The IPL Mini Auction ( IPL Mini Auction 2023 ) started in Kochi on Friday, 23 December and then records were broken. There were big bids for all-rounders among the franchises and 3 players – Sam Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes have broken the record of being the most expensive players in IPL history. We tell you who were the 5 most expensive players of IPL 2023 Mini Auction and how the teams bid for them one after the other. Also we will tell his performance in T20 so far.
1. Sam Curran
England all-rounder Sam Curran has broken all records in the IPL auction so far. Punjab Kings have signed Sam Curran for Rs 18.50 crore leaving behind Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. In this way, the Punjab team that bought Sam Curran for the first time in IPL with a 7.2-crore bid in 2019, has brought him back.
Sam Curran’s base price was only Rs 2 crores but as everyone expected he got bids fast. First there was competition between Mumbai and Bengaluru but then Rajasthan made an entry. The bidding went on and the teams joined. Then there was a contest between Chennai and Punjab. Further, Lucknow and Mumbai tried to hijack the deal but Punjab did not back down and finally signed Sam Curran for Rs 18.50 crore.
2. Cameron Green
After failing to buy Sam Curran, Mumbai bought Cameron Green for Rs 17.50 crore. With this, Australian all-rounder Cameron became the second most expensive player in the history of IPL auction. In the last six months, Cameroon’s name has increased rapidly in T20 games. He was not initially a part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad but was included at the last minute after Josh Inglis was injured.
Green came into the limelight after an impressive T20I series in India, where he scored 118 runs including two half-centuries in the top order at a strike rate of 214.54.
Today the auction started for him with a base price of Rs 2 crore. There was rapid bidding between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals and within minutes the bidding crossed Rs 15.5 crore. In the end, Mumbai Indians got him in their court for Rs 17.50 crore.
3. Ben Stokes
England all-rounder and now Test captain Ben Stokes was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 16.25 crore, which is his biggest signing. Ben Stokes has also become the third most expensive player in IPL history. After spending some time together at Rising Pune Super Giant, Stokes will once again line-up with Dhoni in the IPL.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals also made bids for Stokes, but it soon became clear that he could not go much further due to limited budgets. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings, who came into the auction with a budget of Rs 20.45 crore, spent almost 80% of their budget on Stokes alone.
4. Nicholas Pooran
Nicholas Pooran was signed by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 16 crore, making him the costliest wicket-keeper batsman in IPL auction history. Along with Yuvraj Singh, he has become the joint fifth most expensive player in IPL history.
Chennai Super Kings started the bidding at Pooran’s base price of Rs 2 crore. Rajasthan gave a fight to Chennai and further Delhi Capital, Lucknow Super Giants also joined the race to buy Puran. KL. Rahul-led Team Lucknow finally signed him as the Capitals pulled themselves out of the race for a sum of Rs 16 crore.
5. Harry Brook
Stokes and Curran’s England teammate Harry Brook also made a splash when Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals’ aggressive bid to add them to their squad for Rs 13.25 crore.
The 23-year-old Brooke is all set to play in his first IPL season after a stellar year in international cricket. Only two months earlier in Pakistan, Brook had won the Player of the Series award after scoring 328 runs at a strike rate of 163.01. England won this series 4-3.
