IPL 2024 Auctioneer: Hugh Edmeades or Mallika Sagar - Who Is Conducting The Indian Premier League Season 17 Auction?

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IPL 2024 Auctioneer: The Indian Premier League season 17 auction is scheduled to take place at the Coco-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday (December 19), when up to 77 players could be bought by the franchises.

A total of 333 players - 214 Indian and 119 overseas stars, including 2 players belonging to Associate nations, will go under the hammer as the ten teams look to complete their squads for IPL 2024.

Apart from the players being available in the pool, the auctioneer who is conducting the proceeding is also of interest to the fans. Over the years, BCCI has roped in two people to orchestrate the auction.

While Richard Madley oversaw proceedings in the early years, Hugh Edmeades has been the gavel master since the IPL 2018 mega auction. Charu Sharma also stepped in when Edmeades had a collapse during the IPL 2022 mega auction.

This year, there may be a new, but familar face conducting the bidding process as per reports. Earlier reports had suggested that BCCI have informed Edmeades that they won't require his services this year. Those reports also hinted that BCCI has already got an auctioneer in place for the IPL auction 2024.

Now, there is more clarity as the Indian board has reportedly informed the franchises that Mallika Sagar, who has been the Women's Premier League auctioneer for the last two editions, will conduct the proceedings in IPL 2024 auction, replacing Edmeades.

Who Is Mallika Sagar - The IPL 2024 Auctioneer?

She is a Mumbai-based art collector and consultant for modern & contemporary Indian art. She has been conducting auctions for the last two decades with her first auction being at Christie's in 2001, when she became the first woman auctioneer of Indian origin.

The 48-year-old, who became the first Indian to conduct an auction in an Indian T20 league during the Women's Premier League auction in 2023, has also conducted the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) auctions earlier. She was part of the PKL auction in 2021.