Punjab Kings (PBKS)
To end up with the second-heaviest purse, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) gave away their captain, Mayank Agarwal, along with a couple of other major acquisitions in the shape of Odean Smith and Ishan Porel.
The northernmost franchise entered the Indian Premier League 2023 mini-auction with a budget of 32.25 crore. They ended up spending more than half of it on Sam Curran, who became the most expensive player in the annals of the tournament.
Nevertheless, one component of their auction approach that is up for debate is what they did with the money that was left over. The side players were quiet at the table since there was still a reasonably comfortable sum remaining in their kitty.
They hired Sikandar Raza (for a fee of 50 lakh), Harpreet Bhatia (for a fee of 40 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (for a fee of 20 lakh), Mohit Rathee (for a fee of 20 lakh), and Shivam Singh (for a fee of 20 lakh). Aside from the English all-rounder, no player reached the one crore threshold in terms of their earnings.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
The two-time defending champs came into the auction with a plan that was as strange as they come. During the trade window, they were able to acquire the services of Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Lockie Ferguson. On the other hand, they were able to let go of several members of their squad that competed in the previous season and finished in seventh place. They entered the competition with a meagre purse of 7 crore and plenty of spots to fill.
It is easy to see why KKR remained silent for the most of the auction and why they did not speak out until the later part of the process. At the auction, they made a total of eight purchases, and the basic price was paid for six of those purchases. The confirmation of the acquisitions of Narayan Jagadeesan and Vaibhav Arora by the Knight Riders was met with minimal opposition from the opposing team. In the latter moments of the auctions, during the second round of the expedited stage, they secured the services of the Bangladeshi combo consisting of Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan.
Because of several inexpensive additions, the team has expanded its roster to a total of 22 members. However, the depth of their roster as well as the quality of their reserve players is a clear weakness for the team. To save his team from missing the playoffs for a second season in a row, the team’s newly hired coach, Chandrakant Pandit, will have to make do with the resources at his disposal.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The three-time IPL finalists emphasised their scouting efforts and relied on their intuition to recruit a large number of local players with promising potential. They had a little pocketbook to act on going into the auction since they had not produced too many releases before the event.
During the mini-auction for the IPL 2023, the team captained by Faf du Plessis acquired foreign talents such as Reece Topley and Will Jacks to add to their roster. After the completion of the retention process, the club did not have any major holes that needed to be filled; nonetheless, one cannot help but get the impression that the purchases they have made had little to no influence.
In the past, Royal Challengers Bangalore had made the same mistake with their acquisition of players from outside. When it comes to their domestic acquisitions, they never know if they will be successful or unsuccessful. This is especially true when one considers that the bulk of the players that were let go were also domestic players who were given very little playing time.