The Indian Premier League is around the corner. The IPL 2023 mini-auction has been a great success for many players. The top bid in the auction is once again breaking the previous record. The earlier record was in IPL 2021 for the most expensive player. It was for Chriss Morris. He is a player from South Africa. The Rajasthan Royals did bid for him and won with INR 16.25 crore.
Now this time the highest bid is INR 18.50 crore. In fact, the second-highest bid this year is also more than last year’s top bid.
The most surprising thing about this year’s IPL mini-auction is the bids by the teams Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super King had just INR 20.45 crore within their bidding wallet. And, INR 20.55 crores in the purse of Mumbai Indians in the auction of IPL 2023. Still, they bid and got the players with the second and third-highest bids.
Let us get into details about the three top Bids
Teams with the most expensive players
The teams in IPL 2023 who did the maximum bids are
- Punjab Kings
- Mumbai Indians
- And Chennai Super Kings respectively.
The auction was extremely interesting due to such a close bidding war. Every franchise pushed itself to the edge. However, the above three teams did show the maximum guts. Let us continue with the specific players.
Sam Curran
Sam Curran is a player from England. He is an impeccable all-rounder. Even before the mini-auction of the IPL 2023, there were rumors about Punjab Kings wanting him on their team. He is one of the best choices as an all-rounder for all the franchises. This is the reason the bidding war for him did reach the price of Rs. 18.50 crores.
He was the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup. His bowling is quite effective during the death overs. In fact that helped the England team to win the title.
This player was with the Punjab Kings itself for a few of the earlier seasons. Therefore, he does have experience in the Indian Premier League.
Cameron Green
Here is another player with a final bidding price of Rs. 17.50 crores. Mumbai Indians were going for Sam Curran first. Though, Punjab Kings did not let him go. And, MI did need the fast bowler to accompany Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah. Therefore, they went for Cameron Green. He is a 23 years old Australian all-rounder. Ipl 2023 is his first IPL. In fact, his international cricket experience is not as high as other players. Still, his exceptional performance for Australia is the factor due to which every franchise bid for him. And, Mumbai Indians believe that this player will definitely improve exceptionally.
Ben Stokes
Chennai Super Kings used the tricks to make everyone believe that they are going for another player. They bid for Curran and even Jason Holder too. But in reality, they want England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes. The player has the ability to bat as a finisher. Though, MS dhoni is at the last of his IPL. The team needs someone to take his place. And, Ben Stokes can be the right choice too. Though it is not final whether he will be captain or not. But, one thing is for sure Ben Stokes will make the CSK strong in IPL 2023.
There was also Rituraj Gaikwad in the options. But, Ben Stokes has leadership skills too. This is the reason CSK bid for him. And, finally got him for Rs. 16.25 crores. This is the third most expensive player of the IPL 2023 mini-auction.
Conclusion
So, to cap it all we can see that the IPL 2023 mini-auction was extremely entertaining. If you did not watch it, above are some of the crisps from it. The other franchises did buy the players they wanted to. For instance, Nicholas Pooran was sold for Rs. 16 Crores. Lucknow Giants did go for him till the end. Gautam Gambhir did not want him to go. Royal Challengers Bangalore did not have much in their purse. Still, they bid for many of the top players. But, they already have all the players they want in their team. And, at last, they bought Reece Topley, for Rs. 1.90 crores.
So, one thing is sure, IPL 2023 will be extremely fun to watch. So, keep waiting for 3 more months. Till then enjoy more of such articles.
