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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...w/11687133.cms

144 players to go under the hammer in IPL 5 auction

PTI | Jan 30, 2012, 05.42PM IST

"The shortlist comprises some outstanding cricket talent. Given that it was prepared on the basis of the feedback of the franchises themselves," IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said. (TOI Photo)

NEW DELHI: As many as 144 players, including Indian Test batsman VVS Laxman, pacer S Sreesanth and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, will go under the hammer when the players auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League is held in Bangalore on February 4.

RP singh, Parthiv Patel, Ramesh Powar, R Vinay Kumar and VRV Singh will be the other Indian players who will be up for grabs at the ITC Royal Gardenia.

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, Graeme Swann 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 O'Brien 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 Franchises purchased the bulk of their respective squads in 2011. Their aim at the upcoming auction will be to bring in some players who can make a difference to their prospects in the tournament. The auction will mark the formal opening of IPL 2012," Shukla added.

Besides Johan van der Wath, who played 10 ODIs and eight T20s, as many as 10 uncapped cricketers from South Africa will also be up for sale.

All-rounder Sachithra Senanayake from Sri Lanka and three other uncapped players from the West Indies will also be in the list.