Top 5 expensive buys of IPL auction 2023

The 2023 IPL auction was full of surprises, record numbers, all-rounders raking in big bucks and franchises picking the bones out of the players available in the auction. All the teams went hard for the players they wanted and that saw the player's price tags skyrocketing. | Above: Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan and SunRisers Hyderabad head coach Brian Lara during a joint press conference of IPL 2023 Auction, in Kochi on Friday.

Punjab Kings (Punjab owners, staff and other officials pictured above during the auction) broke the bank for England all-rounder Sam Curran to hand him the tag of the most expensive buy in IPL ever with a whopping price of INR 185 million, overtaking South African Chris Morris who was brought for INR 162.5 million by the Rajasthan Royals in 2021. However, the record price of Morris was broken twice on December 23 in the IPL auction. Let's take a look at the most expensive players of the IPL 2023 auction:

Sam Curran (Rs.185 million): The England all-rounder shattered Chris Morris' record to become the most expensive purchase in IPL history and was bagged by Punjab Kings. In 14 T20 matches since September of this year, the England all-rounder, who won Player of the Final at the 2022 T20 World Cup has taken 25 wickets at an economy rate of 7.08. Since 2020, he has played 31 T20 innings, averaging 27.07 and striking at 154.69.

Cameron Green (Rs.175 million): The Australian was likely to garner big bucks going into the IPL auction and Mumbai Indians bought him for a record price. In the past six months, Green's T20 stocks have skyrocketed. Green made a great impression on IPL team scouts after a successful T20I series in India this year, where he scored 118 runs at a strike rate of 214.54. His ability to bowl at a fierce pace and bat anywhere in the order helped him in the auction.

Ben Stokes (Rs.162.5 million): The England Test captain became the most expensive player ever signed by Chennai Super Kings. After a brief spell together at Rising Pune Supergiants, Stokes and MS Dhoni will line up together in the IPL once more. CSK spent roughly 80 per cent of their Rs.204.5 million budget on Stokes alone. He is also a strong contender for the captain as the team starts to think about Dhoni's successor.

Nicholas Pooran (Rs.16 million): The West Indian batsman was most likely one of the most unexpected bids of the auction. Despite having a mediocre year with bat and the T20 World Cup debacle, the West Indian was roped in by the Lucknow Super Giants for INR 16 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad had released him after a string of poor performances with the bat in IPL 2022.

Harry Brook (Rs132.5 million): Sunrisers Hyderabad bagged the England batter for a mammoth price tag. He received the Player-of-the-Series award in Pakistan two months ago during his maiden international journey after scoring 238 runs at a strike rate of 163.01. Teams may have been drawn to Brook's superior performance in all T20s in Asia, which included 581 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 167.43.