It might have been a mini auction but there was nothing ‘mini’ about the money splurged by the franchises at the IPL 2023 auction in Kochi. The record for the most expensive player in the history of the competition has been broken with T20 World Cup’s player of the tournament Sam Curran of England shattering records after being bought by Punjab Kings for a jaw-dropping Rs 18.5 crore.
Curran’s countryman Ben Stokes commanded a cool Rs 16.25 crore, the joint-third costliest bid in history, as he joined MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings.
Five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians weren’t to be left behind as they shored up their already star-studded line-up with the rising Aussie allrounder Cameron Green who was purchased for, wait for it, Rs 17.5 crore making him the second most expensive buy ever.
IPL 2023 Players’ Mini-auction Live Updates
Lucknow Super Giants then joined the list by splashing Rs 16 crore on West Indies wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the auction.
Former South Africa allrounder Chris Morris earlier held the record for the most expensive player sold at an IPL auction. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals during the 2021 mini auction for Rs 16.25 crore.
As many as five franchises were in contention for Curran with MI opening the bid at his base price of Rs 2 crore. RCB joined at Rs 2.2 crore and then RR entered the fray with a bid of Rs 7 crore.
CSK then raised their paddle for Rs 11.75 crore before PBKS pushed it to Rs 14 crore, upping the stakes.
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LSG, who made their IPL debut earlier this year, then joined in with Rs 15.75 crore but they dropped out at Rs 16.25 crore. PBKS then made Curran the most expensive buy with Rs 16.5 crore bid but MI were unfazed as the two continued pushing the envelope.
Similar was the competition for Green who has been hyped as the next big thing in Australian cricket. RCB and MI began the dual with the amount rising to Rs 7 crore before DC said hello.
DC’s entry saw RCB making a graceful exit with MI finding a new rival to jostle with for the big Aussie. And then began another close battle threatening Curran’s place as the most expensive buy.
When MI placed a bid for Rs 17.5 crore, DC conceded the defeat with Green taking home a humongous paycheck.
Fresh from his exploits in Pakistan, Harry Brook enjoyed the fruits of his labour when he landed a deal worth Rs 13.25 crore (SRH) following a three-way battle involving SRH, RR and RCB.
It was RCB who made the first entry with a bid at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore and their back and forth with RR took the amount to Rs 5 crore when SRH came knocking. As before, RCB bowed out leaving SRH in a one-on-one tussle with RR before the 2016 champions sealed the deal.
Mayank Agarwal was released by Punjab Kings following a forgettable IPL 2022. However, they were the first team to place a bid for the opening batter at his base price of Rs 1 crore and they fought with RCB and then CSK before pulling out of the race.
The field was then left with just two claimers in CSK and SRH with the latter landing him for a whopping Rs 8.25 crore.
Rilee Rossouw, Shakib Al Hasan and Joe Root were the big names who went unsold in the first round and they found themselves a team each in the final stage of the auction. Rossouw was bought by DC for Rs 4.6 crore, Root went to RR for Rs 1 crore and Shakib was the last player to be sold as he was bought by KKR for Rs 1.5 crore.
Among the uncapped players, pacer Shivam Mavi was the costliest buy with defending champions GT landing him for Rs 6 crore. The next best in this group was also a fast bowler with Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar being purchased for Rs 5.5 crore by Delhi Capitals.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Vivrant Sharma (Rs 2.6 crore to SRH), Mayank Dagar (Rs 1.8 crore to SRH) and Srikar Bharat (Rs 1.2 crore to GT) were the other big uncapped winners from the auction.
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