in 2008. I see lot of familiar faces. Welcome Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back. More than 1100 players registered. Now 580. Our emphasis is on domestic cricket. Go for the best players. Go ahead. Request Richard (Madley) to come with his hammer and start"

10.01 AM: It is official. Auction is under way. BCCI CEO Rahul Johri starts off the proceedings, welcoming all

9.56 AM: A maximum of 182 players can be bought at auction. 578 are available to shop

9.52 AM: Just eight minutes away from the action to unfold. Stay tuned

9.48 AM: Brett Lee says Ben Stokes is in for a "massive" IPL

9.40 AM: He has experience. He can lead (KKR). If they can't find a captain, Manish Pandey is an option, reckons Kumble

9.35 AM: Anil Kumble - "Yuvraj Singh has always been most sought after pick. He can change the game. Viru (Sehwag) has given a hint that he wants his buddy to be back at Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). He has the potential to change the game in one over"

9.31 AM: Richard Madley, the auctioneer, says he has used the same hammer for all auctions. He has been conducting the auction since the inaugural one in 2008. He is back again 

9.27 AM: Last year's costliest buy was England all-rounder Ben Stokes for Rs 14.5 crore. This time he might not be available for the full series. Who will buy him? Will he get the same amount or less?

9.24 AM: This is from Star Sports. The broadcaster reveals that they caught up with Ashish Nehra who is now RCB bowling mentor and he mentioned to them that he has never seen so many laptops in his life that he did last night preparing for the auction

IPL Trophy
IPL Trophy.IPL Twitter Page

9.20 AM: Delhi Daredevils (DD) might go all out to buy Gautam Gambhir, says S Badrinath. Ideally he is a Delhi candidate, Anil Kumble backs Badrinath's comment. Gambhir is from Delhi. Let's wait and watch whether DD bid for him. He has previously played for them. DD have a new coach in Ricky Ponting this season

9.18 AM: Dean Jones' hot picks - Chris Lynn and Hashim Amla

9.15 AM: Kolkata Knight Riders have not retained Gautam Gambhir. Here is he explaining why he was released. The left-hander led the team to two IPL titles.

9.11 AM: In the Star Sports studio, Jones, Kumble and S Badrinath are discussing about the auction. Kumble has been Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player and also been coach of Mumbai Indians (MI). He knows a lot about this tournament.

9.06 AM: Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones says Ravichandran Ashwin could be the costliest player in the auction. Anil Kumble reckons Australia's Chris Lynn could be the biggest overseas buy.

9 AM IST: As many as 578 players will go under the hammer. The top reserve price is Rs 2 crore. The auction begins with marquee players up for grabs. Should be an exciting start.

Full list of players for auction

Amid the controversy over a dangerous pitch in Johannesburg where South Africa and India are playing the third Test, fans will be glued to their TV sets to catch the happenings from IPL auction. All in all it is a big day for Indian cricket both in Tests and T20s.

Also read:  Players with highest base price

IPL which had its inaugural edition in 2008, has come a long way and is the best T20 league in the world. Cricketers from all over the world line up to ply their trade in India.

Marquee players (16)

Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Ajinkya Rahane, Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes, Dwayne Bravo, Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh (All Rs 2 crore base price)

Faf du Plessis, Joe Root, Kane Williamson (All Rs 1.5 crore base price)

Shakib Al Hasan (Rs 1 crore base price)

Money available for teams at auction (Salary cap Rs 80 crore)

CSK - Rs 47 crore, DD - Rs 47 crore, KXIP - Rs 67.5 crore, KKR - Rs 59 crore

MI - Rs 47 crore, RR - Rs 67.5 crore, RCB - Rs 49 crore, SRH - Rs 59 crore

Players retained before auction

CSK - MS Dhoni (Rs 17 crore), Suresh Raina (Rs 11 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 7 crore)

DD - Rishabh Pant (Rs 15 crore), Chris Morris (Rs 11 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs 7 crore)

KXIP - Axar Patel (Rs 12.5 crore)

KKR - Sunil Narine (Rs 12.5 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 8.5 crore)

MI - Rohit Sharma (Rs 15 crore), Hardik Pandya (Rs 11 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 7 crore)

RR - Steve Smith (Rs 12.5 crore)

RCB - Virat Kohli (Rs 17 crore), AB de Villiers (Rs 11 crore), Sarfaraz Khan (Rs 3 crore)

SRH - David Warner (Rs 12.5 crore), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Rs 8.5 crore)