IPL Auction: All-rounders to cash in!

Cameron Green, Ben Stoke and Sam Curran

Intense bidding is expected to be the order of the day when 10 teams jostle to grab their preferred players from a limited pool of cricketers, including the likes of Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Cameron Green and Mayank Agarwal, in the mini IPL auction here on Friday.

Curran's age a big plus

All-rounder Curran, who was named the Player of the 2022 T20 World Cup, is expected to attract intense bidding and end up with a million dollar deal. He is only 24 and teams will look at him as a long-term investment. Back in 2019, Punjab Kings made him an IPL millionaire before he moved to Chennai Super Kings who would be looking to buy him back.

Pooran, Williamson and Mayank Agarwal

Curran, who missed the 2022 season as he was recovering from a back injury, has set his base price at Rs 2 crore.

The all-rounders have been listed in the second set to come up for bidding. The venue of the auction is not the usual Bangalore as Kochi gets to host the keenly followed event. Curran's English teammates including Test skipper Stokes and Harry Brook are also likely to land fat pay cheques. Stokes is a super star of the game and delivers in the toughest of situations while Brook made a name for himself in the Test format with three centuries against Pakistan after already proving his worth in the shorter-formats.

Stokes has set his base price at Rs 2 crore and Brook at R 1.5 crore. Australian all-rounder Green will also be watching the proceedings keenly. He has not looked back in the shortest format after getting the opportunity to open for Australia in India earlier this year.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will be another big name with a base price of R 2 crore. He was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad alongside West Indian Nicholas Pooran.

Also Read: Hopeful I'll go somewhere in IPL auction: England all-rounder Sam Curran

Focus on Pooran's poor form

Pooran, who quit West Indies captaincy after an early exit from the T20 World Cup, has not been in the best of forms of late but is expected to secure a decent deal.

Out of favour India Test opener Agarwal will go under the hammer in Set one comprising batters. He has kept his base price at R 1 crore and teams are likely to go after him. Punjab had released him earlier this year and appointed Shikhar Dhawan the captain instead.

A good IPL is crucial for Agarwal as he aims to get back into the India fold.

Veteran Ishant Sharma and Jaydev Unadkat are Indian pace bowling options available to the teams. Among the uncapped Indians who could break the bank include pacers Shivam Mavi and Yash Thakur. Having released by CSK, Tamil Nadu batter N Jagadeesan should be in demand after a terrific domestic season.

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