The IPL has started the process for the upcoming mini-auction by asking the ten franchises to submit their list of retained players by November 15. While a date for the auction has not yet been finalised, it is expected to be held in the third week of December.
Unlike the mega auction last year, when two new franchises were added and the old teams could retain a maximum of four players, there is no such cap for the mini-auction ahead of IPL 2023. In addition to the money left over from the previous auction, each team will have an additional INR 5 crore (approx. US $607,000) to spend, making the overall auction purse INR 95 crore (approx. US $11.5 million).
Stokes along with his England team-mate Sam Curran and Australia allrounder Cameron Green are some of the overseas players franchises expect to attract the biggest bids if they enter the auction.
Three teams – Kings, Capitals and Super Giants – bought only seven overseas players at the previous auction, so they could be on the lookout to fill up the last spot. Other teams could release one or more of their overseas players to create vacancies and increase their purses.
Also, six franchises had brought in injury replacements during IPL 2022. These franchises will have to decide whether to retain the replacement player or the original player, or both provided the player limit allows. Following is the list of players originally bought and their replacements: