Chennai, December 26
The money spent at the IPL 2023 mini auctions was 15 per cent higher than the amount spent during the 2021 mini auction. While the 2023 auction held in Kochi on December 23 saw ten teams cumulatively spend ₹167 crore, in the 2021 auction eight teams spent ₹145.3 crore.
At the same time, money spent this season was 70 per cent less than what was spent at the 2022 main auction. Last year, the amount spent was a whopping ₹551.7 crore, an all-time high.
The rationale
“Nothing determines the exact rationale between the amount of money spent during auctions,” says sports commentator and analyst Sumanth C Raman. “However, the 2023 season saw a mini-auction, in contrast to 2022, when the main auction was held. At that time, franchises had to rebuild their teams from scratch and could retain a limited number of players,” he says.
Costliest player
At the same time, money spent on the most expensive player was 21 per cent higher in 2023, as compared with in 2022. The most expensive player of the upcoming season is 24-year-old England all-rounder Sam Curran, who was bagged by Punjab Kings for a massive ₹18.5 crore. In the previous season, this title was bagged by Ishan Kishan, when Mumbai Indians bought him for ₹15.25 Crore. PBKS’ bid on Curran’s is the most expensive one by a team to acquire a single player in the history of IPL.
The other expensive players of the new season are Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings – ₹16.25 crore), Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants – ₹16 crore), Cameron Green (Mumbai Indians - ₹17.5 crore) and Harry Brook (Sunrisers Hyderabad – ₹13.25 crore). None of them are Indian players. The most expensive Indian player of the season is batsman Mayank Agarwal, part of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who was auctioned for ₹8.25 crore.
Overseas players
The data also says that the proportion of overseas players purchased during the auctions has been coming down since 2020. While 47 per cent of the total number of players purchased at 2020 auctions were overseas players, their proportion came down to 39 per cent in 2021, and to 33 per cent in 2022. In the upcoming season, however, it is slightly up by 36 per cent.