IPL 2023 – Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Cameron Green to be in second set at IPL 2023 auction

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Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Cameron Green, all of whom could potentially end up as the costliest buys in the 2023 IPL auction, have been listed in the second set to come up for bidding on December 23. The auction will start at 2.30 pm. IST in Kochi with a set of batsmen that includes Indian opener Mayank Agarwal and England duo of Joe Root and Harry Brook.
The final auction pool has been reduced from the originally registered 991 players to 405, with a maximum of 87 slots available to be filled by the 10 franchises. Of these, 30 will be foreign players.

On Tuesday, the IPL released the final auction pool stating that 36 new names were added based on the request of the franchises. A total of 273 Indian players, and 132 overseas players – including four from Associate nations – are part of the final auction pool. There are 119 capped players with 286 uncapped players.

As per the rules, the auction will begin with the bidding of the capped players, with the IPL creating the order by breaking the list into different sets based on specialization. In an e-mail to franchises on Tuesday, the IPL listed the order: batsman, all-rounder, wicketkeeper-batsman, fast bowler and spinner. The same sequence will remain for uncapped players.

Most of the players that franchises believe can earn massive pay checks and attract strong interest from multiple teams are grouped into the first three sets. The first set of batsmen includes New Zealand captain Kane Williamson along with Agarwal and Brooks.

Williamson was the first player retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022 and was paid Rs 14 crore apart from being appointed as the captain. But a poor season with the bat coupled with an eighth-place finish forced Sunrisers to make changes to their squad which included releasing Williamson. The New Zealand batsman, who has listed his base price at Rs 2 crore, could still generate interest on the basis of his leadership as well as ability to play impressive innings in high-pressure situations.
Agarwal’s story was also similar. He was also the first player retained by the Punjab Kings and made the captain. But the captaincy took a toll on Agarwal’s batting as the Kings finished in the middle of the table. With more than one franchise in the hunt for the Indian opener, Agarwal, who has listed his base price at INR 1 crore, will be optimistic about bagging a good bid.
Another assured player will be Brooke, who has entered the IPL auction for the first time, with a base price of INR 1.5 crore. A power-hitter, Brook proved he can handle subcontinent conditions when he won the Player-of-the-Series award for the seven-match T20I series in Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup. Most recently, he made an impression in the first two Tests in Pakistan, where he scored two centuries, the latter helping him to the Player of the Match award in the Multan Test.

No one was happier for Brook than his skipper Stokes, who believes his 23-year-old teammate has the potential to dominate across all three formats. Stokes himself made a comeback in the IPL auction after missing out on the tournament last year, forcing Rajasthan Royals to release him.

But Stokes, who has listed his base price at Rs 2 crore, remains a strong contender to win the most expensive player award as he has proved to be a serial match-winner and leader.

Another newcomer and all-rounder who is being eyed by the franchise is Green. The Aussie turned an instant attraction for IPL teams recently during the limited overs series in India. Green can float down the order, plays spin well and can bowl good medium pace. Green has also kept his base price at Rs 2 crore.

West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran, who is part of the wicket-keeper batsman set and carries a base price of Rs 2 crore, will also be eager to prove himself. Pooran, who stepped down as West Indies’ white-ball captain following a disappointing exit from the T20 World Cup that forced the CWI to conduct a review, was one of their most consistent batsmen last season by the Sunrisers. Despite being released.

But a strong performance in the recently held Abu Dhabi T10 – 345 runs at 49.28 – showed that Pooran is an impressive player who brings value to any team.

At the end of the player retention and release deadline – November 15, Sunrisers had the biggest purse for the auction (Rs 42.25 crore), followed by Kings (Rs 32.20 crore), Lucknow Super Giant (Rs 23.35 crore) , Mumbai was the location. Indians (Rs 20.55 Cr), Chennai Super Kings (Rs 20.45 Cr), Delhi Capitals (Rs 19.45 Cr), Gujarat Titans (Rs 19.25 Cr), Rajasthan Royals (Rs 13.2 Cr), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 8.75 Cr) and Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 7.05 Cr).



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