In a major announcement by Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers, 578 players including 360 Indian players will go under the hammer in the 2018 IPL Player Auctions, to be held on Jan 27th – 28th, 2018 in Bengaluru.
Nepal’s leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and Canada’s wicket-keeper Hamza Tariq have made it to the final shortlisted players to be available to be picked by the 8 Franchise teams during the auctions. The full list of 578 players shortlisted for the auction can be accessed here.
Both Tariq and Sandeep have been priced at a base price of Rs. 20 Lakhs for the auctions.
Afghanistan players shortlisted for the auctions are Najibullah Zadran (50 Lakhs), Rashid Khan (2 Crores), Mohammad Nabi (50 Lakhs), Mujeeb Zadran (50 Lakhs), Zahir Khan (20 Lakhs), Mohammad Shahzad (50 Lakhs), Shafiqullah Shafaq (50 Lakhs), Dawlat Zadran (50 Lakhs), Shapoor Zadran (50 Lakhs) & Gulbadin Naib (50 Lakhs).
Sandeep has played in the inaugural edition of Hong Kong T20 Blitz where he was picked up by former Australia captain, Michael Clarke for a stint in the Sydney Grade Cricket league in 2016. Mujeeb, who rose to prominence during ACC U-19 Asia Cup, has already featured for Afghanistan national squad, and has had stint in Bangladesh Premier League recently.
Ireland’s Paul Stirling (50 Lakhs) is the only representative from Ireland to be shortlisted into the final list of players for the Auction. Stirling, a seasoned T20 player for English county, Middlesex, impressed one and all during the inaugural Heera T10 League in Sharjah including former India opener & IPL franchise, Kings XI Punjab’s mentor, Virender Sehwag.
If Sandeep gets picked, it’d be the biggest moment ever for Nepal Cricket in their Cricket history. Hamza Tariq will also be hopeful to get picked in what would be a defining moment in Canadian Cricket history as well.
