Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 13: Prior to the IPL 2023 season, the Gujarat Titans traded Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Gujarat purchased Lockie at the 2022 IPL mega auction for Rs 10 crore. With 12 wickets in 13 games and an economy rate under 9, he concluded the previous season. Lockie joined the KKR team after being acquired by the two-time IPL champion at the 2019 IPL auction. But he was released before the mega auction earlier this year. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Gurbaz – Jason Roy’s replacement and the reserve opener – didn’t get any game time.
Jason Behrendorff, a left-arm fast bowler for Australia, had earlier been traded by Royal Challengers Bangalore but has since returned to Mumbai Indians.
Despite not playing a single game, Royal Challengers purchased him at the 2022 auction for his basic price of Rs 75 lakh.
On December 23 in Kochi, there will be an auction for the 2023 campaign. Unlike the huge auction before the 2022 edition, where the 10 franchises renovated their whole squads, this one will be a mini-auction. Each team will have an additional Rs 5 crore to spend, bringing the total purse to Rs 95 crore, in addition to the funds left over from their prior auction purse and the value of the players they release.
After the previous auction, Kolkata Knight Riders had Rs 0.45 crore in leftover funds. Gujarat Titans, the defending champion, was left with Rs 0.15 crore.
