Punjab Kings eye on Australian duo of Smith & Richardson at IPL 2021 Auction

Jhye Richardson at IPL 2021 Auction: Ahead of the start of the new IPL season, eight IPL franchises will take part in the all-important auction in Chennai today. A total of 1,114 cricketers had registered for the event. However, the list was cut down to 292 after the franchises submitted their shortlisted players. This will be a 'mini' auction with 292 players (164 Indian, 125 overseas, and 3 associate) going under the hammer for the 14th edition of the rich-cash league.

After taking the Big Bash League (BBL 10) by storm with the ball and up-skilling his batting technique, Australia is primed to have another millionairess player for the much-anticipated 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, the IPL 2021 Auction is all set to take place on February 18 and one of the most prominent names mentioned is Australia's quick Jhye Richardson. Meanwhile, the newly-named Punjab Kings have to plug 9 slots, including 5 overseas at the auction.

Having released the likes of Cotterell and Maxwell, Kings XI Punjab turned Punjab Kings (PK), who finished in sixth place on the points table in IPL 2020, will look to aggressively bid for the Australian pair of Steve Smith and Jhye Richardson in the IPL 2021 auction, according to the reports.

“I am pretty sure the new name will bring us good fortune this year!” 💥#CaptainPunjab, we are pretty much sure, too! 🥰#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings @klrahul11 pic.twitter.com/edIJyFNmv1

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021

Steve Smith provides more solidity to their line-up and brings captaincy knowledge from his time in charge with Australia as well as he did with Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors in the past. The Punjab-based franchise are yet to lift the IPL title, having participated in all 13 editions so far.

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Punjab Kings Retained Players: KL Rahul (Captain), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel  

Targets: Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Morris, Ben Cutting, Daniel Christian, Jhye Richardson, Mustafizur Rahman, Steve Smith, Moeen Ali, Harbhajan Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ankit Rajpoot, Umesh Yadav, Vishnu Solanki

The BCCI is planning to conduct the IPL in India but SeeLatest understands that a formal decision has not yet been taken. The dates of the rich-cash league have also not been announced but it is tentatively expected to start on April 10.