Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist are much in demand

Calcutta: Of all the big names expected to sign for the Indian Premier League (IPL), only Australia’s gifted Michael Clarke (tipped to succeed Ricky Ponting) and Pakistan’s temperamental Shoaib Akhtar hadn’t done the needful by Monday evening.

According to The Telegraph’s sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India-promoted IPL, Clarke had “refused” to come on board while Shoaib’s decision will be known on Tuesday after his meeting with IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in Mumbai.

One learns that 83 players (48 of them from overseas) have signed on the dotted line and they include all those contracted by the Board.

Incidentally, the franchise owners haven’t yet decided whether V.V.S. Laxman and Virender Sehwag will join Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh as IPL icons.

The icons will not be auctioned, on Wednesday, but will get an amount which will be 15 per cent higher than the highest paid player in their team.

Agencies add: Adam Gilchrist and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are the most sought after players for the eight franchises participating in the IPL auction in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The explosive wicketkeeper-batsmen are regarded as the prime catch, with each side’s spending capped at $5 million for a maximum of eight contracted players each.

“After them, a few drawers are empty. Nobody else will fetch that kind of price,” T.A. Sekar, (sports administration) vice president of infrastructure company GMR Holdings, the owner of the Delhi franchise, said on Monday.

Dhoni’s base price in the open bid is reportedly set at $400,000, which places India’s one-day and Twenty20 captain in the highest bracket and on a par with home stars Tendulkar, Sourav, Dravid and Yuvraj.

Australia’s Gilchrist, who is retiring from international cricket next month, reportedly starts at $275,000, lower than teammate Ricky Ponting ($350,000) but his devastating batting ability and charismatic personality make him hot property.

“Every team will go for the big players. They are the crowd-pullers. These are on everyone’s list,” said Sekar, a former India fast bowler. More than 80 international cricketers are expected to feature in the auction of the officially sanctioned multi-million dollar IPL, which gets underway on April 18.

“It (auction) will be dynamic and change according to other players (franchisees),” P.K. Iyer, managing director of media group Deccan Chronicle, which owns Hyderabad, said.