MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (MSM), the broadcast rights holders for IPL in South Asia, will telecast the IPL players auction live on Six SD and Six HD on 3 February.

Unlike last year, the IPL players auction will not be shown on Max. MSM will, however, telecast the IPL matches on both its channels, Max and Six.
 
The IPL player auction will be held in Chennai at the ITC Grand Chola. The action will commence at 10.45 am and will be conducted by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from England who has conducted each of the previous player auctions.

The auction will be hosted by Karishma Kotak which will also have cricketing expert Harsha Bhogle sharing expertise on player and team strategies.
 
IPL auction will see international players like Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Upul Tharanga, Jesse Ryder, Ajantha Mendis, Jerome Taylor and Kevin O?Brien to name a few. The league will also feature a thrust of Indian talent like R P Singh and Wasim Jaffer, getting an opportunity to play for the most coveted tournament.

MSM COO N P Singh said, ?The IPL 2013 Player Auction promises to be an exciting affair with team owners vying for the best of the best talent in creating their dream team. Six will bring an up close and personal perspective into the strategy each team has chartered for the league, keeping the audience enthralled throughout the event.?

MUMBAI: Indian captain MS Dhoni has topped Forbes list of highest earning cricketers with an estimated $26.5 million income in 2011, which is way ahead of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar?s earnings of $18.6 million.

Dhoni, under whose captainship India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, earned a whopping $23 million from nearly 25 brands that he endorses. Only a small portion of his earning, about $3.5 million, came from IPL and central contracts.
 
Tendulkar, who earned a total $16.5 million from endorsements, saw his earning?s shrink due to refusal to endorse a liquor brand and injuries which kept him out of a number of IPL matches and missing out completely on the Champions League games.

In a list dominated by Indians, the next three spots in the list are held by Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Virendra Sehwag who earned $7.3 million, $7.1 million and $6.9 million respectively.

The next four spots in the list are held by Australian cricketers with Shane Watson leading the pack at the sixth spot earning $5.9 million last year.
 
Watson is followed by Australian captain Michael Clarke ($4.9 million), Brett Lee ($4.8 million) and Ricky Ponting ($4.1 million), boosted by central contracts and endorsement deals besides healthy income from IPL and Big Bash League.

At the 10th spot is out of favour Yusuf Pathan with earnings of $3.7 million with cricket pay itself contributing $3.3 million.