Pakistan tops the list in IPL auction registration

NEW DELHI - Twenty-six Pakistani cricketers are among 97 overseas players who have registered for the Jan 19 auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pakistan’s young batting sensation Umar Akmal and talented paceman Mohammad Aamir along with former Indian Cricket League (ICL) recruits Mohammad Sami, Imran Farhat, Saqlain Mushtaq, Azhar Mahmood are some of the prominent names accross the border who will be auctioned in Mumbai.

Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup star Shahid Afridi will be the biggest draw for the teams. The list also includes speedster Mohammad Asif, who tested positive for dope in first edition of IPL. In the first edition, Afridi played for Deccan Chargers while Asif turned out for Delhi Daredevils.

The Pakistani players were barred from featuring in last IPL due to tensions between the two countries post-Mumbai attacks. IPL franchisees replaced Misbah Ul Haq, Umar Gul and Shoail Tanvir by other overseas players.

Pakistan’s players missed the deadline to secure the necessary clearances to participate in the IPL and they will have now to go through the auction process again to participate in the third edition of the competition.

Pakistan tops the list of number of registrations for the auction followed by Sri Lanka (17), South Africa (12), New Zealand (9), Australia (9), West Indies (8), England (8), Bangladesh (2), Canada (2), Zimbabwe (2), Ireland (1) and Netherlands (1).

West Indies new pace sensation Kemar Roach and New Zealand’s retired paceman Shane Bond will also be vying for one of the teams.

The future of these players will depend on the number of overseas slots available with the IPL franchisees. If the teams show interest in any of those players, they will be informed. Last year, over 100 players registered for auction, but only 17 slots were filled.

Registered players:

Pakistan: Mohammad Aamir, Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shahzad, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Khalil, Abdur Rauf, Khalid Latif, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Malik, Khurram Manzoor, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved, Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami.

Sri Lanka: Malinga Bandara, Indika de Saram, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Jehan Mubarak, Thisara Perera, Dammika Prasad, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Gihan Rupasinghe, Upul Tharanga, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Chanaka Welegedara

South Africa: Yusuf Abdulla, Nicky Boje, Zander de Bruyn, Tyron Henderson, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Andre Nel, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Johan van der Wath, CJ de Villiers

New Zealand: Shane Bond, Ian Butler, Chris Cairns, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent

West Indies: Carlton Baugh, Tino Best, Daren Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons

Australia: Brad Haddin, Phillip Hughes, Ashley Noffke, Jason Krejza, Ben Laughlin, Graham Manou, Damien Martyn, Clint McKay, Adam Voges

England: Tim Bresnan, Anthony McGrath, Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar, Adil Rashid, Jonathan Trott Usman Afzaal, James Foster

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan, Shahriar Nafees

Canada: Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan

Zimbabwe: Murray Goodwin, Ray Price

Ireland: Niall O’Brien

Netherlands: Ryan ten Doeschate