Laxman,Sreesanth command highest reserve bracket

VVS Laxman,S Sreesanth and Brendon McCullum all part of the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the 2011 IPL command the highest reserve price of US 400,000 in the final auction shortlist for the 2012 season

VVS Laxman,S Sreesanth and Brendon McCullum all part of the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the 2011 IPL command the highest reserve price of US 400,000 in the final auction shortlist for the 2012 season. The Kochi trio joins England offspinner Graeme Swann,who is yet to feature in the IPL,as the four players to command the maximum base price in the 144-strong list. They will go under the hammer when the players auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League is held on February 4.

In all,16 Kochi players feature in the list including Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene reserve price US 300,000 and offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan US 200,000. All rounder Ravi Jadeja who has been priced at a relatively modest US 100,000,will join R P Singh,Parthiv Patel,Ramesh Powar,R Vinay Kumar and VRV Singh among the other Indian players who will be up for grabs.

Brad Hogg,Mitchell Johnson,Peter Siddle,Usman Khawaja,Luke Ronchi are among the 16 players from Australia who will be up for sale. From England,13 cricketers,including James Anderson,Ian Bell,Owais Shah,Ravi Bopara and Chris Tremlett will be up for grabs. South Africa and New Zealand will have 19 and 10 players respectively,while dashing opener Tamim Iqbal will be the lone cricketer from Bangladesh to go under the hammer. Sri Lanka will have as many as 18 cricketers,while West Indies and Zimbabwe will have 16 and seven players respectively in the auction list.

Tom Cooper,who played 18 ODIs will be the sole player from Holland,while OBrien brothers Niall and Kevin from Ireland will also be up for auction. The shortlist comprises some outstanding cricket talent. Given that it was prepared on the basis of the feedback of the franchises themselves,the stage is set for an exciting and eventful player auction,this Saturday, IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla said in a statement.

The curious case of Azhar Mahmood

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood is among the 144 cricketers whose names have been listed for the IPL Players auction to be held in Bangalore on February 4. However,the 36-year-old Rawalpindi-born has been shown to be a player from England.

Mahmood has played in 21 Tests and 143 ODIs for Pakistan,but his last appearance for his country of birth was during the 2007 World Cup against Ireland. The cricketer had said in July last year that he had qualified to play for England.

Incidentally,no player from Pakistan has figured in IPL after the first edition in 2008. Post the Mumbai terror attacks the same year,no franchise had shown interest in picking a Pakistani player. It remains to be seen whether Mahmood gets the nod from any of the franchisees at this years auction.