New price records were set in the IPL 2023 mini auctions that took place on Friday. Twenty-four-year-old England all-rounder Sam Curran became the costliest buy in the history of the premier league after he was bagged by Punjab Kings for a whopping amount of ₹18.5 crore.
Aussie prodigy Cameron Green was signed up by Mumbai Indians for ₹17.5 crore after a frenzied round of bidding — another deal that surpassed previous records. England’s skipper Ben Stokes was yet another sought-after player, picked up by Chennai Super Kings for ₹16.25 crore — in the process tying the record with South Africa’s Chris Morris for the third-most expensive signing in IPL.
A total of 405 players — 273 from India and 132 overseas — went under the hammer at the auctions held in Kochi. The 10 IPL teams had a cumulative auction purse of ₹206.5 crore to complete their squads for the 2023 edition. This was the second auction that took place to determine teams for IPL 2023.
Elated at the buys
On buying Sam Curran for ₹18.5 crore, the highest price ever in IPL’s history, Punjab Kings’ co-owner Ness Wadia said, “We would have gone higher than our threshold. Sam was with us earlier. It was a mistake to let him go and we wanted him back. You have to get the right balance. Happy for him that he got the money. These interim auctions are a catch-22, and fortunately, we needed two players and now we are good.”
On CSK buying Ben Stokes for ₹16.25 crore, former Indian captain Anil Kumble said, “Ben Stokes will bring a fresh boost of energy into the CSK camp with the way he goes for training. A wonderful combination of Dhoni and Stokes. They (CSK) have enough players to soak in the pressure.”