The IPL 2023 mini-auction is less than 24 hours away and the fans are anxiously waiting for the one-day event in Kochi. The 10 IPL teams will spend crores of money to complete their squads for the 16th edition of the tournament, which is likely to kick off in the last week of March.
Even though it’s a mini-auction, a few teams will have a busy day as they released many players on Retention Day. Going into the auction, all eyes are on three overseas all-rounders – Ben Stokes, Cameron Green and Sam Curran.
Both Stokes and Curran have already made a name for themselves in the T20 league while Green will enter the auction for the first time. Courtesy of his blitz against India a few months back, the youngster became the talk of the town and is expected to draw a fat paycheque.
A day before the auction, Jio Cinema conducted a mock IPL auction which threw up some shocking numbers. Viacom18, which holds the digital rights of IPL, has a star-studded expert panel which includes the likes of Eoin Morgan, Chris Gayle, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Anil Kumble, RP Singh, Murali Karthik and Scott Styris.
Styris, who was representing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the mock auction, bought Green for a record sum of Rs 20 crore. The Australian all-rounder is expected to breach the 10-crore mark and it remains to be seen if he can create history or not.
Chris Morris, who joined Rajasthan Royals for Rs 16.25 crore in IPL 2021 auction, holds the record of being the costliest player.
Surprisingly, none of the experts bid for Kane Williamson in the mock auction. Williamson, who captained SRH last year, was released by the franchise. He is likely to draw a bid in the auction.
Sam Curran fetched Rs 19.50 crore in the mock auction while Ben Stokes was sold for Rs 19 crore. Odean Smith (8.5 crore) and Nicholas Pooran (8.5 crore) were other top picks.
