IPL agent reveals `secret behind bagging fortunes for emerging stars` at auction

Sydney: An Indian Premier League (IPL) player agent has reportedly revealed that one of the biggest secrets to making his players a fortune at the IPL auction is starting his players on a low base price, thereby providing the best chance of franchises starting a bidding war and greatly inflating their price.

IPL kingmaker Tony Connelly manages Glenn Maxwell, who has been sold for plus-one million dollars, along with other IPL-bound Australian players including David Warner and Nathan Coulter-Nile. According to News.com.au, Connelly, who travels to India several times a year to talk up his clients and stays in regular contact with cashed-up franchises, insisted that the IPL auction is not a lucky dip and said that players should be `started low` and then `watch them go`. The report mentioned that Maxwell (sold for 1.07 million dollars to Kings XI Punjab), Warner (982,000 dollars to Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Coulter-Nile (760,000 dollars to Delhi Daredevils) all had wage increases from the year before after starting at reduced base rates. Connelly also said that it is not important for a player to get preoccupied with starting at a high base rate, adding that the IPL auction is like a property one, where one needs bidders to get the ball rolling. Connelly has revealed that limited-overs all-rounder Maxwell could have signed a 200,000-dollar retention deal offered by Delhi but took a calculated risk to go to auction and ended up with one million dollars from Mumbai. Connelly further said that the process behind selling a player to an IPL franchise is far more comprehensive than just listing a name for auction, adding that it is about having networks and relationships, understanding how different franchises think and how a player might fit in culturally. Sports agents in Australia generally take a cut of player contracts in the region of 4-7.5 per cent, the report added.