Millions Of Dollars On Offer At Indian Premier League 2023 Auction

Cameron Green was only called up for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad at the last minute. He played just the final game of their doomed campaign in his eighth T20I appearance overall.

Green has only played 13 career Big Bash League games with his last appearance being three years ago. He did not have a contract with Perth Scorchers last season.

But the 23-year-old is one of the hottest properties in the Indian Premier League auction to be held on Friday. The towering Green can strike a big blow, while he’s a menacing seamer who can conjure dangerous bounce from his great height. His allround skillset and young age make him a highly sought after player even though he’s still relatively unproven in the format.

His best performances in his limited T20I career were a pair of half-centuries during Australia’s tour of India in September to effectively seal an IPL deal right there. He’s already well remunerated being a member of Australia’s teams across formats but even for him a mega IPL deal will be game-changing money.

Green is one of a handful of players expected to land million dollar deals at the auction for a tournament that only runs for two months. A total of 405 cricketers will be auctioned, with 273 Indians and 132 are overseas players up for grabs among the 10 IPL franchises.

A record 11 players broke $1.2 million in the mega auction earlier this year which was the first since the IPL expanded to 10 teams. England allrounder Sam Curran, who was a hero of their T20 World Cup triumph, is tipped to receive a deal over $2 million in this auction.

Most of cricket’s biggest stars play in the cash-rich IPL apart from Pakistani players who are barred amid the political tensions between the two warring countries. The IPL’s increasing growth shows no signs of stopping almost 15 years since it turned the sport on its head.

The IPL’s ability to attract the sport’s top players means it essentially has a dedicated window through its season, where international cricket essentially grinds to a halt. National cricket boards, many of whom are cash stricken, know that money talks and it can’t stop its players from seeking riches.

It feels only a matter of time before India’s governing body and the IPL’s owners, whose tentacles are expanding into new T20 leagues emerging in the UAEUAE
, South Africa and the U.S, want to further expand its money spinner. The league has already grown bigger with the number of teams and its season is slowly increasing.

Some administrators within the ICC and its board believe the IPL will eventually transcend international cricket, which has always had the lion share of popularity in a departure from other global sports such as soccer and basketball where franchise leagues dominate.

There is a growing belief that the IPL will eventually expand to six months a year and that players signed with global franchises could be beholden to year-round contracts. If players earned astronomical figures, such as over $10 million a year, then any lingering national loyalty is set to go out the window.

The problem for the IPL’s global conquest is that it hasn’t proven overly popular beyond its shores. In Australia, where cricket is a national sport, the IPL is barely visible at a time of year where the highly popular football codes hog the limelight.

For those beyond India, the IPL is mostly inconsequential and devoid of attachment. It might feature the world’s best players but without meaning it feels rather hollow. Whereas international cricket is steeped in tradition, rivalries and gravitas making it hard to dislodge as the sport’s pinnacle.

The next step for the IPL might be to start playing matches abroad and for franchises to create a global imprint to widen their fan bases.

There is still so much untapped potential for the fledgling IPL but all signs are pointing to it eventually overtaking international cricket, which will likely revolve around showpiece events like World Cups and marquee Test series involving power nations India, England and Australia.

That’s all ahead and the IPL has yet to grab a total stranglehold of the sport even though its young stars like Green and Curran are desperate for life-changing deals at the auction.