405 players to go under the hammer in IPL 2023 mini-auction as BCCI announces final player list
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the final list of the players set to go under the hammer at the IPL auction in Kochi on December 23. There will be 405 players at the mini-auction ahead of the 15th season of the lucrative tournament.
Initially, the ten participating teams shortlisted 369 players from the initial 991. The franchises went on to request 36 additional players, who have now been added to the list, which means 405 players will be presented at the TATA IPL 2023 auction. Out of those, 273 are Indians and 132 are overseas, while four are from associate countries.
There are 119 capped cricketers and 282 uncapped players, with four players from the associate nations. A maximum of 87 slots are now available, with 30 reserved for foreign cricketers.
SunRisers Hyderabad have the most number of available places to fill, with 13. INR 2 crore is the highest reserve price, with 19 overseas cricketers choosing to be categorized in the bracket. 11 players in the auction list have a base price of INR 1.5 crore.
Manish Pandey and Mayank Agarwal are the only two Indian players among the 20 with a base price of INR 1 crore. The likes of Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, and Cameron Green are likely to attract the highest bids. The auction will start at 14:30 pm.
BCCI likely to hold the first edition of Women's IPL in March
The Indian Cricket Board is also aiming to hold the Women's IPL, with ESPN Cricinfo reporting competition will be held from March 3 to March 26. While the BCCI is yet to announce the dates formally, it has slotted in the window for the WIPL.
The tournament is likely to begin a week after the 2023 T20 World Cup final, set to be played on February 26 in Cape Town.
ESPN Cricinfo also reported that the BCCI would want to finish the competition by the end of May since England have a one-off Test scheduled against Ireland in Lord's from June 1.
A few days later, the World Test Championship (WTC) final will take place at the Oval, with India still in the mix. The Ashes series also starts on June 16