IPL 2024 Auction: Mallika Sagar Became The First Woman Auctioneer Ever In IPL History

After Pro Kabaddi League, Mallika Sagar took up the big role of IPL 2024 auctioneer in the second richest sports league of the world.

IPL 2024 auction began today in Dubai and more than 1100 players registered this time to take part in the second richest sports league in the world. However, the franchisees sifted the list and chose to keep only 332 cricketers for the IPL 2024 auction and quashed the hopes and aspirations of the remaining registrants.

But, this time it’s not the big money involved making the noise nor the big cricketing names, it’s the first-ever female auctioneer who is catching a lot of eyeballs and grabbing a lot of attention. Mallika Sagar became the first-ever female auctioneer in the 16 years of history of the IPL and the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The 48 year old replaced Hugh Edmeades, who has been the auctioneer of richest cricket league in the world till 2023.

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Who Is Mallika Sagar ?

Born in a business family of Mumbai, Mallika’s childhood was spent in the economic capital of India and then she went to Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, United States, where she graduated with a degree in History Of Arts. Mallika soon after got into a leading auction company in the New York and secured a job where she became the brand’s first woman Indian auctioneer. Afterwards, she headed back to her hometown and continued her career in art auctioneering with different brands for 23 years.

Beginning Of Career As Sports Auctioneer

For Mallika, IPL 24 auction is not the first sports project where she conducted and hosted the auctions, the 48 year old already made headlines in 2021 by being the first-ever female auctioneer in men’s Pro Kabaddi League which is the second-most watched franchisee sports league in India. People had lauded her back then for her sheer personality and the way she hosted the entire event with fervor and conspicuous keenness towards the sports. Also, earlier this month on December 09, she has already successfully hosted the auctions of Women’s Premier League (WPL), an IPL theme-based 5 team franchisee league for women’s cricket.

Mallika Sagar’s View On IPL Auction 2024

Sagar mentioned in of her interviews with Al Jazeera that Hugh Edmeades, who was the auctioneer for four seasons of IPL auction introduced her to the sports auctioneering landscape. She also mentioned that witching to sports auctioneering from arts was a major shift in the career but she had confidence in her skills and personality to take up a more dynamic role.

According to the IPL 2024 auctioneer, in cricket it is more about spotting the franchisee in the crowd who are making the bids or just last-minute mic-ups or other impromptu things that are more challenging than how things happened when she was in the art auctioneer’s role.

What Will Happen Different In IPL 2024 Auction?

Out of the registered 332 players, 116 players are already existing players from the previous year’s league wherein the remaining new participants will play for the first ever time under the different franchisees of the grand IPL 2024. The total bidding cap in the auction is speculated to be around ₹270 crores and the franchisees will have to start their bid on any player with a minimum amount of ₹ 2 crores.

Where Can I Watch IPL 2024 Auction?

The live status of the IPL 2024 auction can be seen on the official website of IPL i.e. www.iplt20.com. The live streaming can be watched on Jio Cinema app. Also, the even can be seen live on Start Sports HD network as well.