Testers Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari The Indian Premier League (IPL) skipped the 2023 mini-auction. The event is scheduled to take place in Kochi on December 23, with a total of 991 players registered for the auction.
As Pujara and Vihari were not sold in IPL 2022, the first one was signed up by Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021 at a base price of 50 lakhs but did not play a single game. Pujara also has Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings of Punjab but the last game he played was in 2014. Vihari played his last IPL game in 2019.
Tired of not being bought by the franchise, both players decided not to go to the auction. Since this will be a mini-auction, franchises have a limited budget, so Pujara and Vihari know their chances of being bought are slim.
“As this is a mini-auction, both Pujara and Vihari knew that teams would have a limited budget. So, both of them logically decided to miss this auction.‘ said a source following the developments.This roster will be trimmed to cut the approximately 450-odd players in half by December 9, the deadline for shortlisting. Expect around 200 players to finally come under the hammer,” the source added.
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Auction to have a virtual angle
The source also said that not all support staff will be able to go to Kochi, thus allowing the board to participate in the mini-auction virtually as well. “Almost all franchises have foreign coaches or support staff. Not everyone will be able to travel to Kochi. The board is likely to allow the team’s support staff to participate in the auction virtually.,” the source added.
Meanwhile, 10 teams held and released their players before the auction. A total of 163 players were retained by the teams, while 85 players were released.
Of the 991 registered players, 277 are overseas and 714 are Indian. 185 players are restricted, 786 players are unrestricted, and 20 are from Associate Nations.
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