Sony Six to live telecast Vivo IPL 2016 player auction

Sony Six to live telecast Vivo IPL 2016 player auction

Sony Six

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India’s sports channel Sony Six and Sony Six HD will live telecast the Vivo IPL 2016 Player Auction from Bangalore on6 February from 9 am onwards.

Viewers will get to witness franchises bidding from a pool of 351 cricketers, including 230 from India at the auction.

For the ninth season, the franchises have a salary purse of Rs 66 crore each, which is a Rs 3 crore jump from last season's purse with a balance sum of RS 198.28 crores remaining with the eight franchises.

Sony Pictures Networks India sports cluster business Prasana Krishnan said, “The Vivo IPL is the biggest T20 cricket league in the world with top Indian and international names in cricket participating in this tournament. The player auction always sets the tone for the tournament and 2016 will surely be more exciting with two new teams fiercely bidding to build their player line-up.”

“Telecast on Sony Six, the viewing experience will be further enhanced by the panellists who will engage fans with their expert insights on the bidding strategies employed by the teams,” he added.

Apart from last edition’s most expensive players - Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik, the other names at the auction table will include Irfan Pathan, Kane Richardson, Michael Hussey, Ishant Sharma, and Mohit Sharma. The auction will also see the inclusion of two new teams, Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions, who will be bidding to build their teams for the first time.

As many as 100 cricketers including 36 overseas players have been retained by the franchises for the 2016 season.

The auction will be led by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from England who has been shepherding the player auctions since its inception in 2008. Former Indian cricketer, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Extraaa Innings host Gaurav Kapur will be present at the auction to share their insights on both, team as well as player strategies.