Sam Cur ran, who was player of the final and the tournament at the 2022 World Cup, is among 21 men who have listed the maximum reserve price of INR 2 crore (approx US$ 246,000) for the 2023 IPL auction.
Not a single Indian player is listed in the 2 crore bracket, which includes marquee names like England Test captain Ben Stokes, Australian all rounder Cameron Green, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Nicholas Poor an who stepped down recently as West Indies white-ball captain. A maximum of 87 players can be bought at the auction (squad strength of 25 each), of which 30 can be overseas names.
The auction is scheduled for December 23 in Koch. A total of 991 players (714 Indian and 277 overseas) are part of the initial long list, which the IPL shared with the 10 franchises on Thursday. The IPL will prune this down based on input from the franchises, who have until December 9 to get back to the tournament authorities.
In what is a first, not one Indian player is listed in the highest reserve price band of 2 crore. The list of 19 capped Indians mainly comprises discarded national players, including Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal. Rahane was released by Kolkata Knight Riders, having bought him for 1 crore in the last auction. His base price this time is 50 lakh. Ishant, who had gone unsold in 2022, is asking for 75 lakh.
Agarwal was the first player to be retained ahead of the mega auction last year by Punjab Kings and was also handed captaincy of the team. However, a below par season, both for the player and the franchise, forced the Kings to release Agarwal, who had been paid 14 crore last season. Agarwal has listed his base price at 1 crore. Left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat, who has been among the highest-paid players at IPL auctions, has listed his base price at 50 lakh. Unadkat, who has been in stellar form having led Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, where he is the leading wicket-taker, was released by Mumbai Indians, who had bought him for 1.3 crore in 2022. Focus on Cur ran, Stokes, Green The most keenly awaited part of an IPL auction - mega or mini - has been the order in which a player's name comes out for bidding.
And usually franchises pay a lot of attention,, and money to the marquee names*. It is fair to assume that Cur ran, Stokes, Williamson and Pooran will be part of this set, probably Agarwal. Overseas allrouders have always been a mega hit at mini auctions and the in-form trio of Cur ran, Stokes and Green will fancy a fat pay cheque as an early Christmas present on December 23. While Green has never featured in the IPL, the England duo have significant experience.
Currran last played in the tournament in 2021 for Chennai Super Kings before a stress fracture in his lower back forced him to miss a lot of cricket. The Super Kings had bought Cur ran for 5 1/2 crore and will once again aim to buy him, though rival franchises like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings, who go in with the two biggest purses, will have a better chance of landing the England allrounder who is a proven match-winner both with ball and bat. The year 2021 was also the last time Stokes played in the IPL.
Representing Rajasthan Royals, Stokes left the season at the halfway stage due to an injury. The Royals bought Stokes for 12.5 crore in 2018 and retained him for the next three years. In 2022, Stokes opted out of the IPL. As for Green, he recently said that despite the massive workload confronting Australian players leading to, and immediately after, IPL 2023, he was excited to participate in the tournament.
You must be logged in to post a comment.