Last year, the IPL auction was held outside India for the first time at Dubai's Coca Cola Arena on December 19. Now, the high-profile event is poised to make its return to the Arabian Peninsula. As reported by Sportstar, this year's mega IPL auction is likely to be held in Riyadh on November 24 and 25, just two days after India's high-profile five-Test series against Australia begins in Perth. While the BCCI has not yet made an official announcement, the IPL franchises have reportedly been informed about the schedule. London and Singapore were initially considered as possible venues for the IPL auction, but the board ultimately chose Riyadh due to the favorable time zone. This decision results in back-to-back auctions being held in the Middle East. The BCCI has yet to finalize a venue in Riyadh that can accommodate the owners and representatives of the 10 franchises, along with the broadcast teams from Disney Plus Hotstar and JioCinema, the official TV and digital broadcasters, respectively. The BCCI had initially set October 31 as the deadline for the 10 IPL franchises to finalize their retention list. According to the IPL Governing Council (GC), teams can retain up to six players from their current squads using a combination of direct retention and the Right to Match (RTM), which has been reintroduced for this auction with some modifications. Australia captain Pat Cummins and his pace partner Mitchell Starc set new records during the last IPL auction. Cummins was acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 20.5 crore, while Starc went to Kolkata Knight Riders for 24.75 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.