The players’ auction for the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in Kochi on December 23.
Unlike the last auction, this year’s will be a mini-auction. The ten franchises have been asked to submit their list of retained players by November 15. Also, the salary cap is expected to increase from INR 90 crore to INR 95 crore for the 2023 edition.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is one of the most followed franchises on social media, and the Orange Army’s fans are anxiously waiting to know which players will stay back with the 2016 IPL champion.
According to media reports, SRH has decided to keep Aiden Markram amidst transfer offers. Two IPL franchises showed interest in signing Markram through the trading window. But SRH owners denied the same after consulting their head coach Brian Lara. The Proteas star was in stunning form in the 2022 edition of the IPL, where he smashed 381 runs in 14 innings at an average of 47.63.
However, the Sunrisers have decided to release three costliest buys from their camp. First, the Windies’ hard-hitter Nicholas Pooran – who was bought for INR 10.75 crore in the 2022 IPL mega-auction. Second, fast bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd – signed up for INR 7.75 crore. And third, Australian all-rounder Sean Abbott – was roped in for INR 2.4 crore.
Pooran failed to perform with the bat in the 2022 T20 World Cup, scoring just 25 runs in 3 matches. SRH are planning to release him ahead of the mini-auction and try to get him back in the bidding process at a low price.
Meanwhile, Shepherd did not perform to the expectations in IPL 2022 as in three matches, he could pick only three wickets and conceded runs at an expensive economy rate of 10.89. Lastly, Abbot – famous for delivering all-round performances in the Big Bash League (BBL) – has had fitness issues over the past few years. He missed several international games for Australia and many matches for his club Sydney Sixers in the BBL.
SRH have Markram, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen and Fazalhaq Farooqi as other foreign players in their squad, and they will retain them.
