IPL 2021 Auction to be held on February 18 in Chennai

The IPL 2021 auction will be held on February 18 in Chennai. IPL authorities confirmed the same on Twitter. They tweeted:

"How excited are you for this year's Player Auction? Set your reminder folks”

Earlier, the window for the eight IPL franchises to retain players ahead of IPL 2021 closed on January 20. 139 players were retained by franchises, while 57 players were released from their current squads.

🚨ALERT🚨: IPL 2021 Player Auction on 18th February🗓️Venue 📍: Chennai How excited are you for this year's Player Auction? 😎👍Set your reminder folks 🕰️ pic.twitter.com/xCnUDdGJCa

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) January 27, 2021

IPL 2021 player retention and trading updates

Among the renowned players who were released by their franchises was Steve Smith, who had captained the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. RR have named Sanju Samson as skipper of the franchise for the IPL 2021 season. A couple of days back, Kumar Sangakkara also joined the Rajasthan Royals as Director Of Cricket.

Furthermore, Glenn Maxwell, who was bought for a whopping Rs 10.75 crore by Kings XI Punjab at last year’s auction, has also been released after a disappointing season.

Other big names who have been released include Harbhajan Singh (Chennai Super Kings), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Mumbai Indians), Sheldon Cottrell, (Kings XI Punjab), Kedar Jadhav (Chennai Super Kings), Moeen Ali (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Jimmy Neesham (Kings XI Punjab) and Alex Carey (Delhi Capitals).

The trading of players for IPL 2021 has also begun, with the February 4 deadline in place. Robin Uthappa has been traded from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings. Earlier, the Delhi Capitals also traded Daniel Sams and pacer Harshal Patel to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Check the RCB retained player list 2021.

Singams for the Super Summer ahead! #Yellove #WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/nZAbIxgnPW

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 20, 2021

Purse available with each franchise for IPL 2021 auction

RCB - Amount left: ₹35.90 crore, Slots available: 13 (4 overseas)

SRH - Amount left: ₹10.75 crore, Slots available: 3 (1 overseas)

DC - Amount left: ₹12.90 crore, Slots available: 6 (2 overseas)

KKR - Amount left: ₹10.75 crore, Slots available: 8 (2 overseas)

RR - Amount left: ₹34.85 crore, Slots available: 8 (3 overseas)

KXIP - Amount left: ₹53.20 crore, Slots available: 9 (5 overseas)

CSK - Amount left: ₹22.90 crore, Slots available: 7 (1 overseas)

MI - Amount left: ₹15.35 crore, Slots available: 7 (4 overseas)

Mumbai Indians are the defending champions in the IPL, having won the last two editions.