Indian Premier League: Will MS Dhoni be first player to be picked on December 15?

New Delhi: Even though the Indian Premier League (IPL) has got its two new teams in Pune and Rajkot, it remains to be seen who will be the first player who will be picked in the draft on December 15.

While 10 players players will be picked by both the teams, considering his slump in form, it would be interesting to see whether India's limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni will be the first choice for the Sanjeev Goenka-owned New Rising consortium, who have the right to pick the first player.

Since New Rising got Pune with a bid of minus Rs 16 crore, according to the reverse bidding process, they have won the right to select the first player through BCCI's players draft system.

The think tank of New Rising consortium and Keshav Bansal-owned Intex will be busy planning their strategies for the upcoming auction.

Dhoni, who returned to play domestic cricket after a long gap of 8 years, was dismissed for just 9 runs while playing for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare trophy.

Even in IPL 8, the Chennai Super Kings skipper was far from his best and his form was one of the major reasons why CSK couldn't perform to their potential in the tournament.

The owners will also be eyeing these top players from both the franchises:

CSK: Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja

Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Sanju Samson