Hugh Edmeades won’t be the auctioneer this year at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction gets underway in Dubai on December 19. As per reports, he will be replaced by Malika Sagar. According to a report in Sportstar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already informed Edmeades that his services will not be required for the upcoming auction. The report also states that BCCI has reached out to Mallika with an offer to take over auction proceedings on December 19 in Dubai but she has not confirmed the same so far. Mallika was the auctioneer at the Women's Premier Legaue auction earlier this year. Sagar will also be donning the cap of the auctioneer at the WPL 2024 auction on December 9 in Mumbai.
Sagar, an auctioneer at Pundole’s in Mumbai, commenced her career at Christie’s in 2001 after obtaining her art history degree from Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia. Notably, she became the first auctioneer of Indian origin and the first woman in that role at Christie’s.Sagar has also looked over the auction of Pro Kabaddi League in 2021, becoming the first woman to conduct the auctions.Edmeades, had taken over as official auctioneer of IPL in 2018 as Richard Madley passed on the baton tom him. In 2022 Mega Auction, he collapsed on the floor while auctioning in the Ballroom of the Bengaluru hotel. He was immediately taken to a hospital. The reason for his collapse was due to 'postural hypotension'.Edmeades specialises in fine art, classic cars, and charity auctions, spent 38 years affiliated with the prestigious Christie’s before venturing into an independent career in 2016. He travelled to Jaipur in 2018 to conduct his first IPL auction.
