IPL 2023 auction: Punjab Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad, who struggled in the previous season, will head into the mini-auction in Kochi with the biggest purse as they look to rejig their squad. The likes of Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders will be eyeing fixes for missing pieces in their line-ups.
In Short
- Kochi will host the IPL 2023 auction on Friday
- SunRisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings expected to be busy sides
- Kolkata Knight Riders have the lowest purse among 10 teams
The action will start on the field only in March next but for the franchises, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 has already gotten underway with the 10 teams already announcing their retentions. On Friday, half the battle is expected to be won as the auction for the next season as player auction will be held in Kochi.
More often than not, teams that have done well at the auction have come up with strong performances and 2023 is going to be no exception as the mini-auction only gives the franchises an opportunity to bolster their existing squads.
A total of 991 players signed up for IPL 2023 auction out of which 405 were shortlisted for the auction. 273 Indian players and 132 overseas stars will go under the hammer with as many as 119 capped players in the fray on Friday.
Auctioneer Hugh Edmeades, who suffered a collapse during IPL 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru, is fit and ready to host the mini-auction in Kochi.
As expected, Punjab Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad, two teams, that struggled to make an impact last season are heading into the auction with the biggest purse after having released quite a few stars, including their captains — Mayank Agarwal and Kane Williamson.
Defending champions Gujarat Titans and fellow newbies Lucknow Super Giants will hope the second-season syndrome doesn’t affect them and what they do at the auction table on Friday will play a big role.
Much to the delight of franchise owners, Australia and England players are expected to be available for the entire duration of the IPL next year.
The tournament will also return to the home and away format, provided the Covid-19 pandemic is in control, for the first time since 2019. The teams will have conditions in their mind when they go for players at the mini-auction.
Indiatoday.in looks at the missing pieces in 10 teams and the top 3 predicted picks for each of them.
Here is a look at the purse available for each team and the slots remaining. Each team needs to have at least 18 players and not more than 25 in the squad for IPL 2023.
Gujarat Titans
Retained Players:
Hardik Pandya (captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad
Having traded Lockie Ferguson and released Varun Aaron, the defending champions are certainly looking for a few pace-bowling options.
Gujarat released Jason Roy as well but Hardik Pandya’s team will be hoping to rely on local talents, including Sai Sudharsan who is having a dream domestic season at the top of the order for Tamil Nadu.
Top 3 Targets: Mukesh Kumar, Jhye Richardson, Shivam Mavi
Chennai Super Kings
Retained Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Prashant Solanki, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Matheesha Pathirana, Subhranshu Senapati
CSK will be hoping to bolster their top-order and the middle-order after the departure of Robin Uthappa. With Dwayne Bravo’s retirement, CSK will also be looking to secure a gun all-rounder who can bowl pace.
Deepak Chahar’s recurring injury concerns will force Chennai to look for a back-up option even as Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh performed well.
The availability of Matheesha Pathirana provide pace firepower to CSK, who will also be looking to buy a solid overseas quick.
Top 3 Targets: Sam Curran, N Jagadeesan and Matt Henry
Lucknow Super Giants
Retained Squad: KL Rahul (captain), Quinton de Kock, Manan Vohra, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, K Gowtham, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav
England pacer Mark Wood’s availability will be a huge boost for Lucknow but they will hoping to get some fine back-ups. Don’t be surprised if they try and buy back Sri Lanka’s Dusmantha Chameera at a cheaper price.
Lucknow also released Jason Holder and KL Rahul’s men will be looked to find a solid all-rounder.
Deepak Hooda would love to have some experience as batting partner in the middle-order while they are short on spin options as well.
Top 3 Targets: Dushmantha Chameera, Harry Brook, Babar Aparajith
SunRisers Hyderabad
Retained players:
SRH, with the biggest purse, will be eyeing a solid captaincy candidate after having released Kane Williamson.
While their pace-bowling department looks sorted, SunRisers Hyderabad will need solid top-order batters and options in spin-bowling to partner Washington Sundar.
Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Kartik Tyagi, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Top 3 targets: Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Dasun Shanaka
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Retained players:
Faf du Plessis (Captain), Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prahhudessai, Harshal Patel, Siddharth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood and Karn Sharma
RCB will head into the auction with one of the least purse available – Rs 8.75 crore. Faf du Plessis-led side have a solid squad and they will only be looking for back-ups at the mini-auction on Friday.
Top 3 Targets: Samarth Vyas, Tymal Mills, Arzan Nagwaswalla
Mumbai Indians
Retained Players:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Tristan Stubbs, Ramandeep Singh, Tim David, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Akash Madhwal
Mumai Indians will be one of the most active sides in the mini-auction, having released the likes of Kieron Pollard, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith and Tymal Mills.
MI will certainly be looking for an ideal replacement to Polllard and will look for a top-quality spinners along with back-up pacers.
Top 3 Targets: Cameron Green, Adil Rashid, Mukesh Kumar.
Delhi Capitals
Retained Players:
Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Mitchell Marsh, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Praveen Dubey, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan
Having released Shardul Thakur, Delhi Capitals will be looking for a top all-rounder at the IPL auction.
They have their bases covered and have the luxury to find good back-ups.
Top 3 Targets: Dasun Shanaka, N Jagadeesan, Phil Salt
Punjab Kings
Retained Players:
Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Brad, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Atharwa Tajde, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Baltej Singh.
PBKS will be looking to find an ideal replacement for Mayank Agarwal, their former captain and gun opener. They also need some solid overseas all-rounders.
PBKS will go big for one star all-rounder and a Indian bowling partner for Arshdeep Singh.
Top 3 Targets: Sam Curran, Shivam Mavi, Nicholas Pooran
Rajasthan Royals
Retained Players:
Sanju Samson (captain), Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Ravi Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa
The Royals, who reached the final last year, have all bases covered barring a solid overseas all-rounder. They released James Neesham and will be looking to add a bit more solidity to the lower-middle order.
Top 3 Targets: Cameron Green, Dasun Shanaka, Samarth Vyas
Kolkata Knight Riders
Retained Players:
Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh
Having traded Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur from Gujarat and Delhi, Kolkata have Rs 7.05 crore left for 11 slots.
However, KKR have a solid first-choice XI and will only be shopping for back-ups at the auction.
A top-order batter and a spinner will be priority on their shopping list.
Top 3 Targets: Harry Brook, Murugan Ashwin, Narayan Jagadeesan