Page 38 - The Indian EYE 120922

SPORTS DECEMBER 09, 2022 | The Indian Eye 38

IPL mini-auction, new stars,

Hardik Pandya as T20 captain

and ICC rankings

There isn’t a single Indian player in the 2-crore tier, including England Test captain Ben

Stokes, Australian allrounder Cameron Green, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson,

and Nicholas Pooran, who just stepped down as West Indies white-ball skipper

OUR BUREAU
Mumbai/Dubai

am Curran, who was part of En-
gland’s T20 World Cup winning
Ssquad and was also the player
of the tournament at the 2022 World
Cup, is one of 21 men who have set
a maximum reserve price of INR 2
crore (about USD 246,000) for the
2023 IPL auction scheduled on De-
cember 23.
There isn’t a single Indian player
in the Rs 2-crore tier, including En-
gland Test captain Ben Stokes, Aus-
tralian allrounder Cameron Green,
New Zealand captain Kane William-
son, and Nicholas Pooran, who just
stepped down as West Indies white-
ball skipper. At the auction, a maxi-
mum of 87 players (squad strength of
25 apiece) can be purchased, with 30
of them being international names.
The auction will take place in Kochi
on December 23.
The original long list, which the
IPL shared with the 10 franchises on
Thursday, has 991 players (714 In-
dian and 277 from other countries).
The IPL will trim this down based on England’s Ben Stokes plays a shot during the recent final match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan in Melbourne (ANI)
feedback from franchisees, who have
until December 9 to respond to tour- tained by Punjab Kings prior to the Indians, who had signed him for INR nificant amount of time.
nament officials. mega auction last year and was also 1.3 crore in 2022. The Super Kings previously
In an unusual move, no Indian named captain of the team. However, The sequence in which a player’s purchased Curran for INR 5.5 crore
player is placed in the top listed price a disappointing season for both the name is called out for bidding has and will attempt to do so again,
range of INR 2 crore. The list of 19 player and the team pushed Kings to been the most eagerly anticipated as- though rival franchises such as Sun-
capped Indians consists primarily dismiss Agarwal, who had been paid pect of an IPL auction, whether mega risers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings,
of former national players such as INR 14 crores last season. or mini. And, typically, franchises who have the two largest purses,
Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Agarwal has set his starting price place a high value on the names in will have a better chance of acquir-
Mayank Agarwal. at one crore. Jaydev Unadkat, a left- the marquee set, which opens pro- ing the England allrounder who is a
Rahane was released by Kolkata arm fast bowler who has been among ceedings. Curran, Stokes, William- proven match-winner with both ball
Knight Riders after being purchased the highest-paid players in IPL auc- son, and Pooran are likely to be in- and bat.
for one crore in the last auction. This tions, has set his starting price at INR cluded in this group, as is Agarwal. Stokes’ last appearance in the
time, his starting price is INR 50 lakh. 50 lakh. Unadkat, who guided Sau- Currran last appeared in the IPL was also in 2021. Stokes, who
Ishant is looking for INR 75 lakh af- rashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament for Chennai Super Kings played for Rajasthan Royals, was
ter going unsold in 2022. final, where he is the leading wick- in 2021, before a stress fracture in his injured around the halfway point of
Continued at next page... >>
Agarwal was the first player re- et-taker, was released by the Mumbai lower back forced him to miss a sig- Continued at next page... >>

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