The 2017 IPL auction is likely to be one where a few players attract large bids, while the majority are bought at more prudent prices - keeping with the trend in recent years.
This dichotomy is a result of the imbalance between supply and demand: if only a few players are capable of filling specific holes in several teams, the franchises will fight over them.
For example, because high-quality Indian allrounders are in short supply they usually attract massive bids, especially if there are only one or two in the auction: Yuvraj Singh (INR 14 crore in 2014, INR 16 crore in 2015), Dinesh Karthik (INR 12.5 crore in 2014, INR 10.5 crore in 2015), Ravindra Jadeja (undisclosed amount after maximum bid of $2 million in 2012) and Pawan Negi (INR 8.5 crore 2016).
So here's how the teams stack up at present, and a look at what they need and whom they might buy on February 20.
Rising Pune Supergiants
After finishing second last in 2016, Supergiants released 11 players - six of them overseas - ahead of the auction, further depleting their one-dimensional squad. No other team let go of as many players as Supergiants did. They did buy batsman Mayank Agarwal from Delhi Daredevils during the transfer window, though.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishwar Pandey, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Adam Zampa
How much they can spend: INR 17.5 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Gujarat Lions
In their first season, Lions finished top of the league but failed to make the final after losing both their playoff matches. They released eight players - the injured Dale Steyn the only overseas player among them - and so their Indian stocks might need replenishing.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Dwyane Smith, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Shivil Kaushik, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni
Bench strength: Aaron Finch (overseas batsman), Andrew Tye (overseas fast bowler), Pradeep Sangwan (left-arm quick), Shadab Jakati (left-arm spinner), Jaydev Shah (middle-order batsman)
What they need
- Two Indian spinners: a legspinner to replace Pravin Tambe and an offspinner for variety.
- An Indian fast bowler because Lions have only three in their squad.
- A not-so-expensive overseas allrounder as back-up for Bravo - who is presently injured - and Faulkner.
- An overseas fast bowler because they have only one specialist in Andrew Tye.
On their radar
- Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins, Tymal Mills (overseas fast bowlers)
- Varun Aaron, Mohammed Siraj, Basil Thampi, Aswin Crist, K Vignesh, T Natrajan (Indian fast bowlers)
Number of players Lions can buy: 11
Spots left for overseas players: 3
How much they can spend: INR 14.35 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Mumbai Indians
Having failed to make the playoffs in 2016, Mumbai released eight players but still have 20 left in their squad ahead of the auction. They kept their core intact despite some of their key players not being part of the international circuit anymore and others having struggled with injury between seasons. Their biggest asset is perhaps their domestic-player bench strength.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Rohit Sharma (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Lasith Malinga
- An overseas batsman - preferably an opener - because Mumbai have only two in the squad and Buttler will leave early.
- An overseas allrounder to cover for Pollard in case of injury or bad form.
- A couple of fast bowlers as back-up for Malinga, McClenaghan - both coming back from injury - and Bumrah.
On their radar
- Jason Roy and Colin Munro (overseas batsmen)
- Angelo Mathews, Colin de Grandhomme and Dwaine Pretorius (overseas allrounders)
- Ishant Sharma and Basil Thampi (Indian fast bowlers)
Number of players Mumbai can buy: 7
Spots left for overseas players: 3
How much they can spend: INR 11.555 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Kolkata Knight Riders
After finishing fourth last season, Knight Riders offloaded six overseas players - and nine in all - and then lost allrounder Andre Russell to an anti-doping code violation. They are left with only three overseas players in their lean group of 14, so expect them to go hard for foreign and Indian talent.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Robin Uthappa (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Chris Lynn, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Piyush Chawla,11 Umesh Yadav
Bench strength: Sheldon Jackson (middle-order batsman), Ankit Rajpoot (fast bowler)
What they need
- Overseas players: two allrounders (they have only Shakib at present), a batsman (only Lynn at present), two fast bowlers (none in the squad), and a spinner (only one in the current squad).
- Indian players: two fast bowlers and one spinner (only two of each in the squad at present).
On their radar
- Ben Stokes, Corey Anderson, Colin de Grandhomme, Rovman Powell and Mohammad Nabi (overseas allrounders)
- Alex Hales, Nicholas Pooran (overseas batsmen)
- Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tymal Mills (overseas fast bowlers)
- Imran Tahir (overseas spinner)
- T Natarajan, Aswin Crist, Mohammed Siraj (Indian seamers)
- Irfan Pathan (Indian allrounder)
Number of players Knight Riders can buy: 14
Spots left for overseas players: 6
How much they can spend: INR 19.75 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The defending champions released six players - Karn Sharma, Eoin Morgan and Trent Boult among them - and are left with 17, of which only five are overseas. With a settled first XI, they have considerable balance in their purse to make valuable additions to their squad.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 David Warner (capt), 3 Moises Henriques, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Naman Ojha (wk), 6 Ben Cutting, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 Bipul Sharma, 9 Ashish Nehra, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
How much they can spend: INR 20.9 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Runners-up last year, RCB are the best team to never win the IPL. They released ten players before the auction but still have 20 players, among whom are the leading batsmen and bowlers in T20 cricket. They have eight overseas players already so can buy only one at the auction.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 KL Rahul (wk), 4 AB De Villiers, 5 Shane Watson, 6 Kedhar Jadhav, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Iqbal Abdulla, 11 S Aravind
Bench strength: Harshal Patel (fast bowler), Mandeep Singh (opener), Adam Milne (overseas fast bowler), Sarfaraz Khan (middle-order batsman), Samuel Badree (overseas legspinner), Travis Head (overseas batsman), Sachin Baby (middle-order batsman), Avesh Khan (allrounder), Tabraiz Shamsi (overseas left-arm wristspinner)
What they need
- An overseas allrounder because Watson is injury prone, or an overseas fast bowler because Starc's workload may have to be managed and Milne hasn't yet played a competitive game since a solitary match in IPL 2016.
- An Indian offspinner because they don't have one, and one back-up seamer for Harshal and Aravind.
On their radar
- Ben Stokes, Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson (overseas allrounders)
- Tymal Mills, Pat Cummins, Trent Boult (overseas fast bowlers)
- Ishant Sharma (Indian fast bowler), Irfan Pathan (Indian allrounder)
Number of players Royal Challengers can buy: 7
Spots left for overseas players: 1
How much they can spend: INR 12.825 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI were rock bottom last season, after finishing on the wrong end of several tight games. They retained 19 players, though, and released only four - the fewest among all the teams. On paper, they have a squad full of potential.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 M Vijay (capt), 2 Manan Vohra, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 David Miller, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Gurukeerat Singh, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Sandeep Sharma
How much they can spend: INR 23.35 crore (1 crore = 10 million)
Delhi Daredevils
Daredevils' young squad finished sixth last season and the franchise has retained 18 of its players ahead of the auction. Of the seven players they let go, Pawan Negi and Imran Tahir were the most notable.
Their likely best XI at present: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Shreyas Iyer, 3 JP Duminy (capt), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Rishabh Pant, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Jayant Yadav, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Mohammed Shami
Bench strength: Shahbaz Nadeem (left-arm spinner), Sam Billings (overseas batsman), Zaheer Khan (mentor and fast bowler), Chama Milind (fast bowler), Khaleel Ahmed (fast bowler), Pratyush Singh (middle-order batsman).
What they need
- Overseas replacements for Duminy, de Kock and Morris, who are likely to leave the IPL in early May.
- An overseas allrounder as back up for Brathwaite, who was inconsistent last season.
- Fast bowlers to back up Shami and Zaheer.
- An overseas and domestic batsman to strengthen a middle order comprising largely domestic batsmen.
On their radar
- David Wiese, Colin de Grandhomme, Mohammad Nabi (overseas allrounders)
- Michael Klinger, Nicholas Pooran, Evin Lewis (overseas batsmen)