IPL Auction 2021 to be held on February 18 in Chennai after 2nd Test between India and England

Chennai, January 27: The players' auction for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be held on February 18 and the venue for this edition's mini-auction will be Chennai.

The BCCI on Wednesday (January 27) confirmed the date and venue for the bidding of the players for the fourteenth season of the T20 domestic league. In total, 140 players were retained and 57 players were released. The eight franchises have a combined purse of Rs 196.4 crore available for the auction. Sixty players are available in all, and 21 of them are foreign players.

IPL 2021 AUCTION SPECIAL PAGE

Earlier last week, a BCCI official was quoted by PTI that the date for the players' bidding has been fixed but the decision on the venue was yet to be taken.

"The auction will be held on February 18. The venue is yet to be decided," the official said.

🚨ALERT🚨: IPL 2021 Player Auction on 18th February🗓️

Venue 📍: Chennai

How excited are you for this year's Player Auction? 😎👍

Set your reminder folks 🕰️ pic.twitter.com/xCnUDdGJCa

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) January 27, 2021

IPL 2021: Know the remaining purse of all 8 teams, players available at auction

The IPL 2020 Auction was held in the 'City of Joy', Kolkata, which is the home of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Chennai is the home of three-time champions Chennai Super Kings, led by captain cool MS Dhoni. CSK team management, including head coach Stephen Fleming and other members, participates in the auction process while Dhoni maintains a distance with it. The CSK skipper shares his thoughts and ideas ahead of the auction but never personally participates on the D-Day.

Aaramikalaangala! 🎵🎶

18th Feb 2021 - #Yellove family Time with some Namma ooru Snacks to add some Singams to the Lion Up! #IPL2021 💛🦁 pic.twitter.com/dKM02m65yc

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 27, 2021

IPL 2021: Full list of retained and released players by 8 teams

Last year, Australia pacer Pat Cummins emerged as the costliest buy in the previous season's auction after he was purchased by KKR for a staggering sum of Rs 15.50 crores.

As it was speculated earlier, the players' auction for this year of the cash-rich league will be held after the second Test match between India and England, which concludes on February 17 in Chennai. The opening two Tests between will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in Chennai.

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The BCCI is also yet to decide whether the IPL will happen in India or not even though the Board President Sourav Ganguly has repeatedly asserted that everything possible would be done to keep the glitzy event at its home. Smooth conduct of India's home series against England from next month should pave the way for the lucrative league to be held at home.

The 2020 edition was held in the UAE in September-November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The player retention deadline ended on January 20 and the trading window closes on February 4.

Some big names like Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Sheldon Cottrell, Glenn Maxwell, Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, etc. will go under the hammer on February 18. All these players were released by their respective franchises ahead of IPL 2021 auction.