IPL 2023 Auction Highlights: Sam Curran Scripts History With Rs 18.5 Cr Paycheck; CSK Snap Potential Captain Ben Stokes For Rs 16.25 Cr

It might have been a mini auction but there was nothing ‘mini’ about the money splurged by the franchises at the IPL 2023 auction in Kochi. The record for the most expensive player in the history of the competition has been broken with T20 World Cup’s player of the tournament Sam Curran of England shattering records after being bought by Punjab Kings for a jaw-dropping Rs 18.5 crore.

Curran’s countryman Ben Stokes commanded a cool Rs 16.25 crore, the joint-third costliest bid in history, as he joined MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings.

Five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians weren’t to be left behind as they shored up their already star-studded line-up with the rising Aussie allrounder Cameron Green who was purchased for, wait for it, Rs 17.5 crore making him the second most expensive buy ever.

Lucknow Super Giants then joined the list by splashing Rs 16 crore on West Indies wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran who was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the auction.

Former South Africa allrounder Chris Morris earlier held the record for the most expensive player sold at an IPL auction. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals during the 2021 mini auction for Rs 16.25 crore.

As many as five franchises were in contention for Curran with MI opening the bid at his base price of Rs 2 crore. RCB joined at Rs 2.2 crore and then RR entered the fray with a bid of Rs 7 crore.

CSK then raised their paddle for Rs 11.75 crore before PBKS pushed it to Rs 14 crore, upping the stakes.

Former South Africa allrounder Chris Morris earlier held the record for the most expensive player sold at an IPL auction. He was bought by Rajasthan Royals during the 2021 mini auction for Rs 16.25 crore.

As many as five franchises were in contention for Curran with MI opening the bid at his base price of Rs 2 crore. RCB joined at Rs 2.2 crore and then RR entered the fray with a bid of Rs 7 crore.

CSK then raised their paddle for Rs 11.75 crore before PBKS pushed it to Rs 14 crore, upping the stakes.

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Funds Spent: Rs 35,70,00,000, Funds Available: Rs 6,55,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas 8), Buys: 13, Retained: 12

Harry Brook (Overseas Batter) Rs 13,25,00,000

Mayank Agarwal (Indian Batter) Rs 8,25,00,000

Heinrich Klaasen (Overseas Wicket-Keeper) Rs 5,25,00,000

Vivrant Sharma (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 2,60,00,000

Adil Rashid (Overseas Bowler) Rs 2,00,00,000

Mayank Dagar (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 1,80,00,000

Akeal Hosein (Overseas Bowler) Rs 1,00,00,000

Mayank Markande (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Upendra Singh Yadav (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 25,00,000

Sanvir Singh (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Anmolpreet Singh (Indian Batter) Rs 20,00,000

Samarth Vyas (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Nitish Kumar Reddy (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Kartik Tyagi, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Funds Spent: Rs 7,00,00,000, Funds Available: Rs 1,75,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas 8), Buys: 7, Retained: 18

Will Jacks (Overseas Batter) Rs 3,20,00,000

Reece Topley (Overseas Bowler) Rs 1,90,00,000

Rajan Kumar (Indian Bowler) Rs 70,00,000

Avinash Singh (Indian Bowler) Rs 60,00,000

Sonu Yadav (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Himanshu Sharma (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Manoj Bhandage (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Akash Deep, Anuj Rawat, David Willey, Dinesh Karthik, Faf Du Plessis, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahamad, Siddharth Kaul, Suyash Prabhudessai, Virat Kohli, Wanindu Hasaranga.

Rajasthan Royals:

Funds Spent: Rs 9,85,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 3,35,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas 8); Buys: 9, Retained: 16

Jason Holder (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 5,75,00,000

Adam Zampa (Overseas Bowler) Rs 1,50,00,000

Joe Root (Overseas Batter) Rs 1,00,00,000

Donovan Ferreira (Overseas Wicket-Keeper) Rs 50,00,000

KM Asif (Indian Bowler) Rs 30,00,000

Abdul PA (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Akash Vashisht (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Kunal Rathore (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 20,00,000

Murugan Ashwin (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Jos Buttler, K.C Cariappa, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Obed Mccoy, Prasidh Krishna, R. Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Punjab Kings:

Funds Spent: Rs 20,00,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 12,20,00,000

Total Players: 22 (Overseas 7); Buys: 6, Retained: 16

Sam Curran (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 18,50,00,000

Sikandar Raza (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 50,00,000

Harpreet Bhatia (Indian Batter) Rs 40,00,000

Shivam Singh (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Vidwath Kaverappa (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Mohit Rathee (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Shikhar Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Raj Angad Bawa, Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma, Baltej Singh Dhanda, Atharva Taide, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Nathan Ellis, Bhanuka Rajapakse

Mumbai Indians:

Funds Spent: Rs 20,50,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 5,00,000

Total Players: 24 (Overseas 8); Buys: 8, Retained: 16

Cameron Green (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 17,50,00,000

Jhye Richardson (Overseas Bowler) Rs 1,50,00,000

Piyush Chawla (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Nehal Wadhera (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Raghav Goyal (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Vishnu Vinod (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 20,00,000

Duan Jansen (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Shams Mulani (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Rohit Sharma, Arjun Tendulkar, Dewald Brevis, Hrithik Shokeen, Ishan Kishan, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Mohd. Arshad Khan, N. Tilak Varma, Ramandeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs

Lucknow Super Giants:

Funds Spent: Rs 19,80,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 3,55,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas 8); Buys: 10, Retained: 15

Nicholas Pooran (Overseas Wicket-Keeper) Rs 16,00,00,000

Daniel Sams (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 75,00,000

Amit Mishra (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Romario Shepherd (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 50,00,000

Naveen Ul Haq (Overseas Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Jaydev Unadkat (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Yash Thakur (Indian Bowler) Rs 45,00,000

Swapnil Singh (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Yudhvir Charak (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Prerak Mankad (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: KL Rahul, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, K Gowtham, Karan Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers, Manan Vohra, Marcus Stoinis, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Quinton De Kock, Ravi Bishnoi

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Funds Spent: Rs 5,40,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 1,65,00,000

Total Players: 22 (Overseas 8); Buys 8, Retained: 14

Shakib Al Hasan (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 1,50,00,000

David Wiese (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 1,00,00,000

N Jagadeesan (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 90,00,000

Vaibhav Arora (Indian Bowler) Rs 60,00,000

Mandeep Singh (Indian Batter) Rs 50,00,000

Litton Das (Overseas Wicket-Keeper) Rs 50,00,000

Kulwant Khejroliya (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Suyash Sharma (Indian Bowler) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer

Gujarat Titans

Funds Spent: Rs 14,80,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 4,45,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas 8); Buys: 7, Retained: 18

Shivam Mavi (Indian Bowler) Rs 6,00,00,000

Joshua Little (Overseas Bowler) Rs 4,40,00,000

Kane Williamson (Overseas Batter) Rs 2,00,00,000

KS Bharat (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 1,20,00,000

Mohit Sharma (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Odean Smith (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 50,00,000

Urvil Patel (Indian Wicket-Keeper) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Sadarangani, Alzarri Joseph, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, David Miller, Jayant Yadav, Matthew Wade, Mohammad Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, R Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan*, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Yash Dayal.

Delhi Capitals:

Funds Spent: Rs 15,00,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 4,45,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas: 8); Buys: 5, Retained: 20

Mukesh Kumar (Indian Bowler) Rs 5,50,00,000

Rilee Rossouw (Overseas Batter) Rs 4,60,00,000

Manish Pandey (Indian Batter) Rs 2,40,00,000

Phil Salt (Overseas Wicket-Keeper) Rs 2,00,00,000

Ishant Sharma (Indian Bowler) Rs 50,00,000

Retained Players: Aman Khan, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Chetan Sakariya, David Warner, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lalit Yadav, Lungisani Ngidi, Mitchell Marsh, Mustafizur Rahman, Pravin Dubey, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rishabh Pant, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Vicky Ostwal, Yash Dhull.

Chennai Super Kings:

Funds Spent: Rs 18,95,00,000; Funds Available: Rs 1,50,00,000

Total Players: 25 (Overseas: 8); Buys: 7, Retained: 18

Ben Stokes (Overseas All-Rounder) Rs 16,25,00,000

Kyle Jamieson (Overseas Bowler) Rs 1,00,00,000

Nishant Sindhu (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 60,00,000

Ajinkya Rahane (Indian Batter) Rs 50,00,000

Bhagath Varma (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Ajay Mandal (Indian All-Rounder) Rs 20,00,000

Shaik Rasheed (Indian Batter) Rs 20,00,000

Retained Players: MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Tushar Deshpande.

Total Money Spent by 10 franchises: Rs 1,67,00,00,000

Total players sold: 80 (Overseas 29)

Most expensive player: Sam Curran (England, Punjab Kings) Rs 18.5 crore

Most expensive Indian player: Mayank Agarwal (Sunrisers Hyderabad) Rs 8.25 crore

Most expensive uncapped Indian player: Shivam Mavi (Gujarat Titans) Rs 6 crore.

The mini-IPL auction lives up to the expectations as several big guns like Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Cameron Green and Nicholas Pooran get big money as the franchised didn’t shy to break the bank. Sam Curran scripted history and became the most expensive player in IPL auction history as Punjab re-signed him for a record-breaking Rs 18.5 crore. Mumbai Indians also found their ideal replacement for Kieron Pollard in Cameron Green but they had to break the bank for him and signed him for a whopping INR 17.5 crore. Chennai Super Kings roped in England’s maestro Ben Stokes who can be their potential future captain. The southpaw once again hit the pay dirt and went for 16.25 crore. Surprisingly, Nicholas Pooran got big attraction from the franchises and eventually, Lucknow Super Giants signed him for INR 16 crore.

Amongst the young players, England’s Harry Brook shocked everyone as Sunrisers Hyderabad acquired him for a massive INR 13.25 crore.

Mayank Agarwal turned out to be the most expensive Indian player in the mini-auction as Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for 8.25 crore. While Shivam Mavi became the most expensive uncapped player as defending champions Gujarat Giants signed him for INR 6 Crore.

Some veteran starts like Kane Williamson (INR 2 Crore – GT), Piyush Chawla (INR 50 Lakh – MI), Amit Mishra (INR 50 Lakh – LSG) and Ishant Sharma (INR 50 Lakh – DC) also find teams in the mini-auction.

England’s Test specialist Joe Root also found a buyer in the final minutes as Rajasthan Royal signed him for INR 1 Crore. While Shakib Al Hasan was the last player to get sold in the auction as KKR signed him back for INR 1.5 crore

Shakib Al Hasan joins Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 1.5 crore. He is the last player to get sold in IPL 2023 Auction.

Joe Root returns to the auction and Rajasthan Royals make the opening and closing bid for him. He goes for INR 1 Crore.

Afghanistan’s Naveen ul Haq joins LSG for INR 50 Lakh

Abdul PA joins Rajasthan Royals for INR 20 Lakh in an accelerated Auction.

Yudhveer Charak joins LSG for INR 20 Lakh, Raghav Goyal Joins Mumbai Indians for INR 20 Lakh

Indian batter Mandeep Singh joins Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 50 Lakh

The uncapped trio of Anmolpreet Singh, KM Asif and Murugan Aswin have been sold. Anmolpreet was picked up by SRH while Asif and Aswin will play for RR.