IPL Auction 2023 Highlights: Sam Curran banks 18.5 crore, Rajasthan buy Joe Root as all-rounders dominate auction

After parting ways with Evin Lewis and Manish Pandey, Lucknow Super Giants are lacking batting depth, especially in the middle-order department. In order to enhance their purse (INR 23.35 crore), KL Rahul-led LSG even released West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder ahead of the mini-auction. Thus, Cameron Green, Ben Stokes, and Sam Curran are Lucknow's possible targets at the IPL 2023 auction. Lucknow Super Giants can sign 4 overseas players and they have 10 slots to fill in their squad for IPL 2023.

Lucknow Super Giants' squad before IPL 2023 auction: KL Rahul (captain, wk), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, K Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.

Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) made it to the playoffs under the leadership of veteran batter Faf du Plessis last season. Royal Challengers Bangalore opted to retain their core as Du Plessis and Co. only released 5 players before the mini-auction. RCB also transfered Jason Behrendorff to Mumbai Indians. The Bangalore-based franchise has the second-lowest purse (INR 8.75 crore) and Royal Challengers can sign only 2 overseas out of the seven remaining slots in their squad.

RCB's current squad for IPL 2023: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Finn Allen, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep.

Delhi Capitals will start as favourites to sign Australian all-rounder Cameron Green at the IPL 2023 auction. World Cup winner Mitchell Marsh will not feature in the IPL 2023 and DC are tasked to replace the star Australian all-rounder at the mini-auction. Delhi Capitals have a purse of INR 19.45 crore for the mini-auction. DC can fill five slots and only 2 overseas stars can join the Rishabh Pant-led side for the next season.

DC's squad for IPL 2023 before auction:

Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal.

Punjab Kings are set to enter the mini-auction with the second-largest purse (INR 32.2 crore) and the Shikhar Dhawan-led side is expected to remain in the hunt for several high-profile names. Punjab Kings released their former captain Mayank Agarwal ahead of the auction. PBKS can buy three overseas players and they have nine spots left in their squad for IPL 2023.

Punjab Kings' squad before IPL 2023 auction:

Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar.

Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) drafted Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in their star-studded squad for IPL 2023. The Shreyas Iyer-led side has the smallest purse at the mini-auction. The Kolkata-based franchise is hoping to fill 11 lots with a tight budget of INR 7.05 crore. Kolkata can sign 3 overseas players for IPL 2023.

KKR's squad before mini-auction:

Shreyas Iyer (capt.), Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Nitish Rana, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.

Sunrisers Hyderabad parted ways with captain Kane Williamson after a disastrous season in the IPL 2022. The 2016 champions have retained the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, Washington Sundar, Umran Malik, and Abdul Samad prior to the mini-auction. The Orange Army will have a new captain in the IPL 2023. The Hyderabad-based franchise has INR 42.25 crore left in their purse. SRH can make 4 overseas signings and Hyderabad have 13 slots left to fill for IPL 2023.  

SRH's current squad for IPL 2023: 

Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik. 

Sam Curran is expected to break auction records in Kochi. With only two overseas slots left to fill, MS Dhoni's CSK are likely to launch an all-out attack on IPL franchisees for Curran. Four-time champions CSK have INR 20.45 crore left in their purse for the mini-auction. Besides Curran, CSK can also target Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Adam Zampa, Adam Milne, Manish Pandey, and Sikandar Raza at the Kochi auction.

CSK's IPL squad for 2023 season: 

MS Dhoni (captain and wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana. 

Mumbai Indians have INR 20.55 crore left in their purse for the mini-auction. Mumbai Indians are heading to IPL 2023 auction to fill the remaining 9 slots in their squad. MI can sign 3 overseas players for IPL 2023. Besides replacing Pollard in their squad, Mumbai can also rope in a high-profile spinner at the Kochi auction.

Mumbai Indians' squad:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal.

Record-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) parted ways with as many as 13 players before the mini-auction. The Rohit Sharma-led side will miss the services of veteran all-rounder Kieron Pollard. In order to fill the vacant all-rounder slot, Mumbai Paltan can target the likes of Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, and Sam Curran at the mini-auction in Kochi.

Free agents Ben Stokes and Sam Curran are expected to spark a massive bidding war at the IPL 2023 auction. Interestingly, all players representing Australia and England are available for the entire season of the cash-rich league. Players from the West Indies and New Zealand will also play the entire season of the IPL. Due to their respective international commitments, players from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are expected to miss a portion of the IPL next year.

Veteran West Indies all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard will not feature in the 2023 edition of the cash-rich league. The former CSK and MI superstars announced their respective retirements from IPL cricket before the mini-auction. England's Chris Woakes has opted to not feature in the mini-auction to prepare for the Ashes through county cricket. Australia's star players Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Steve Smith have also decided to skip the 2023 edition of the world's richest league. Earlier, Sam Billings also revealed that has decided to withdraw from the IPL 2023.

Australia's Ben McDermott has pulled out of IPL 2023 auction. The Hobart Hurricanes star is currently plying his trade in the Big Bash League (BBL). Earlier, Chris Woakes, Alex Hales, and Evin Lewis also pulled out of IPL 2023.

In the 2021 edition of the IPL auction, former South African all-rounder Chris Morris emerged as the most expensive player. The former Rajasthan Royals (RR) star was roped in by the 2008 champions for a whopping sum of INR 16.25 crore. England all-rounder Sam Curran, who was named the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, is heading to the IPL 2023 mini-auction with a base price of INR 2 crore. Can Curran break auction records in Kochi?

The 2023 edition of the IPL auction for the forthcoming season in the cash-rich league is taking place in Kochi on Friday from 2.30 PM IST. The player pool for the IPL mini-auction is reduced to 405 and a total of 87 slots will get filled ahead of the new season. Thirty overseas players are up for grabs in the Kochi auction.

An intense bidding is expected in Kochi as all 10 teams of the cash-rich league are set to furnish their finals squads for the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2023. Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Kane Williamson, and Mayank Agarwal are up for grabs in the IPL mini-auction.