IPL 2023 Auction: Great News for IPL franchises, English media confirms ‘Ben Stokes to put his name in IPL Auction’: Check OUT

IPL 2023 Auction: England’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 winning hero BEN Stokes will be available for the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL 2023) Auction. This is a piece of great news for the IPL franchises who were continuously enquiring about the all-rounder’s availability from the BCCI. Stokes is the one name that all 10 IPL teams would like to have on their side. Especially those teams who doesn’t have a BIG stage all-rounder in the squad. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN

IPL 2023 Auction: Great News for IPL franchises, English media confirms ‘Ben Stokes to put his name in IPL Auction’: Check OUT

Also Read: IPL 2023 Auction: Will T20 World CUP HERO Ben Stokes make himself available for IPL MINI-AUCTION? Check what BCCI has to say? (insidesport.in)

The 31-year-old all-rounder retired from the ODI format this summer. Citing an unsustainable schedule, Stokes trimmed his focus to Test captaincy and Twenty20 cricket. Stokes recently powered England to double-world champion status with victory over Pakistan in Sunday’s T20 WC final at MCG.

It is to be noted that 2023 is going to be an ODI World Cup year and hence England will not play much T20 cricket for a while. So this means Ben Stokes will be available for IPL 2023 and will hence enter the auction on December 23 in Kochi, as per The Guardian.

Stokes was released from a £1.3m (INR 12.5 crore) contract at Rajasthan Royals in 2021 and, after that summer’s four-month break for mental health reasons, opted out of this year’s edition (IPL 2022).

If Stokes is acquired by one of the ten franchises—a possibility made more likely by his T20 World Cup performances—it will result in a busy schedule for him before the Ashes campaign in June. The IPL runs from 25 March until 28 May, just four days before a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s, following winter Test trips to Pakistan and New Zealand.

IPL 2023 Auction: Who are the franchises that might show interest in roping Stokes in the IPL mini-auction?

Punjab Kings (PBKS) were one of the first franchises to show interest in acquiring Stokes services. With the team not qualifying for Qualifiers for seven years now, PBKS want match-winner Stokes in the team. With the team set to release quite a few players, PBKS could enter the mini-auction with a 30 Crores amount- the likely highest purse among teams.

Apart from PBKS, RCB also do not have a genuine all-rounder who can contribute with both bat and ball. These two teams will be eyeing to get England’s Test captain, if he comes to the mini-auction set to be held on December 23.

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Sam Curran and Cameron Green are other all-rounders, who could go in for huge amounts. While the former was the player of tournament in the T20 World Cup 2022, the latter did well in the three-match T20 series against India.