The IPL 2023 auction was an exciting day for the fans and the franchises as the teams look to rebuild their squads on Friday in Kochi.
Punjab Kings shattered all IPL records by making Sam Curran the most expensive IPL player in the history of the tournament, splashing 18.5 crore on the 24-year-old England all-rounder.
All the teams came into the auction to fill some holes from their squad in the last season. Whether it was in the batting or bowling departments, backup wicket-keepers and all-rounders, the franchises were certain in what they wanted to strengthen their squads and made their moves accordingly.
Here are 3 buys which we think were the smartest ones in the IPL 2023 auction:
Ben Stokes – Chennai Super Kings
In Ben Stokes, CSK not only sees a world-class, proper clutch, big-game all-rounder, but perhaps also a reliable, experienced captain to take over from MS Dhoni after IPL 2023. That’s why the price of INR 16 crore doesn’t at all seem inflated or exaggerated, but totally earned and deserved by Ben Stokes.
It has been seen with his time at Rajasthan Royals that Stokes can be utilized fully as a batsman in the opening position, and this would allow Stokes to play the pacers – which he is good at – and push Devon Conway to number 3 or 4 where he can counter the spinners. Dhoni is unlikely to ask Stokes to bowl more than 2-3 overs a game.
Jason Holder – Rajasthan Royals
Throughout the IPL 2022, RR struggled with their 4th overseas player and tried a number of them; their balance of the XI never seemed perfect – they were either a batsman short or a bowler short. And yet they made it to the final.
Having released Daryl Mitchell, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, James Neesham, Corbin Bosch, RR made the best move they could with their budget to get a quality and experienced all-rounder in Jason Holder for 5.75 crore, a perfect number 7.
Mayank Agarwal – Sunrisers Hyderabad
It seems like SRH killed two birds with one stone when they acquired Mayank Agarwal for 8.25 crore in the IPL 2023 auction: an aggressive opener and a new captain after Williamson was released leaving both the holes, though Williamson was anything but an aggressive batsman last season.
Agarwal may have had a tough time leading PBKS last season and didn’t do well with the bat too. But once given a properly balanced team, as SRH have created, and faith of the owners in him as their captain, Agarwal could blossom and captaincy might even bring the best out of him this time.
