As many as six IPL franchises have dedicated England all-rounders Ben Stokes and Sam Curran as their “most wanted” targets at the IPL 2023 auction.
The IPL 2023 mini-auction is less than 48 hours away, slated for Friday in Kochi, where a total of 405 players, out of which 132 are overseas, will go under the hammer.
While there are many talented and experienced overseas and Indian players in the auction, the general belief is that either Stokes or Curran will fetch the highest bid in this auction. Stokes has already been the most expensive buy in 2017 (by RPSG) and 2018 (by RR) auctions while Curran’s stocks have risen since his Man of the Tournament performances in the T20 World Cup 2022.
News website InsideSport contacted most of the IPL franchises and 6 returned with the conviction that Stokes and Curran are their big targets. However, for a couple of franchises, the budget is a cause of concern.
“SRH, PBKS, LSG, MI, CSK have either of these two players on their SHOPPING LIST,” the report said.
“RR, KKR, GT also want to buy them but doesn’t have monies in bank to go for them
RCB, DC representatives did not respond to InsideSport messages.”
“Few teams will surely break bank for Curran & Stokes but not many can afford to do that. You want them – but you don’t have resources to do that will be the issue with most of the teams. SRH & PBKS will have advantage over others when buying for these two,” said one of the franchise representatives heading for Kochi.
IPL Teams Player Purse going into the IPL 2023 auction:
Sunrisers had the largest purse (INR 42.25 crore) for the auction, followed by Kings (INR 32.20 crore), Lucknow Super Giant (INR 23.35 crore), Mumbai Indians (INR 20.55 crore), Chennai Super Kings (INR 20.45 crore), Delhi Capitals (INR 19.45 crore), Gujarat Titans (INR 19.25 crore), Royals (INR 13.2 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (INR 8.75 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 7.05 crore).
Can Stokes or Curran break the all-time auction record?
The most expensive player at any IPL auction is Chris Morris when in 2021 RR bought him for INR 16.25 crore.
Although Stokes and Curran will fetch huge bids, franchises believe that breaking Morris’ mark will not be possible this time, because only two franchises – SRH and PBKS – have big budgets and they too have plenty of holes to fill.
“No chance that anyone would shell out $2MN for any player. No Mathematics would work. SRH & PBKS have purse to do that but why would they fight with each other. They can settle with 1 player each. Unlikely that bids would reach anywhere near 2MN dollars,” said one of the franchise officials.
An official working closely with SRH management told InsideSport, “Team will gun for a BIG ALLROUNDER at IPL Auction. Yes, Green, Stokes & Curran kind players will be on radar. But our decision-making will be dependent on the fact that whether these players are available for full IPL Window or not.”
