For the second time this year, hundreds of players will be hoping to land fat paychecks when they go under the hammer at the IPL 2023 auction in Kochi on December 23. With all 10 teams preferring to retain a majority of their stars they purchased at the mega auction earlier this year barring a couple of them, the field is devoid of superstars. However, there are a few big names – either opted out of the February auctions/have since been released/went unsold/entering first time – who could generate bidding wars among the 10 franchises.
News18 CricketNext takes a look at a few of them:-
Ben Stokes (Base Price: Rs 2 Crore)
The first time that Stokes went under the hammer, he landed himself an eye-popping deal worth Rs 14.50 crore in 2017. The England allrounder though hasn’t been an IPL regular unlike some of his countrymates owing to various reasons. However, considering his abilities in all three departments, the teams won’t mind breaking the bank to secure his signature. He’s now a T20 World Cup winner too and was instrumental to England’s campaign.
Sam Curran (Base Price: Rs 2 Crore)
Curran won the player of the tournament award at the T20 WC earlier this year and will surely be among the most sought after players. He has already won an IPL title with Chennai Super Kings in 2021 but missed the 2022 season due to fitness issues. The 24-year-old has 149 wickets from 145 T20s and has scored 1731 runs at a strike rate of 135.65. At the world cup, he showed a lot of improvement, especially with his bowling and his batting can prove to be an effective weapon against left-arm spinners and legspinners.
Harry Brook (Base Price: Rs 1.5 Crore)
Brook is quite highly-rated in England’s cricketing circle and the young batter has done everything right so far to justify that hype. During England’s pre-world cup T20I series win in Pakistan, Brook scored 238 runs to win the player-of-the-series award. The 23-year-old has scored 2432 runs in 99 T20s at a strike-rate of 148.38 including a century and nine fifties. Stokes compared his technique with that of Virat Kohli that gives him the potential to succeed across formats.
Cameron Green (Base Price: Rs 2 Crore)
Green started out as a fast bowler but quickly proved he possessed a sound batting technique as well. The Indian fans got a first-hand experience of Green’s immense potential when he opened for Australia during a three-match T20I series earlier this year. He blasted 118 runs at a stunning strike-rate of 214.54 and can be shuffled in the batting order as per the need. Overall, the 23-year-old has scored 245 runs from 17 T20 innings at a strike-rate of 137.64. Another youngster the franchisees would want to bet on.
Mayank Agarwal (Base Price: Rs 1 Crore)
Recency bias could give one a wrong impression of Agarwal’s caliber. The IPL 2022 might have been forgetful for him both as a player and a captain – a role he eventually lost once the season came to an end. However, Agarwal is one of the top openers in IPL. With several franchises in need of a solid, dependable opener, the 31-year-old, without the burden of captaincy, could return to his free-flowing way and could prove to be a solid buy.
Adil Rashid (Base Price: Rs 2 Crore)
Rashid may not have gotten many wickets during the T20 WC but make no mistake he was imperative to England’s title-winning run at the marquee event in Australia. He completed his quota in all six matches and finished with an economy of just 6.12. In the middle overs, he kept batters under control, building pressure. There are a couple of franchises including Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad who are in desperate need of a world-class spinner.
N Jagadeesan (Base Price: Rs 20 Lakh)
Jagadeesan hit the headlines recently with an unreal performance in India’s top domestic one-day competition. At the Vijay Hazare Trophy, opening for Tamil Nadu, the 26-year-old peeled off a world-record five centuries in a row with his fifth innings being a record-breaking 277 – the highest individual score in List A history. He has played in IPL before, for Chennai Super Kings. While his numbers aren’t flattering in the tournament, based on his current form, he might attract huge bids.
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