The IPL 2023 mini-auction on Friday will officially set the ball rolling for the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League, now the world's biggest and richest franchise T20 league. Unlike last year, this is not a mega auction. Teams won't build from scratch, most of the big names are already taken and settled with their respective teams but that doesn't mean there is any less excitement surrounding this year's auction. There are teams like Surnrisers Hyderabad who need a captain after letting Kane Williamson go. There are teams like Chennai Super Kings in search of a proper all-rounder after Dwayne Bravo's retirement, there are Punjab Kings who have the second biggest purse after SRH then there are the Mumbai Indians, who are in search of a replacement for Kieron Pollard. Not to forget, Lucknow Super Giant, who despite doing quite well in their debut season, have decided to release quite a few names like Manish Pandey and Jason Holder.
Ahead of the event, former India and Chennai Super Kings stalwart Suresh Raina shared his thoughts on the players he expects to go big. From the Indian lot, Raina picked Jaydev Unadkat and N Jagadeesan, who have both had an excellent domestic season. Unadkat finished with 19 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 3.33 while Jagadeesan piled up five consecutive centuries for Tamil Nadu, the last of which was a record-breaking 277 against Arunachal Pradesh.
"N Jagadeesan has a very good cricketing brain, and he bats so deep, is a very smart, calculative batsman. He has done really well for Tamil Nadu, watch out for him," he said on Jio Cinema.
Raina singled out Irish fast bowler Joshua Little as a player to watch out at the back of an outstanding T20 World Cup where he claimed 11 wickets in seven matches.
“Sam Curran has done really well for England as well as for Chennai Super Kings and there is Ben Stokes who has led England well. So having a top all-rounder in your team can change the movement of the game. Then there is Jaydev Unadkat who just won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has a lot of experience in the IPL. Watch out for Joshua Little from Ireland. He has done really well in the World Cup just now, and I just played with him," he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Sam Curran has done really well for England as well as for Chennai Super Kings and there is Ben Stokes who has led England well. So having a top all-rounder in your team can change the movement of the game. Then there is Jaydev Unadkat who just won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has a lot of experience in the IPL. Watch out for Joshua Little from Ireland. He has done really well in the World Cup just now, and I just played with him," he added.
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