Curran, Stokes & Green among 21 players with highest base price at IPL 2023 Auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) submitted a list of 991 cricketers to the 10 participating franchises ahead of the 2023 players auction, scheduled to be held on December 23 in Kochi. English cricketer Sam Curran, who received the player of the final and the tournament at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, is among the top cricketers who have set their base price at the highest of INR 2 crore. While Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, Kane Williamson, and Nicholas Pooran are the others in the list of 21 players with the maximum reserve price, no Indian players feature in the list.

No Indian cricketers have set base price at INR 2 crore

As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, among the 991 cricketers, a total of 714 Indian cricketers alongside 277 overseas players are part of the initial long list submitted by the IPL to the 10 teams. Out of the 714 Indians, not one player from the country has been listed in the maximum base price band of Rs 2 crores. Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Mayank Agarwal are among the top players who feature in the list of 19 capped Indians.

After being retained by Punjab Kings (PBKS) last season for Rs 14 crores, former franchise skipper Agarwal has listed himself at Rs 1 crore. Agarwal was stripped of captaincy and was released by PBKS following a dismal IPL 2022 season for both him and the team. At the same time, having joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Rs 1 crore last season, Ajinkya Rahane has listed his base price at Rs 50 lakhs.

Meanwhile, veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, who went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega-auctions, has asked for Rs 75 lakhs. Among the other Indians, Jayden Unadkat has listed his base price at Rs 50 lakhs. Unadkat was once the highest-paid player at the IPL auctions but was released by Mumbai Indians this year. He is the leading wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was sold for Rs 1.3 crores in 2022. 

Has Dwayne Bravo bid goodbye to IPL?

It is pertinent to mention that Curran, Stokes, and Green remain the biggest names at the IPL 2023 players auction. However, Dwayne Bravo seems to have bid goodbye to the tournament, as he didn’t feature in the list after getting released by Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Bravo is a three-time IPL champion with the MS Dhoni-led CSK and is also the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 183 scalps.