KEVIN Pietersen has been priced up as the most expensive Englishman in the auction for the Indian Premier League, ahead of Lancashire's Andrew Flintoff.

The former England captain has been valued at a minimum of US dollars 1.35m (£1.02m), IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has revealed, with Flintoff at a minimum price of USD 950,000 (£661,000).

The IPL list features 148 players in total, with other England stars involved in the February 6 auction including Monty Panesar, Steve Harmison, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior and Owais Shah, while former internationals Darren Gough and ex-Old Trafford all-rounder Dominic Cork are also on the list.

Because England's centrally contracted players, which include Flintoff and Pietersen, have only a three-week window in the IPL - which runs from April 6 to May 29 - they will pocket a pro-rata payment. But even that could see Freddie scoop over £350,000 - 10 percent of which will go to Lancashire.

“Andrew Flintoff has a minimum base price of USD 950,000, but he'll probably go for a higher figure. It'll be quite competitive. All the teams can afford it. Everyone's trying to get England's top players in their team,” said IPL chief Lalit Modi.

Flintoff, who is believed to have several sides interested in his services including Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians, could end up earning the biggest contract simply because he may spark a price war.

The two biggest contracts awarded in last year's auction were given to India captain MS Dhoni, who was listed at USD 400,000 and ended up earning USD 1.5m and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who was given a USD 1.3m contract after being listed for USD 300,000.

Lancashire, meanwhile, admit they are surprised Sajid Mahmood's name has been put forward for the auction. The bowler, who is preparing for the England Lions tour of New Zealand, had not informed the club that he was planning to play in the IPL.

"We don't want to stop people maximising their earnings, but we had no knowledge of an IPL contract for Saj," said chief executive Jim Cumbes. "His name may have been put forward without his knowledge, but he is contracted to us.

"We are expecting him to start the season with us."


OFFICIAL LIST OF PLAYERS BEING ENTERED INTO IPL AUCTION
AUSTRALIA
Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart Clark, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Mark Cameron, Peter Forrest, Lee Carseldine, Doug Bollinger, Michael Dighton, Jason Krejza, Nathan Reardon, Chris Hartley, Shaun Tait, Ashley Noffke, Bryce McGain, George Bailey, Michael Hill, Travis Birt, Chris Swan, Michael Klinger, Ben Edmondson, Aiden Blizzard, Mark Cosgrove, Adam Voges, Shane Harwood.
BANGLADESH
Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Rajin Saleh, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Junaid Siddique, Ziaur Rahman, Mahmudullah, Nadif Chowdhury, Mushfiqur Rahim, Raqibul Hasan jnr.
ENGLAND
Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Robert Key, James Foster, Sajid Mahmood, Matt Prior, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah, Shaun Udal, Darren Gough, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Ed Joyce, Dominic Cork.
NEW ZEALAND
Mark Gillespie, Tim Southee, Jesse Ryder, Jeetan Patel, Kyle Mills, Chris Martin, Jamie How, Peter Fulton, James Franklin.
PAKISTAN
Asim Kamal, Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Arafat.
SOUTH AFRICA
Gulam Bodi, Rory Kleinveld, Charl Langeveldt, Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Martin van Jaarsveld, Roelof van der Merwe, Andre Nel, Neil McKenzie, Yusuf Abdullah, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Morne Van Wyk, Tyron Henderson.
SRI LANKA
Thilina Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Mahela Udawatte, Dammika Prasad, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushalya Weereratne, Jehan Mubarak, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Malinga Bandara, Malinda Warnapura, Michael Vandort, Prassanna Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.
WEST INDIES
Sylvester Joseph, Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, Andre Fletcher, Kieron Powell, Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Smith, Kemar Roach.
ZIMBABWE
Vusi Sibanda.


What do you think? Have your say.

Tweet