The Indian fun88 fans glued back to the television after the Fifa World Cup Final to watch the Tata IPL mini auction. And it didn’t fail to justify the popularity of the Indian Premier League at a global level too. With 87 slots to be filled for the IPL 2023, over 400 players tried their luck in the IPL auction. The ten franchises spent around INR 167000 Lakhs (167 Cr.) to sign 80 from the players list, surpassing the amount of INR 145.3 Cr. spent in the IPL mini auction 2021.
The IPL 2023 mini auction saw the most expensive bid (Chris Morris to Rajasthan Royals for 16.25 cr.) breached twice and matched once. The English players celebrated an early Christmas following their t20 World Cup win. 8 English players, including 5 t20 world cup finalists, took a whooping some of INR 56.95 cr., which was more than one-third of the amount (167 cr.) spent yesterday.
The local lads fetched INR 41.75 cr in the auction. Overall, 50 capped and uncapped Indian players were recruited by the IPL franchises with some surprises. As expected, Mayank Agarwal became the most expensive player (Indian) to be bought in the auction yesterday. He went for INR 825 Lakh (8.25 cr.) to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shivam Mavi was the costliest uncapped sign in yesterday’s mini auction. IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans won the race to sign Mavi for INR 600 lakhs (6 Cr.).
Analysis of 10 franchises in IPL 2023 Mini Auction
The IPL 2023 auction bought surprises for the players from the teams like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Ireland. Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) and David Wiese (Namibia) were bought for their base prices by Punjab Kings & Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively. Joshua Little became the first Irish player to sign the IPL contract.
Franchises spent most of their money on young players. 42.5% of the money (INR 71.1 cr) was spent on players with ages less than 25. This clearly showed the strategy of grooming the young lads for the future. Elsewhere, Jaydev Unadkat (who became a Lucknow Super Giant) and Manish Pandey found their respective 7th franchise in the IPL 2023 auction.
Here’s how the teams stack up after an unprecedented IPL Auction 2023.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – The biggest Spenders
Players Released: 12
Players Bought: 13
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 42.25 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 35.70 Cr
SRH released most of their squad following the last season’s poor result. Some big names like Kane Williamson and Nicholas Pooran. It was too obvious for anyone to figure out that SRH’s owner Kavya Maran would target the big names to cover the shortcomings in the batting lineup. SRH went huge to sign the all-format 360-degree player Harry Brook for INR 13.25 cr making him the highest-paid overseas batter. The need of the SRH panel didn’t stop there, as they also made Mayank Agarwal the most expensive Indian player to be bought in the auction yesterday. SRH made a successful bid for 12 of the 13 players they opted for. They only missed on Ben Stokes. They could have got Stokes if they hadn’t gone higher for South Africa wicketkeeper Henrich Klassen (INR 5.25 Cr.)
Players Bought in the auction: Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Vivrant Sharma, Adil Rashid, Mayank Dagar, Akeal Hosein, Mayank Markande, Upendra Yadav, Sanvir Singh, Samarth Vyas, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anmolpreet Singh.
Smart Base Price Buys: Adil Rashid (INR 2Cr.), Anmolpreet Singh (INR 20 Lakh)
Predicted XI: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), T Natrajan, Umran Malik.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) – The missed-out Spenders
Players Released: 9
Players Bought: 6
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 32.20 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 20 Cr
Punjab Kings restricted themselves from spending big yet made Sam Curran the most expensive player in the Indian Premier League history. The ex-CSK and player of the T20 World Cup returned to his first team for a staggering amount of INR 18.50 Cr. (USD 2.25 Million). Punjab Kings then stole Sikandar Raza for INR. 50 lakhs. He would be an ideal backup for their retained player – Liam Livingstone, who has been sidelined due to an injury.
PBKS remained calm throughout the auction and left with INR 12.20 Cr. Then why on earth they left Mayank Agarwal – a proven opener? And why in the universe they didn’t strengthen their bowling attack?
Players Bought in the auction: Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, and Shivam Singh.
Smart Base Price Buys: Sikandar Raza (INR 50 Lakh).
Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone/Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan / Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) – The Chaotic Spenders
Players Released: 7
Players Bought: 10
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 23.35 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 19.80 Cr
LSG spent most of the remaining money on backups for the retained player. Daniel Sams and Romario Shepherd were bought to cover Mark Wood and Marcus Stoinis. Unadkat is to shadow Mohsin Khan, who had an amazing last season but has not played a game since then.
Players Bought in the auction: Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Sams, Romario Shepherd, Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Yudhvir Charak, Naveen Ul Haq.
Smart Base Price Buys: Amit Mishra (INR 50 Lakh).
Predicted XI: KL Rahul (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan/Jaydev Unadkat.
Mumbai Indians (MI) – The Futuristic Spenders
Players Released: 13
Players Bought: 8
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 20.55 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 20.50 Cr
Mumbai Indians spent almost every penny they joined the auction with. There were 9 slots left to be filled in the MI camp. But they spent 85% of their money on Australia all-rounder Cameron Green. Green was bought for INR 17.50 Cr. and hence became MI’s highest ever spent in the auction. Seeing Green’s adaptability to bat anywhere, bowl at a decent pace, and age, make him a perfect match for MI’s future plan. Imagine – Green, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brewis, Tim David / Tristan Stubbs in your batting lineup in the future.
Mumbai then also bought Jhye Richardson as a backup for Jofra Archer. Mumbai finished their auction with 6 more players bought for their respective base prices. Marco Jansen’s twin Duan Jansen and local all-rounder Shams Mulani signed for RS. 20 lakh. This will be first time MI will play without any player from West Indies.
Players Bought in the auction: Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal.
Smart Base Price Buys: Shams Mulani (Rs 20 lakh), Duan Jansen (Rs 20 Lakh)
Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brewis, Tim David, Cameroon Green, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – The Bulls-eye Spenders
Players Released: 8
Players Bought: 7
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 20.45 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 18.95 Cr
Chennai made all sure to get that one all-rounder in the middle who can make Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s life easy. And who have they found? Ben Stokes! Isn’t it crazy? The first t20 World Cup-winning captain and the Current T20 World Cup-winning captain are playing together again after a gap of 7 years. Stokes can do what Shivam Dubey failed to do last season. In another universe, he can get the leadership in hand if MS Dhoni retires.
Ajinkya Rahane became Chennai Super King’s new recruit to push Ruturaj to the top. Besides that, New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson’s addition to the yellow army surprised everyone. First of all, he is coming from an injury, and second, you already have Depak Chahar to terrify you.
Players Bought in the auction: Ben Stokes, Kyle Jamieson, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, and Bhagath Varma.
Smart Base Price Buys: Kyle Jamieson (Rs 1 Cr.)
Predicted XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayude/Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube/Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mukesh Choudhary, Maheesh Theekshana, Deepak Chahar
Delhi Capitals (DC) – The Conscious Spenders
Players Released: 4
Players Bought: 5
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 19.45 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 15.00 Cr
Delhi needed just five players – the lowest among the franchises. So they spent it wisely. They needed a backup for David Warner at the top, so they went ahead with Phil Salt for his base price. With 7 games played at home, they quickly bought the local lad Ishant Sharma.
DC went into war mode to land pacer Mukesh Kumar who has been in terrific form for the last couple of domestic seasons. Kumar received INR 5.5 Cr. – 27.5 times his base price of RS. 20 Lakh. Manish Pandey found his seventh IPL team. But it was a much-needed buy for DC with just Sarfaraz Khan and young Yash Dhull in the middle.
Delhi then shocked everyone to go for Rilee Rossouw, who is currently the most explosive player from South Africa. Rossouw went unsold in the first phase but came back in the last to get a deal worth INR 4.60 Cr. Just in case if the Mitchell Marsh magic doesn’t work or Rovman Powell fails, you have super Rossouw to the rescue.
Players Bought in the auction: Rilee Rossouw, Mukesh Kumar, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, and Manish Pandey.
Smart Base Price Buys: None
Predicted XI: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (C), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar.
Gujrat Titans (GT) – The Backup Spenders
Players Released: 4
Players Bought: 7
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 19.25 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 14.80 Cr
The reigning champions started the auction by capturing Ex-New Zealand and SRH skipper Kane Williamson for his base price. One of the smartest buys of the auction. Then they secured West Indies pacer Odean Smith for his base price of INR 50 Lakh. Wow! Tewatia and Smith playing in one team – Who could have imagined?
The reigning champions started the auction by capturing Ex-New Zealand and SRH skipper Kane Williamson for his base price. One of the smartest buys of the auction. Then they secured West Indies pacer Odean Smith for his base price of INR 50 Lakh. Wow! Tewatia and Smith playing in one team – Who could have imagined?
With both wicket-keepers above 35 years of age, GT bought KS Bharat for INR 1.2 cr. They struggled but won the battle for Shivam Mavi. Mavi became the highest-paid uncapped auction player with an amount of INR 6 Cr. GT also awarded Joshua Little his and his country’s first IPL contract for INR 4.4 Cr. Most of the GT’s spend was on backups for the winning team.
Players Bought in the auction: Kane Williamson, Joshua Little, Shivam Mavi, Odeon Smith, Urvil Patel, Mohit Sharma, and KS Bharat.
Smart Base Price Buys: Kane Williamson (INR 2 Cr.)
Predicted XI: Shubman Gill, KS Bharat, Sai Sudarshan, Hardik Pandya (C), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, R Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal/Shivam Mavi, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little/ Alzarri Joseph.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) – The Confused Spenders
Players Released: 9
Players Bought: 9
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 13.20 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 9.85 Cr
Royals tried their best to buy Harry Brook and Nicolas Pooran but managed to end up with Jason Holder. Last year’s finalists played with 4 bowlers who failed to contribute with the bat last season. The addition of Holder will strengthen the RR middle order. Holder cost INR 5.5 Cr to become the highest-paid Rajasthan Royal of the auction.
Except for Holder, RR never went above the base price of the players yet landed 8 other players. Joe Root becomes ‘Rajasthan Royal’ along with Adam Zampa. This was quite bamboozling as both went unsold earlier. RR also bought Murugan Ashwin – their 4th spinner. Dude! You have Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, and Adam Zampa, and now you are going with another spinner. 5 buys in the final slot of the auction – A Panic buy?
Players Bought in the auction: Joe Root, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vashisht, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Abdul PA.
Smart Base Price Buys: Adam Zampa (INR 1.5 Cr.).
Predicted XI: Sanju Samson (C), Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Butler, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – The Silent Spenders
Players Released: 4
Players Bought: 7
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 8.75 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 7 Cr
With just 8.75 Cr. in hand, RCB management tried everything to buy backups for the playing eleven. And they got World Cup-winning bowler Reece Topley for his base price. Topley, who had an amazing series against India at home, followed by the World Cup, can prove a good addition in case Hazelwood doesn’t play.
RCB’s main concern was to find a replacement for Glenn Maxwell, who is recovering from a serious leg injury. After a little resistance from other franchises, they finally found their answer in Will Jacks. They only need to empty their pocket by INR 3.2 Cr. It was crystal clear that RCB got what it needed. So one can say that the auction was successful for them.
Players Bought in the auction: Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, and Sonu Yadav.
Smart Base Price Buys: Reece Topley (INR 0.75 Cr.).
Predicted XI: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Finn Allen, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazelwood, Mohammed Siraj.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) – The Watchful Spenders
Players Released: 11
Players Bought: 8
Pre-Auction Purse: INR 7.05 Cr
Purse Spent: INR 5.40 Cr
KKR was in the auction to do window shopping. With the lowest purse to spend, they got two gems. Litton Das and N Jagdeesan. KKR bought N Jagdeesan for INR 90 Lakhs. Jagadeesan caught the eye of the franchises with his 5 centuries in a row in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Getting Litton Das for his base price was another gift for KKR Fans.
Besides these two, KKR welcomed back Shakib al Hasan into the squad after a gap of 7 years. To strengthen the middle order, KKR cheaply bought Mandip Singh.
KKR had already bought Lockie Ferguson from Gujrat Titans and Shardul Thakur from Delhi Daredevils after Pat Cummins opted out of the next IPL.
Players Bought in the auction: N. Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Mandeep Singh, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das.
Smart Base Price Buys: Litton Das (INR 50 Lakh). Shakib Al Hasan (INR 1.5 Cr.)
Predicted XI: Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
Overall, it was a short affair with some mega fights. INR 41.75 Cr. was spent on the domestic players, while INR 125.25 Cr. was taken by the overseas players. 80 players from the 400 players list found their luck before Christmas. Let’s see if they bring any luck to their respective teams next season.
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