IPL 2019: Auction set to get a prime time treatment

The auction for the 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to take place on December 18 in Jaipur. The star-studded affair will reportedly see only 70 players going under the hammer with only 50 Indian and 20 Overseas slots available for the teams to pick. Being a weekday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to give a prime time treatment to the auction as it is set to start at 3 PM IST unlike the previous years when it used to begin at 10 AM.

Earlier this month, all the teams announced the list of released and retained players and ever since then, the fans are eagerly waiting for the auction to commence. Slowly but surely, things are being finalised with only three weeks left for the event to take place.

One-Day affair

The IPL auction, this time around, will be a one-day affair which is why, the report in Mumbai Mirror suggests that the BCCI officials have decided to start it in the afternoon to get more viewership. This move also makes sense as it is week day and not many would be aware if it will start in the morning as it has been the norm all these years.

The auction will start at 3 PM and will go on until 9:30 in the night as it will be a day-night event. It will also help the cricket enthusiasts as they won’t be caught in between watching the India game and auction. December 18 is scheduled to be the final day of the second Test between India and Australia and by 3 PM in the country, the action will definitely end before the auction begins.

“It does not make sense to have the auction running parallel to the Test match which has potential to go down the wire and produce a thrilling finish,” a source close to the proceedings said.

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