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Stats: PBKS buy Sam Curran for a record-breaking INR 18.5 crores

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Last updated on 24 Dec 2022 | 01:31 PM
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Stats: PBKS buy Sam Curran for a record-breaking INR 18.5 crores

Some interesting stats from the mini-auction of 2023 edition of Indian Premier League

With four to five premier players in focus, IPL franchises went all out in the first few sets. A total of INR 167 crore was spent on 80 players in Friday's mini-auction. This is only INR 35 crore less than what teams had spent for 154 players in the 2014 mega auction. Sam Curran, as expected, got the highest bid, but the price was unexpected.

The million-dollar arm

Everyone knew Curran would go for a hefty bid and rightfully so, the two teams with the biggest purse, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings went all out for him. In the end, Punjab managed to bag him at a whopping price of INR 18.5 crore.

In the history of IPL, Curran is not only the highest paid player in the auction, but the highest ever including the retentions. Virat Kohli from 2018 till 2021 and KL Rahul in the 2022 contract retentions, were paid INR 17 crore, the highest for a player then. But in this auction, Curran and Cameron Green (INR 17.5 crore) went past that record to be the highest and the second-highest ever.

Hyderabad go big for Harry Brook

As mentioned, England players were in for a lottery and Brook was one of those players. He might not have gone for a price similar to Curran or Green, but he was sold for a staggering INR 13.25 crore.

In the auction, this is the highest-ever bid for a Hyderabad player. Previously, only two players had fetched a bid of excess of 10 crore, Manish Pandey in 2018 had received a bid of INR 11 crore and Nicholas Pooran in 2022 had got INR 10.75 crore.

Mumbai get Green for a hefty price

With their ace all-rounder Kieron Pollard retiring from the IPL, Mumbai Indians were in search of an ideal long-term replacement. They wanted Curran and were involved in a bidding war with Punjab. Their last bid to Curran was INR 18.25 crore. As they couldn’t get him, they went after Green and were involved in a bidding war with Delhi Capitals.

In the end, they won it and brought Green for INR 17.5 crore, their highest paid player ever. Before Green, Rohit Sharma’s retention in 2022, cost them INR 16 crore. In the 2022 mega-auction, Ishan Kishan was signed for INR 15.25 crore.

Chennai’s costliest player

Chennai Super Kings were the fourth team to go all out for one player. They also had an agenda of finding an all-rounder, a replacement for Dwayne Bravo.

They set their eyes on Curran and were bidding till 15.25 Cr, but gave up after that. They tried for Jason Holder as well but eventually, gave up at INR 5.5 crore. However, they were adamant to get Ben Stokes and went all out for him. They brought him for a huge price of INR 16.25 crore, the joint-third biggest buy in the history of IPL and Chennai’s biggest. In fact, Stokes will enter the field as the costliest player for Chennai. Ravindra Jadeja’s retention in 2022 cost them INR 16 crore.  

16 Crore mark breached four times

Before the IPL 2023 mini-auction, there were only two players who had breached the 16 crore mark. Yuvraj Singh in 2015 had been bought for INR 16 crore in 2015 by Delhi and Chris Morris (INR 16.25 crore) by Rajasthan Royals in 2021.

This year alone, there were four players who reached this mark. Curran (INR 18.5 crore), Green (INR 17.5 crore), Stokes (INR 16.25 crore) and Pooran for INR 16 crore. Needless to say, this year had the most. In fact, in none of the previous mini-auctions, the overall spent value was more than INR 150 crore.

England players attracted the biggest bids

The most beneficial players from this auction were from England and why not! They are the reigning T20 World champions. For eight English players, teams spent a total sum of INR 51.8 crore as compared to INR 41.95 crore for 51 Indians. Just three players attracted bids amounting INR 48 crore.

Overseas player were the dominant winners in this auction

Out of the INR 167 crore spent in this auction 74.8% of the amount was spent on foreign players. A total of INR 125.05 crore to be precise. The all-rounders were the biggest attraction. Out of those INR 125.05 crore, 62.95 crore was spent on all-rounders. In comparison to Indian all-rounders, nearly eight times more was spent on overseas all-rounders.

In comparison, only INR 41.95 crore was spent on Indian players. Bowling was the only section where Indian players were more in demand bowlers. INR 18.35 crore was spent on Indian bowlers, pacers and spinners combined, as compared to INR 13.8 crore on overseas bowlers.  

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