A total of 80 players, 29 of whom are overseas stars, were sold in the IPL auction 2023 which took place here in Kochi today, 23 December. Franchises spent Rs 167 crores in what was an action-packed, enthralling day packed with a plethora of intense bidding wars.
Sam Curran became the most expensive player, of not solitarily this auction, but in the history of IPL, as Punjab Kings shelled Rs 18.50 crore on the English all-rounder.
The 24-year-old, who was Player of the Tournament at ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, sparked a five-way bidding war – involving Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants.
However, PBKS eventually got the England all-rounder. Previously, Chris Morris held the record for being the most expensive player after being sold for Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL 2021 auction.
After Curran, Australian all-rounder Cameron Green also attracted big bids from franchises and became the second-most expensive player in the IPL history as Mumbai Indians picked him for a whopping Rs 17.50 crore.
English Players Sold at a Premium
Meanwhile, Curran’s national teammate and England’s Test captain, Ben Stokes was sold to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 16.25 crore, after MS Dhoni’s team defeated Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad in a bidding war.
English players were sold at a premium today, as young batter Harry Brook became the first millionaire at the IPL 2023 mini auction after Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped him up for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore. Joe Root was also sold in the IPL auction for the first time, with Rajasthan Royals buying him for Rs 1 crore.
Among the Indian players, Mayank Agarwal was the most expensive. The former Punjab Kings skipper was sold to SRH for Rs 8.25 crore.
Seven of the ten franchises reached the maximum quota of 25 players - barring only Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
You can check out the list of all sold players here, and all unsold players here.
And if you want to check the full squad of any team, look no further and click on the team you are searching for: CSK / DC / GT / KKR / LSG / MI / PBKS / RR / SRH / RCB.
(With inputs from IANS).
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