New Delhi, India
The IPL 2023 mini-auction has started off with a bang. Among the early set of players, England's power-hitter Harry Brook -- who made heads turn during England's successful tour of Pakistan -- fetched a whopping deal after being acquired by the 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for INR 13.25 crore (INR 132.5 million). On the other hand, SRH also got another big name in their kitty, getting Punjab Kings' (PBKS) former skipper Mayank Agarwal for INR 8.25 crore (INR 82.5 million).
Talking about Brook, the 23-year-old saw a big bidding war for him with SRH and Rajasthan Royals (RR) fighting hard for his services. After taking his price into double digits, the bidding war wasn't over before Hyderabad finally won the war by shelling out a huge sum.
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Meanwhile, there were a lot of eyeballs on Mayank once his name was announced. The former Punjab captain's mention also led to a bidding war between SRH, Punjab, and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before the former got him for INR 8.25 crore. It is to be noted that Hyderabad entered the IPL 2023 mini-auction with the largest purse; i.e. INR 42.25 crore (INR 422.5 million). Hence, they have started off on a smashing note by getting two big names under their belt.
It will be interesting to see if they go hard on some of the big all-rounders who can also captain them. At present, they have Bhuvneshwar Kumar as a captaincy option along with Mayank.