The Indian Premier League is about half a year away but it has already been making noise with its 2023 mini-auctions, set to be held in Kochi on December 23. Here’s a look at 10 players to watch out for.
In Short
- 405 players are set to go under the hammer to fill 87 remaining slots
- SunRisers Hyderabad comes in with the biggest purse of Rs 42.25 crore
- This could be a massive auction for foreign all rounders and Indian openers
The Indian Premier League Auction is set to be held on December 23, Friday in Kochi. 405 players are set to go under the hammer to potentially fill 87 remaining slots.
While some of the teams are more or settled with their squad after the mega-auction last years, others will be in the hunt for key positions in their team.
IPL 2023 Auctions: All you need to know
SunRisers Hyderabad come into the auctions with the biggest purse – Rs 42.25 crore just ahead of Punjab Kings (Rs 32.20 crore) and Lucknow Super Giants (Rs 23.35 crore). On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders come in the auction with the smallest purse, having been busy in the IPL trade season. They have Rs. 7.05 crore with them.
On that note, here are the list of players to watch out for in Friday’s auction.
In general a World Cup year fetches players big money. And after the World Cup in Australia and the way world cricket has been in general over the last 10 months, several international youngsters can walk away with big money in this season’s auction.
The All-Rounders
All-rounders will be in demand as they always are in the Indian Premier League. The ability to bat at different stages of the game and with a wide skill of options with the ball, this segment has a tremendous variety.
Ben Stokes and Sam Curran
England Test captain has Bazballed his way through cricket in the past 7-8 months, but more importantly has won the T20 World Cup. Stokes’ performance in the World Cup final is an indictment to why he should never be counted out and that will be valued by franchises like SunRisers Hyderabad who need a captaincy candidate.
Sam Curran on the other hand was one of the best bowlers in the recently concluded world event, and it would not be a surprise if Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and others dive in for him straight.
The Youngsters
One of the breakthrough players to be picked up in this auction would certainly be Cameron Green. The ability to bowl at 140+ and bat throughout the order is rare. Given the way he smashed India in the T20I series earlier in 2022, Green could fetch big this time.
Harry Brook is one of the candidates that has to be looked out for. The English are already drawing parallels with Virat Kohli in terms of run scoring ability, and it would not be a surprise if a franchise decided to invest long-term in him.
The Wildcards
Bangladesh have not had much representation in IPL, barring just a few here and there over the years. However, their T20I team has two absolute gems in Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Don’t forget that Liton almost singlehandedly won Bangladesh the Super-12 match against India in the T20 World Cup, while Mehidy smashed his way to glory against India in the recent ODI series.
Indian Top Order Batters
Several franchise are either in the hunt for Indian talents, either capped or uncapped, who can pull their weight in an IPL team. They can either make for starting XI or can end up being a tremendous back up option.
Mayank Agarwal, the former Punjab Kings captain can definitely go for big money. Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore, SunRisers Hyderabad as wel as Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to gain his services.
Barring Mayank, the likes of Narayan Jagadeesan and KS Bharat also might interest teams. Jagadeesan recently shattered the record of scoring highest run in List A cricket, scoring 277 runs off just 141 balls, outsourcing India captain Rohit Sharma.
Saurashtra batter Samarth Vyas can turn out to be the wildcard among the domestic batters. Vyas was the top scorer in the latest edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s premier T20 tournament. The 27-year-old right hander hit 314 runs from 7 matches at a strike-rate of 177.40. The mighty six hitter might be one of the domestic players that might get awarded in this edition of the tournament.