IPL Fever Gripping The Nation

Every year, around the month of April, the nation is catches up in the fever of the Indian Premier League. Started in 2008 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the IPL is much more than a game of cricket. There are roughly 8-9 participating teams every year and they battle it out for more than a month to be crowned the IPL champions. The matches follow the Twenty20 format of the game which ends it in 3-4 hours at most. In between the game, special breaks are given when different artistes perform songs or dance numbers. The opening ceremony of the IPL is organized on a large scale. In 2013, international rapper Pitbull performed at the ceremony.

The tickets for the games have been priced in a way so that it is affordable for most. Expensive tickets include dinners, rubbing shoulders with Bollywood stars and access to after parties.

An integral part of IPL is the auction of players. IPL 2014 auction has been scheduled on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore. Players from 10 countries and 232 in numbers have been put up for auction. IPL 7 auction shall see the base price of top players go up to Rs 20 million or $320,000. The amount is payable in Indian currency to players. International players will be paid in currencies of their choice on the due date of the contract or actual date of payment, which ever suits them better.

IPL 7 - 2014

Speculators believe that Corey Anderson of the New Zealand team, maker of the record of the fastest century off 36 balls against West Indies will be the most sought after player. Like the past few IPLs, Pakistani players will not be a part of the auction for the 9 participating team. However, two international players of Pakistani origin- Fawad Ahmad of Australia and AzharMahmood of England have put forward their names for the IPL 2014 auction.

Brad Hogg, at 43, will be the oldest player to participate in the auctioneering process, followed by MuttiahMuralitharan, also on the other side of 40. Both the players have been part of the IPL in the past, Hogg being with Rajasthan Royals and Muralitharan with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Hogg has notched up a reservation price of Rs 15 million while Muralitharan of Rs 10 million.

Some of the biggies who are giving the IPL 7 auction a miss are Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakarra of Sri Lanka, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler of England and Mitchell Marsh and Michael Clarke of Australia.

Sri Lanka is set to tour England and Ireland later in the year which explains the absence of Sangakarra. After a mammoth defeat in the Ashes last year, England is looking to strengthen their foothold on test cricket, central to which are Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. However, Ian Bell has decided to put in his name for the auction.

The picking of players is quite crucial for the success of the teams.

If you want to buy your favourite IPL merchandise in your city, log into online classifieds to locate a store.