The IPL 2023 auction was an exciting one for a few of the franchises, who broke the bank to secure the services of players, who would be their trump cards in the forthcoming season. The total available slots were only 87, with a total of 405 players on the list.
The franchises managed to fill out 80 spots, while seven remained vacant. Out of them, 51 were Indian players, while the remaining 29 were overseas recruits. Although, it was a mini-auction, with a little less on stake, some moments took the attention of the cricket fraternity.
Here are some highlights of the IPL 2023 auction, which was unexpected from the auction table.
1. Chennai Super Kings going for Ben Stokes
The Chennai-based franchise were expected to sign Sam Curran, who played for them in the 2020 and 2021 editions. Interestingly, they tried hard at roughly until the 15 Crore mark, but the Punjab Kings were successful in securing his services for 18.50 Crores.
CSK, who were in a need of a fast-bowling all-rounder had to try anyone of Cameron Green or Ben Stokes. They entered the bid when Stokes’ value crossed 15 Crores, which was certainly unexpected as they only had around 20 Crores left in the purse.
In the end, the MS Dhoni-led side managed to buy England's red-ball captain for an amount of 16.25 Crores. With this development, the Yellow army has got a terrific player, with all-round abilities and experience to prevail in crunch moments.
2. Uncapped Vivrant Sharma getting sold at 2.6 Crores
The Jammu & Kashmir all-rounder Vivrant Sharma, whose base price was 20 Lakhs, was ultimately sold at a whopping price of 2.6 Crores. This was due to his impressive performances in domestic cricket. In eight games of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022, he slammed 395 runs and took five wickets.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy witnessed him scoring 128 runs and picking six wickets in five games. He was touted to get a decent bid in the auction, but his final price was not someone had imagined.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad started bidding for Vivrant. Both franchises were hell-bent on including him in the squad, which resulted in the player fetching him a big amount by Sunrisers. Now, Hyderabad have three J&K players, Umran Malik, Abdul Samad and Vivrant in the squad.
3. Rajasthan Royals playing a game against Sunrisers, despite less purse
Ahead of the auction, Rajasthan Royals had a purse of 13.2 Crores remaining, while Sunrisers could shell out 32.2 Crores. The second player to go under the hammer was Harry Brook, with a base price of 1.5 Crores. Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore started the bidding for the batter.
Mid-way, SRH jumped into the bidding war with RR, while RCB exited the bid. Interestingly, RR knew Sunrisers would go all out for Brook, and they hilariously kept raising the paddle, as SRH’s interest grew as time progressed.
The audience watching the telecast were in absolute disbelief that RR is ready to give away their entire amount for a single player. However, RR gave a red flag at the right time, and SRH won the bid with an amount of 13.25 Crores.
4. Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants going all-out for Nicholas Pooran
The former Caribbean skipper, Nicholas Pooran was again among the most anticipated players in the auction room due to his experience in the T20s. Although his international form was disappointing, the southpaw was sensational in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.
With a base price of 2 Crores, CSK and RR jumped on the bandwagon to secure the services of Pooran. Afterwards, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants joined them after taking note of the interest of the franchises.
In the end, it was a battle between DC and LSG, who needed a middle-order batter. However, LSG had 23.35 Crores, while DC only had 19.45 Crores under their belt. It was LSG, who purchased Pooran for a whopping amount of 16 Crores.
5. Joe Root gets a maiden IPL contract from RR
The most consistent performer for England in red-ball cricket, Joe Root put up his name in the IPL Auction for the first time. He clearly specified that he wants to enhance his craft in Indian pitches, ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
In the first round, Root went unsold, which was already predicted by the cricket fraternity. Although Root holds an average of 32.54 in 88 T20s, he has not played enough matches in this format in the last few years.
However, the final accelerated round gave a new lease of life to Root’s entry into the IPL. He was sold to RR at a base price of 1 Crore. If dug down deeply, they needed a quality replacement to Rassie Van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell, who they released ahead of the auction.
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