IPL 2022 | Chris Gayle, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran among notable players to not register for mega auction - Reports

IPL 2022 will be a more exciting competition with 10 teams in contention for the coveted trophy, and a mega auction ahead of the 15th edition of the cash-rich league. Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchise will begin their journey in the lucrative league from the upcoming season of the IPL.  The IPL franchises, who were part of the previous seasons have already submitted their final retentions ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

Lucknow franchise have drafted KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi ahead of the mega auction, while the Ahmedabad team roped in Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill for the 15thh edition of the cash-rich league. The 2022 IPL mega auction is all set to get underway in February, and as per ESPNCricinfo reports, a total of 1214 cricketers, including 270 capped players, 312 uncapped players have registered for the auction. 

However, players like Chris Gayle, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Micthell Starc and Joe Root have opted out of participating in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Starc was expected to make his IPL return after seven years and the speedster wanted to keep himself fresh for Australia in the upcoming white-ball matches. Whereas, Stokes made himself clear that he is looking forward to England's Test preparations after a poor Ashes series, in which his side lost by 4-0. 

Sam Curran, who was part of the Chennai Super Kings squad had sustained an injury during the last season of IPL and eventually missed featuring in the T20 World Cup 2021. Curran's compatriot, Jofra Archer was not available last year as well as he sustained a series of injuries, and has been out of action for a long time. Veteran batsman, Chris Gayle, who holds numerous records in the cash-rich league has also opted out of the mega auction ahead of the 15th edition of the IPL.