IPL Mini Auction: Sam Karan the costliest in auction history; Puran most valuable wicketkeeper, J&K allrounder Vivrant surprised

IPL Mini Auction: Sam Karan the costliest in auction history; Puran most valuable wicketkeeper, J&K allrounder Vivrant surprised

England all-rounder Sam Curran has become the costliest player sold in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The 24-year-old Karan was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18.50 crore in the ongoing IPL mini auction in Kochi.

87 players are to be bought in the mini auction which started at 2.30 pm on Friday. So far only 37 players have been bought. Of these, 18 are foreigners. IPL franchises have spent Rs 139.90 crore out of Rs 206.5 crore. Right now the amount of 66.6 crores is left with the franchisees.

4 big points of IPL mini auction

1. Most expensive Sam Curran, broke the record of Chris Morris

Sam Curran has become the costliest player in IPL auction history. Punjab bought him for Rs 18.50 crore. The previous record of the most expensive player was in the name of Chris Morris of South Africa. He got Rs 16.25 crore. However, Karan is not the highest paid player in IPL history.

2. Puran became the most valuable wicketkeeper in IPL history

Another record created in IPL auction history. Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies is the costliest seller so far as a wicketkeeper. He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for 16 crores. Earlier, the highest paid wicketkeeper was Mumbai's Ishan Kishan (15.25 crores). Bowling all-rounders got the highest bid.

3. Record bid on fast bowling all-rounders

As expected, fast bowling all-rounders were in high demand in the mini auction. These all-rounders collected Rs 59 crore in 30 minutes. Punjab bought the player of the tournament Sam Karan of the last T20 World Cup for the highest amount of Rs 18.50 crore. Australia's Cameron Green was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 17.50 crore. England Test team captain Ben Stokes got Rs 16.25 crore. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings. Jason Holder was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.75 crore.

4. 2.6 crores to uncapped Vivrant Sharma, surprised everyone

In the auction of uncapped players, the bid on Vivrant Sharma of Jammu and Kashmir surprised everyone. Capable of batting with left arm spin bowling, Vivrant was bought by Sunrisers for Rs 2.6 crore. Uncapped fast bowler Shivam Mavi was also bought by Titans for Rs 6 crore. Apart from him, Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar was bought by Delhi for 5.50 crores.

3 points of IPL mini auction...

1. England's Root, South Africa's Russo and Bangladesh's Shakib went unsold

England's Joe Root and South Africa's explosive batsman Riley Russo did not find any buyers in the auction. Root's base price was Rs 1 crore and Russo's base price was Rs 2 crore. Root was in the auction for the first time. Russo was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the 2014 and 2015 IPL. No one bought Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. He was in the Hyderabad team in 2021. Bangladesh's right-handed batsman Liton Das also went unsold.

Adam Zampa of Australia, Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa, Mujeeb-ur Rahman of Afghanistan and Akil Hussain of West Indies did not find any buyers. Apart from these, Chris Jordan of England and Adam Milne of New Zealand were also not sold. Bangladesh's Liton Das, Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis and England's Tom Banton also remained unsold in the wicketkeeper.

2. English-Australian players to play full season

Top English and Australian players like Ben Stokes, Cameron Green and Sam Curran will be available for the entire IPL 2023 season. In a letter sent to the IPL teams, the BCCI said that the cricket boards of England and Australia have confirmed the availability of their players for the entire IPL season.

3. Five Indian bowlers may be banned

BCCI has said that 5 Indian bowlers included for the auction may be banned for their suspicious action. Which includes spinner Tanush of Mumbai, Rohan of Kerala, Apoorva Wankhede of Vidarbha, Chirag Gandhi of Gujarat and Ramakrishnan Ghosh of Maharashtra.