Oz cricketers Clarke, Johnson may get smaller IPL pay packets

Melbourne, Aug.29 (ANI): Australian stars such as Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson have been warned that as and when they decide to join the Indian Premier League (IPL), they can expect far smaller wage packages than they would have received by joining for the inaugural tournament.

Clarke has expressed a desire to enter the IPL next year, after refusing to enter the player auction for the first two years - as did Johnson - to focus on their international careers.

But the IPL sides have all filled their international quotas, and new players can only join if the franchises buy out the contracts of rostered players to sign them.

Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharya told the Herald: "Every team has a cap. If I buy out a player, I only have the cap of the player I buy out."

Teams will hardly be buying out the contracts of their highest-paid stars, therefore Clarke and co. must settle for vastly smaller sums.

"It should be interesting," Bhattacharya said. "But let's not forget that a new auction will be held the following year, because the initial one was for three years only. If I were a player, I would give it a good whack [next] year and think I'm going to get a really nice price [the following] year.

"I don't think a smart player like Michael Clarke would see this on a one-year basis," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Bhattacharya, as saying.

Clarke earned the ire of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for pulling out of the auction last year, and hopes there will be no repercussions.

"I'd definitely like to take part in it at some stage, I just need to work out when's the right time, and hopefully Lalit will let me play, more importantly," Clarke said. (ANI)