MiD DAY's guide to the IPL auction to be held in Bangalore this weekend

Chennai Super Kings have retained captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and South African all-rounder Albie Morkel while Mumbai Indians went for batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard

Live on TV
The coverage of the auction starts at 10:00 am on Saturday and Sunday. Live on Set Max.

R3.3 Billion; That's the amount which will be coughed up by some of
India's rich and famous to buy the world's best cricketing stars in a matter
of 16 hours over the weekend

Short list
The IPL reduced its auction list for the next season from a preliminary 416 to 350 players.

New Attraction
Pune and Kochiu00a0-- the two new entrants to the IPL, bring in more attraction. There will be 70 league matches and four play-off games in the fourth edition of the IPL.

Hot property
All eyes will be on former West Indies captain Brian Lara, who is making a comeback to cricket. Also England's Ashes hero James Anderson will be a sought-after personality at the auction. They are among 21 cricketers with the highest reserve price of $400,000 for a three-year contract.

Stars missing
A few top cricketers have opted out of the IPL's fourth edition, including former India captain Anil Kumble,u00a0 Aussies Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson (above) will not participate too.

Upper limit
The upper spending limit for a franchisee is $9 million and those franchises who have retained players, will have less money at their disposal.

Retained players
Chennai Super Kings have retained captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and South African all-rounder Albie Morkel while Mumbai Indians went for batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard. Delhi Daredevils chose to stick with Virender Sehwag. Virat Kohli was retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rajasthan Royals kept the faith in their charismatic captain Shane Warne and all-rounder Shane Watson.

Show me the money
By retaining four players, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are each left with only $4.5m to spend either at the auction or outside from the pool of Ranji Trophy players. Rajasthan Royals will have $5.9m available to spend while Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore will each have $7.2m available for the auction. The remaining teams can make use of their full purse of $9m.

Pak Snubbed again
India's neighbours, who seemed desperate to participate in the IPL, are again snubbed from earning a financial bonanza.

Solace for Aussies
Seventy two Australian players' nominations have been accepted for the auction, which will be the most significant since the inaugural tournament in 2008.

Oldest in IPL
At 41 years and eight months, Brian Lara will be the oldest player at the IPL auction followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (41 years and six months). Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is the oldest Indian player up for grabs at 38 years and six months. Which teams would want Dada is
a big question.

List of 21 players with the highest reserve price of $400,000
1u00a0 Adam Gilchrist
2 Brett Lee
3 Shaun Marsh
4 James Anderson
5 Kevin Pietersen
6 Stuart Broad
7 Graeme Swann
8 Luke Wright
9 Michael Hardy
10u00a0 Rahul Dravid
11u00a0 Sourav Ganguly
12u00a0 Yuvraj Singh
13u00a0 Daniel Vettori
14u00a0 Brendon McCullum
15u00a0 Ross Taylor
16u00a0 Graeme Smith
17u00a0 AB de Villiers
18u00a0 Mahela Jayawardene
19u00a0 T Dilshan
20u00a0 Brian Lara
21 Chris Gayle

Almost all IPL teams want Yusuf
According to sources, most of the IPL teams want dangerous all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and will hence bid for him at the weekend auction. Here's a team-wise wish list...

Chennai Super Kings
Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, Angelo Mathews

Delhi Daredevils
Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, Shakib Al Hasan, Parthiv Patel

Deccan Chargers
Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin, Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh

Mumbai Indians
Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary