New Day: Today is a big day for cricket fans as the much-awaited auction for the 17th edition of the world’s most popular Cricket League IPL is set to commence in Dubai at 1 PM (IST).
In the bidding room, the fate of 333 Indian & overseas players will be going under the auction’s hammer, deciding if they will be a part of the league’s upcoming season, set to kickstart in March 2024.
With a decent amount of money left in the purses of all 10 franchises’, fans can expect to see an all-out intense bidding war amongst them over several big players who have played impressive cricket throughout the year.
View this post on Instagram
Meanwhile, another thing that makes today’s IPL auctions remarkable is that for the first time, a female auctioneer has been selected by the BCCI to lead the auction proceedings of the league, and here’s everything you need to know about her.
Who is Mallika Sagar?
View this post on Instagram
Acclaimed auctioneer Mallika Sagar, who previously looked over the auction proceedings of Women’s Premier League (WPL) two inaugural editions & PKL’s 2021 season, will be replacing Hugh Edmeades for the auctions of IPL 2024.
For those who care, Hugh Edmeades was in charge of the auction of the Indian Premier League’s four editions (2019 to 2022) However, due to postural hypotension, the 63-year-old Englishman collapsed to the ground during the IPL 2022 auction’s second day and was later replaced by Charu Sharma who continued with the auction proceedings in his absence.
Despite being born in India, Mallika pursued her education overseas and earned her major in Art History degree from Phailadelphia’s Bryn Mawr College in the US. Following that, she Kickstarted her career at a renowned New York-based auction house Christine’s, becoming the first female Indian to work with them.
Mallika Sagar in IPL 2024 auction
As mentioned earlier, Sagar has already been in charge of the auctions of WPL and PKL so IPL 2024’s auction is not going to be her first advancement as a sports auctioneer.
However, given the unmatched popularity & scale of the Indian Premier League, today’s auction will without a doubt be the biggest auction of the 48-year-old’s life.
