The highly-anticipated mini-auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 took place in Kochi on Friday, which witnessed 80 players being sold at a combined price of INR 167 crore.
Quite a few players triggered the bidding war amongst the 10 franchises, who went full throttle to acquire the services of their desired cricketers. Just like every season, this year’s auction also saw cricket stars becoming millionaires overnight.
Unlike the last few auctions, this time around, the bidding event was live-streamed at Jio Cinema which had a star-studded expert panel, including the likes of Anil Kumble, Chris Gayle, Eoin Morgan, Scott Styris and AB de Villiers. During the auction chat, Gayle entertained everyone with his epic one-liners and also termed three stars as the ‘Prive Jet Category’ players.
Gayle named Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes as the ‘Prive Jet Category’ players after the trio became the most-expensive cricketers in this year’s auction. Notably, Curran and Green broke Chris Morris’ record of the most expensive buy in the history of the tournament.
While Curran was roped in for a jaw-dropping INR 18.5 crores by Punjab Kings (PBKS), the Mumbai Indians (MI) bought Green for a whopping INR 17.5 crores in the bidding event. After Curran and Green, England’s superstar Stokes was the most expensive buy, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) breaking the bank to acquire the services of Stokes for INR 16.25 crores.
Seeing the abovementioned three top buys in IPL 2023 auction, Gayle said, “These three are private jet category players.”
Apart from Curran, Green and Stokes, West Indies wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran, who has played with Gayle in the recent past, was roped in for an eye-catching 16 crores by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Upon watching his countryman bagging a million-dollar deal, Gayle immediately joked and asked Pooran for his money. “Nikki P, the money that I lent you, can I get it back, please,” said Gayle.