IPL 2023 Mini Auction

The all-rounder auction

Punjab Kings paid ₹18.5 crore for Sam Curran, a new record, weeks after he was player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup. Mumbai paid ₹17.5 crore for Cameron Green and Chennai ₹16.25 crore for Ben Stokes. All three were all-rounders from overseas, and all three prices were set in the shadow of the new Impact Player rule, which let a side bring on a substitute mid-match and so rewarded players who could do more than one job.

The returns were mixed. Green scored 452 runs for Mumbai; Stokes played two matches for Chennai.

Hyderabad's rebuild

Sunrisers Hyderabad spent the most, including ₹13.25 crore on Harry Brook, who made a hundred in April and little else, and ₹8.25 crore on Mayank Agarwal. Lucknow paid ₹16 crore for Nicholas Pooran, whom Hyderabad had released. Of the 406 players in the auction, only 80 were sold, fewer than one in five.

Who won

Chennai Super Kings won their fifth title, beating Gujarat Titans in a final decided by the last two balls, with a squad whose most expensive new buy barely played. The Chennai Super Kings page follows how little of their success has come from the auction room.

Reading the numbers

Overseas players took about three quarters of the money in 2023, with Curran, Green, Stokes, Pooran and Brook alone accounting for nearly half of all spending. Hyderabad spent the most and finished last; Kolkata and Bangalore spent the least.

Chennai, fifth on spend, won the title. The capped players left unsold included Chris Jordan, Adam Milne and Jamie Overton, and the auction's biggest prices mostly failed to shape the season, which was decided by squads built at the 2022 mega auction. Green's 452 runs for Mumbai were the best return among the five biggest buys, and Stokes's two matches the worst.