Player signings

Main articles: 2008 Indian Premier League#Player auctions, 2009 Indian Premier League#Pre-season trades and signings, and 2010 IPL Player Auction

The first players' auctions were held on 2008. The IPL placed icon status on a select few marquee Indian players. These players were Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, and Virender Sehwag. VVS Laxman, initially named an icon player, later voluntarily opted out of his icon status to give his team (Deccan Chargers) more money to bid for players. For the second season, auctions were also held, but free signings taking place in the off-season by franchises led to calls for a draft-like system where the lowest ranked teams would be given a first opportunity to sign players..