England all-rounder Sam Curran has become the costliest player sold in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The 24-year-old Curran was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore in the mini-auction held in Kochi on Friday.
Nicholas Pooran is the most expensive wicketkeeper of all time. He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for 16 crores. The mini-auction started at 2.30 pm on Friday and went on till 8.30 pm i.e. for 6 hours.
The teams had a total purse of Rs 206.5 crore and a maximum of 87 players could be bought. However, all 10 teams together spent only Rs 167 crore and bought 80 players. All-rounders were in high demand. Rs 103.95 crore was spent on them. This is 62.25% of the amount spent in the auction.
The names of 405 players were in the auction. However, only 153 players bid. 73 remained unsold and 80 players found buyers. These include 29 foreign and 51 Indian players.
Adam zampa, and Mujeeb-ur Rahman not found any buyer
Adam Zampa of Australia, Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa, Mujeeb-ur Rahman of Afghanistan and Akil Hussain of the West Indies did not find any buyer. Apart from these, Chris Jordan of England and Adam Milne of New Zealand were also not sold.
Bangladesh’s Liton Das, Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis, and England’s Tom Banton also remained unsold in the wicketkeeper.
England’s Joe Root and South Africa’s explosive batsman Riley Russo did not find any buyers in the auction. Root’s base price was Rs 1 crore and Russo’s base price was Rs 2 crore. Root was in the auction for the first time.
Russo was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the 2014 and 2015 IPL. No one bought Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. He was in the Hyderabad team in 2021. Bangladesh’s right-handed batsman Liton Das also went unsold.
Most expensive Sam Curran broke the record of Chris Morris
Sam Curran has become the costliest player in IPL auction history. Punjab bought him for Rs 18.50 crore. The previous record of the most expensive player was in the name of Chris Morris of South Africa. He got Rs 16.25 crore. Cameron Green (Rs 17.50 crore) also left behind Morris’ record.
Pooran became the most valuable wicketkeeper in IPL history
Another record was created in IPL auction history. Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies is the costliest seller so far as a wicketkeeper. He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for 16 crores. Earlier, the highest-paid wicket-keeper was Mumbai’s Ishan Kishan (15.25 crores).
Uncapped Vivrant and Irish Little surprised everyone
In the auction of uncapped players, the bid on Vivrant Sharma of Jammu and Kashmir surprised everyone. Vivrant, capable of batting with left spin bowling, was bought by Sunrisers for Rs 2.6 crore. Uncapped fast bowler Shivam Mavi was also bought by Titans for Rs 6 crore.
Apart from him, Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar was bought by Delhi for 5.50 crores. Left-handed pacer Josh Little, who took a hat-trick against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, also got a big bid. He was bought by Gujarat Titans for 4.40 crores. He was in the IPL auction for the first time.
Record bid on fast bowling all-rounders
As expected, fast bowling all-rounders were in high demand in the mini-auction. All the all-rounders collected Rs 103.95 crore in 6 hours. Punjab bought the player of the tournament Sam Karan of the last T20 World Cup for the highest amount of Rs 18.50 crore.
Australia’s Cameron Green was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 17.50 crore. England Test team captain Ben Stokes got Rs 16.25 crore. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings. Jason Holder was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.75 crore.
English-Australian players to play a full season
Top English and Australian players like Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, and Sam Curran will be available for the entire IPL 2023 season.
In a letter sent to the IPL teams, the BCCI said that the cricket boards of England and Australia have confirmed the availability of their players for the entire IPL season.
Five Indian bowlers may be banned
BCCI has said that 5 Indian bowlers included in the auction may be banned for their suspicious actions. Which includes spinner Tanush of Mumbai, Rohan of Kerala, Apoorva Wankhede of Vidarbha, Chirag Gandhi of Gujarat, and Ramakrishnan Ghosh of Maharashtra.