IPL Auction 2023: "I Am Not Expecting Teams Bidding In Crores To Get Indian Batters, Even Mayank May Not Cross Double Digits In Crores" - Aakash Chopra

The much-anticipated mini-auction in Kochi ahead of next year’s 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins at 02:30 pm (IST) on Friday, December 23. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that demand for Indian batters will be low in the auction, with the exception of Mayank Agarwal, as most teams’ batting departments are pretty sorted.

PBKS released Mayank Agarwal ahead of this year’s auction and paired Shikhar Dhawan with Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order. The right-handed batsman had poor performances, and he pushed himself down the order to accommodate other top-order batters in the last season. The former PBKS skipper managed to score just 196 runs in 13 matches.

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Mayank Agarwal As Exception – Aakash Chopra

In a video on his YouTube channel, Akash Chopra stated that Mayank will not cross the 10 crore mark in the IPL 2023 auction as many teams have already sorted their openers.

“Indian batters will most probably go for pretty cheap, probably even at base price, with Mayank Agarwal as an exception. I am not expecting teams bidding in crores to get Indian batters. Even Mayank may not cross double digits in crores in the auction. This is because most teams have their openers sorted.”

Sunrisers Should Win It – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra stated that the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Gujarat Titans (GT) are the only two teams who need a quality opener like Mayank Agarwal. Chopra believes SRH will win the auction due to their larger remaining purse.

“Sunrisers and Gujarat should logically engage in a bidding war for Mayank. Logically, Sunrisers should win it, given their purse. But anything can happen in the auction.”

SRH retained players: Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Aiden Markram, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen.

GT retained players: Hardik Pandya (c), Wriddhiman Saha, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Pradeep Sangwan, R. Sai Kishore, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, David Miller, Matthew Wade, Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan.

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