New Delhi, Dec. 4 -- The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is just round the corner with less than two weeks to go before a close to 400 cricketers go under the hammer at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Over one thousand players have registered themselves for the mini-auction on December 16, which will be further pruned down to a lesser number, yet to be released by the BCCI.

Unlike a mega auction, a mini-auction is always tricky as the franchises look to fill up a few vacant slots based on their requirements. That's where the auction dynamics come in to play as several top names might miss out sometimes. In such cases, the placing of the names in serial order in the list also plays a big role for a player's chances in getting picked. ...