IPL 2024: Hugh Edmeades To Leave The Gavel Duties For The IPL 2024 Auction As BCCI Considers A Woman Auctioneer For The Event

The Auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is going to take place in Dubai on December 19. However, this time Auctioneer Hugh Edmeades won’t be the gavel master when the auction goes underway. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already informed Edmeades that his services are no longer required for this edition of the Indian Premier League. Sources suggest that Mallika Sagar, who is the auctioneer for the Women’s Premier League (WPL), can find herself auctioning the event in Dubai, subject to her availability.

Hugh Edmeades took over the gavel duties from Richard Madley in 2018 and has been hosting the IPL auction ever since. In a quick turn of events, he collapsed on the floor in the ballroom of the ITC Gardenia hotel while hosting the mega-auction in Bengaluru in 2022 due to “postural hypotension”.

While Edmeades was attended by the medical staff, the BCCI office-bearers requested Charu Sharma to carry on with the auction replacing Edmeades. However, Hugh Edmeades returned to conduct the final phase of the auction amid loud cheers and a standing ovation from the franchises and the BCCI officials.

There were speculations about whether the BCCI would continue with Edmeades as the auctioneer for the 2023 mini-auction in Kochi. However, the Board decided to continue with Edmeades at the auction in 2023. Hugh Edmeades is an independent fine art, classic car, and charity auctioneer. Edmeades was a part of the iconic Christie’s for 38 years before going independent in 2016.

Mallika Sagar Can Be The Auctioneer This Time For IPL 2024.

In December 2018, when Hugh Edmeades traveled to Jaipur for the IPL auction, it was a completely new experience for him. Even though he had conducted more than 2,500 auctions across the globe by then, it was his first auction with Indian cricket. Over the last few years, Edmeades has been a familiar face with the IPL auctions and even though he would not be a part of it this time around, the Englishman could still lift the gavel for the mega auction in the next edition of IPL.

Meanwhile, Mallika Sagar will be back as the WPL auctioneer in Mumbai on December 9. An auctioneer at the Pundole’s in Mumbai, Sagar – after completing her major in art history from Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – began her career at Christie’s in 2001. She was the first woman auctioneer of Indian origin in the iconic Christie’s.

Even though the last edition of the WPL auction was her first stint with cricket, Mallika Sagar is no stranger to sports auctions. In 2021, she was the auctioneer for the Pro Kabaddi League and created history becoming the first woman to conduct auctions in the league.