The mega auction for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled to be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. In a bid to get the strongest composition possible, the existing eight teams are set to battle it out with the two new franchises -- Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Lions. Ahead of the mega auction, the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have retained four players. West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have been retained, along with Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer. They will enter the mega auction with a purse of Rs 48 crore.