Less than 24 hours remain until the Indian T20 League 2023 mini-auction, and the fans can’t wait for the one-day event in Kochi. The 16th edition of the tournament, which is anticipated to begin in the final week of March, will require the 10 teams to spend crores to fill out their rosters.
Even though it’s only a mini-auction, a few teams will be extremely busy since Retention Day saw many players released. Three foreign all-rounders — Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, and Sam Curran — are the centre of attention heading into the auction. While Green will make his first appearance in the auction, both Stokes and Curran have established reputations in the T20 league.
The young man gained notoriety thanks to his blitz against India a few months ago and is anticipated to receive a sizable paycheck as a result. Jio Cinema held a mock auction the day before the actual auction, and the results were shocking.
The star-studded expert panel for Viacom18, which owns the digital rights to the Indian T20 League, includes people like Eoin Morgan, Chris Gayle, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Anil Kumble, RP Singh, Murali Karthik, and Scott Styris.
Green was purchased by Styris, who represented Hyderabad in the mock auction, for a record price of Rs 20 crore. It is anticipated that the all-rounder will surpass the 10-crore mark, but it is still unclear whether he will make history. Chris Morris holds the record for being the most expensive player, joining Rajasthan for Rs 16.25 crore in the 2021 auction.
Surprisingly, none of the experts placed a bid during the mock auction for Kane Williamson. Williamson, who led Hyderabad as its captain the previous year, was let go by the team. He will probably get a bid in the actual auction. Ben Stokes was purchased for Rs 19 crore, while Sam Curran brought in Rs 19.50 crore in the mock auction. Other top choices included Nicholas Pooran (8.5 crores) and Odean Smith (8.5 crores).
Here is how Twitter reacted to the Indian T20 League mock-auction
Punjab kings known for buying blunders… Yes Ben stokes is a some player but this is just hype..
— Rajdeep Lakhani (@RajdeepLakhani) December 22, 2022
C green ka itna paisa lag gya ??
— Fantasy Player (@atifblaster) December 22, 2022
Auction order and in-session dynamics may end up proving otherwise, but at the face of it, it’s unlikely that Green and Stokes will attract such high bids.
Curran, yes. A few teams have super-sized purses with a specific dent in the all-rounder’s department.
— Saumya Mehta (@saumyameh) December 22, 2022
Uncle waiting @CricCrazyJohns ? pic.twitter.com/3GpFNDCOtx
— HariPantDC (@KALAIHARI23) December 22, 2022
RCB in this year's auction pic.twitter.com/cF5uddRt6y
— Masala Dose – ????? ???? (@DosaSpeaks) December 22, 2022
What Is The Need Of This Drama Of Mock Auction? I Mean Is There Any Explanation? Beyond Explanation Doing Mock Auctions
— ?????? ???? ?? (@iSoumikSaheb) December 22, 2022
Sikandar Raza Can be a Surprise? what do you think @CricCrazyJohns
— Vikas Bhansali (@vikasbhansali88) December 22, 2022
Fraud green 20cr ?
— ³ ? (@legspiner3) December 22, 2022
8.5cr for Odean Smith ???
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) December 22, 2022
