Thursday morning’s show on television screens cannot fully promise the excitement of an IPL auction, however, the hearts of a good number of cricket players will drop one or two beats when their name rises to ‘business’.

It is a mini-auction (332 players have registered) and the franchise will fill only a few blanks, a maximum of 73, which were vacant after the release of some players.

At the end of the auction, which will begin at 3.30 pm, the teams will conclude for the 13th edition of the most popular T20 league.

IPL Auction 2020: All eyes on RCB as 332 players go under the mallet
IPL Auction 2020: All eyes on RCB as 332 players go under the mallet

After the 2020 tournament, the teams will disband and the franchise will re-elect its players. At first glance, the bets at this player’s auction do not appear to be very high.

But is that really the case? A glance at the players released and available positions indicates that the leadership of the team can do everything possible to get some men of their choice.

Since a total bag of Rs 207.65 crore will be available, some players may dream of a great payoff. Take, for example, Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have launched 12 players, seven of them overseas.

He leaves Virat Kohli with only two foreigners at his disposal. With a bag worth Rs 27.90 crore to spend, RCB may aggressively chase some foreigners. Kohli has already said that all the bases will be covered.

Among the players RCB has launched are Shimron Hetmeyer, Colin de Grandhomme and Nathan Culper-Nile, who may be in demand on Thursday afternoon.

Kolkata Knight Riders, with the help of Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn and Piyush Chawla, will also check some boxes.

With an amount of Rs 35.65 crore at his disposal, the franchise, owned by Shah Rukh Khan, the second largest after Kings XI Punjab, can take a good stand.

It would not be surprising if they would not stop some of their target cricketers from achieving.

Nor would it be surprising if the Royals of Rajasthan continued their attitude of shock and amazement.

Among the quietest bidders in the first years of the IPL, the Jaipur-based franchise made the biggest surprise in the last two auctions.

After launching players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Jaydev Unadkat and Dhawal Kulkarni, they will vigorously chase some household names, with an eye on specific slot machines. They may well decide to separate on a great name.

Will they aim to repeat Unadkat at a discounted price, in the previous auction? Wait and see, it was all a Royals officer had to offer.