The IPL 2023 auction is set to be hosted by Kochi on December 23, Friday. After the IPL 2022 mega-auction, this time it will be a mini-auction and it will be only a one-day affair as opposed to the two-day event last time.
Nonetheless, there will still be a big number of players – 405 – who will be auctioned. Out of 405 players, 273 are Indians and 132 are overseas players of which four are from the associate nations. A maximum of 87 vacancies, with up to 30 overseas slots, can be filled during the IPL 2023 mini-auction.
You can expect an exciting tussle for the overseas players, more so because a number of them have been in good form or offer great future potential. A few of them would also be hoping to get picked up in the IPL for the first time.
Here are 5 overseas players who could get picked in the IPL auction for the first time:
Harry Brook
While Joe Root is the senior England batter in the auction, the more likelihood is of Harry Brook to get bought and bought for a handsome price. For the form he is currently in, coupled with his future potential, makes him an attractive prospect for the franchises.
Brook has had a dream last couple of months: he became a T20 World Cup winner with England at the age of 23, and then was the Man of the Series in England’s 3-0 thrashing of Pakistan in Tests where he scored three centuries.
Brook has a terrific overall T20 record: in 99 T20s, he averages 33 and has a strike rate of 148 with the help of 9 fifties and a century.
Sikandar Raza
One of the most experienced overseas players in the IPL 2023 auction is Sikandar Raza. The veteran Zimbabwe all-rounder seems to be in the best form of his life.
Raza had a phenomenal T20 World Cup: he smashed 219 runs at a strike rate of 147 in addition to snapping up 10 while keeping a superb economy of 6.5, including being the Player of the Match in the thrilling victory over Pakistan.
Sikandar Raza has never been bought in the IPL auction. But the 36-year-old’s has plenty of reasons to believe that this time franchises would bid for his all-round services.
Cameron Green
Entering in his first-ever IPL auction, Cameron Green has set his base price at INR 2 crore. But the Aussie all-rounder is expected to fetch about 5 times or more than his base price.
A first-choice Test player for Australia, Green showcased his T20 calibre in the T20I series in India in September by thumping 61 runs off 30 balls in Mohali and 52 runs off 21 balls in Hyderabad as an opener. He can send down 2-3 overs regularly in T20s.
The 23-year-old comes with immense potential yet to be untapped in the shortest format. This will all force the franchises to break the bank for Green, who would return with more than a million dollars in his first IPL auction.
Paul Stirling
There will be multiple franchises who’d be on the look out for openers, and aggressive openers is the demand in T20 cricket. You would find few attacking mindset openers in the IPL 2023 auction pool than Ireland’s Paul Stirling, who comes with a vast experience of 319 T20 matches, but, and surprisingly, none in the IPL.
In his T20 career, Stirling averages 25 but has a blockbuster strike rate of 141, this shows that he’s a rapid starter and is willing to risk his wickets for a quickfire opening cameo.
Mehidy Miraz
Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Miraz might have sealed his IPL deal in the recent ODI series against India where he shone with the bat and ball. In the first ODI, Miraz hit 38* along with number 11 to script a remarkable chase and then slammed his maiden ODI ton in the next game. An off-spinner, Miraz has been a nemesis for left-handed openers in white-ball cricket.
The 25-year-old has already featured in 125 T20 matches in his career, scoring 1242 runs and picking up 72 wickets. IPL franchises could target Miraz for his all-round skills, his experience of bowling and batting in Asian conditions; teams like CSK and DC might really ponder over grabbing Miraz in the auction.
