The Indian Premier League opens its "mega-auction" later Sunday in Saudi Arabia with teams primed to splash out millions of dollars on world-class cricketers for the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.

The two-day auction beginning Sunday in Jeddah is the first cricketing event of this stature to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, a country with an under-served fanbase for the sport among millions of South Asian migrant workers.

With the Saudis rolling out the red carpet, it should be an event to savour, and surely a sign of things to come.

The Indian Premier League is the most popular and richest domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in the world. The players from March to May are treated as rock stars. On Sunday, Rishabh Pant, India's swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter,