Mitchell Starc, Joe Root opt out of IPL 2020 Player Auction

Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has opted out of the Indian Premier League for a second successive year even as his teammates Glenn Maxwell and Chris Lynn are among seven players who have listed their names in the player’s auction to be held on December 19 in Kolkata. The 29-year-old Starc last featured in the IPL in 2015 when he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore.

In the 2018 IPL auction, the left-arm quick had been signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 9.4 crore, but was unavailable for the entire tournament because of an injury. Earlier this year, Starc was recovering from injury ahead of the IPL 2019 auction and had opted out to give priority to Australia’s World Cup campaign. England’s Test captain Joe Root is another notable absentee from the auction pool of 971 players. Glenn Maxwell and Chris Lynn, however, will be up for grabs and have set their base price at the maximum of Rs 2 crore.