The cricket world was up for a treat on Friday as the 10 Indian Premier League franchises pulled off an exciting bidding war at the IPL 2023 Auction.
While a total of 405 players went under the hammer in Kochi, 80 of them found new teams for the upcoming 2023 season. The list of 80 players included several youngsters and veterans who attracted impressive bids, while others were sold at an amount closer to their base price.
Former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson was one of the players who found a destination but took a significant pay cut. Mayank Agarwal also attracted good bids after being removed as the Punjab Kings captain and getting released. Here’s a look at the list of players who were roped in by teams at a lesser price than their previous salaries.
Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to release their captain Kane Williamson ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, which left many eyeballs opened. The New Zealand white-ball captain was bought by 2022 IPL champions Gujarat Titans for INR 2 crore, which is 12 crore less than the amount he earned in 2022. He was one of the players retained by SRH ahead of last year’s mega auction but was let go by the team after a dismal 2022 campaign.
Mayank Agarwal was another big name who was released by his team this year after being removed as the captain. Punjab Kings decided to let Mayank go and build a team around Shikhar Dhawan and the other bunch of youngsters. While he earned 12 crores at PBKS last year, the 31-year-old will now ply his trade for the 2016 IPL champions SRH.
Chennai Super Kings roped in former Indian Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane for INR 50 lakh, which was his base price. Rahane was certainly a great addition to CSK’s top order, and the 34-year-old won’t mind a pay cut to join hands with his former skipper MS Dhoni. Rahane earned 5.25 crore with Delhi Capitals in 2021, before earning one crore last year at Kolkata Knight Riders. Here’s a few more experienced Indian players who were sold at their base price in the IPL 2023 auction.
- Ishant Sharma to DC for 50 lakh
- Mandeep Singh to KKR for 50 lakh
- Jaydev Unadkat to LSG for 50 lakh
- Piyush Chawla to MI for 50 lakh
- Murugan Aswin to RR for 20 lakh
- Amit Mishra to LSG for 50 lakh
