The day after the completion of Indian Premier League’s (IPL) mega auction, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) said it has guaranteed a special window for the tournament and declared that all the West Indies players will be available. The league is expected to be played between March-end and May-end.

“The CWI has allocated a window for the tournament each year in their ICC FTP and also guaranteed this to the players in their retainer contracts, therefore West Indies players are fully available to participate in the IPL each year. The IPL 2022 is slated to be played in April and May,” the board said in a statement on Monday (February 14).

The 14 West Indians, picked by the IPL franchises at the February 12-13 Bangalore auction, and three retained players make up for the largest number of foreign players in the league from any territory outside of India. Including the three retained players – Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – the combined value of the West Indies players in the IPL is a whopping US $10,855 million (over Rs 81 crore).

Congratulating the players, CWI president Ricky Skerritt termed the IPL as the biggest league in the world. “I want to congratulate all of the West Indies players who have secured contracts to the various franchises in the IPL, which is the biggest and most lucrative global T20 franchise tournament. But I especially want to applaud those younger players who received their first full IPL contracts. This shows great faith in emerging West Indies talent. I continue to believe that our players can seek quality employment abroad, and still be positioned to operate constructively and successfully within the West Indies cricket system,” the CWI boss said

The West Indies players in the IPL this year are Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 12 cr), Nicholas Pooran (Sunrisers Hyderabad, 10.75 crore), Jason Holder (Lucknow Super Giants, 8.75 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rajasthan Royals, (Rs 8.50 crore), Romario Shepherd (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 7.75 crore), Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians, Rs 6 core), Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 6 crore), Odean Smith (Punjab Kings, Rs 6 crore), Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 4.40 crore), Rovman Powell (Delhi Capitals, Rs 2.80 crore), Alzarri Joseph (Gujarat Titans, Rs 2.40 crore), Evin Lewis (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 2 crore), Dominic Drakes (Gujarat Titans, Rs 1.10 crore), Sherfane Rutherford (Punjab Kings, Rs 1 crore), Fabian Allen (Mumbai Indian, Rs 75 lakh), Obed McCoy (Rajasthan Royals, Rs 75 lakh) and Kyle Mayers (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 50 lakh).