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Indian T20 League 2023: Five openers who can earn big at the mini-auction for the next season

Here we'll have a look at five openers who might make a big price tag in next year's Indian T20 League after being released by their teams...

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Jennifer
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Indian T20 League 2023: Five openers who can earn big at the mini-auction for the next season

The retention and release process for the Indian T20 League has been concluded on Tuesday, the 15th of November. During the retention, there had been a few decisions from the franchises that left the fans shocked ahead of the mini-auction for the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League. Bangalore hasn’t decided to make a lot of changes and opted to go with their core group that played in the 2022 edition of the tournament.

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On the other hand, Hyderabad has freed up a lot from their purse by releasing some big names including none other than their former skipper Kane Williamson. Although there might be some highlights during the mini-auction, the list includes the likes of star English all-rounders, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes alongside young Australian batter Cameron Green.

Nevertheless, the teams will be eyeing to add some blistering openers in their squad for the next season of the Indian T20 League. Notably, some of the openers have been released by the franchises before the mini-auction. Considering the importance of having an opener in the squad, these released players might be picked by some teams for a big amount of money.

So, here we'll have a look at five openers who might make a big price tag after being released by their franchises before the mini-auction of the 2023 edition of the tournament.

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1. Mayank Agarwal

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Probably one of the most surprising releases ahead of the auction of the Indian T20 League was of Mayank Agarwal. The 31-year-old had also led a Punjab-based franchise in the tournament, but he could score only 196 runs in 12 innings of 13 matches he played during the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League. Agarwal registered an extremely low average of 16.33 which didn’t justify the amount of INR 12 crores Punjab spent for him.

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Meanwhile, Punjab announced the senior Indian southpaw Shikhar Dhawan in the 15th edition of the tournament. Although Agarwal enjoyed two brilliant seasons in Indian T20 League for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021. Considering that performance and his experience, the franchise might go to claim the Karnataka batter with a big amount in the upcoming mini-auction for the next season of the Indian  T20 League.

2. Narayan Jagadeesan

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The 26-year-old Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter, Narayan Jagadeesan made his first appearance for Chennai in the Indian T20 League two years back in 2020. Since then, he has played only seven matches in this cash-rich Indian league. Batting in four innings of these seven matches, he scored 73 runs with an average of 24.33.

Recently, the Chennai franchise released Jagadeesan ahead of the mini-auction for the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League. Apart from his fewer appearances in the Indian T20 League, Jagadeesan has some amazing numbers to his name in domestic cricket. In 51 T20 appearances in the domestic circuit, he has amassed 1064 runs with a fine average of 32.24 having six half-centuries to his name.

3. Jason Roy

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The England opener, Jason Roy hasn’t had a much bright career to his name in the Indian T20 League so far. He made his debut in 2017 for the Gujarat-based franchise. Since then, he has played only 13 matches scoring 329 runs with an average of 29.91 with two half-centuries on his credit.

He was bought by the new entrants Gujarat in the auction for an amount of INR 2 crores in the Indian T20 League Auction of 2022. Although, the Durban-born English cricketer couldn’t appear for Gujarat in the 15th edition of the tournament and pulled out due to personal reasons. Notably, the defending champions have released Roy ahead of the mini-auction for the 2023 edition. Considering his potential, either of the franchises might count on the veteran of 64 T20Is, for the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League.

4. Evin Lewis

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The Caribbean southpaw was picked by the new entrants Lucknow in the auction for the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League. The franchise spent INR 2 crores to have Evin Lewis in their squad. Although Lewis could feature only in five innings for Lucknow but didn’t get a chance to play in his suitable top-order spot and was compensated with a slot in the middle order.

In these five appearances, he played an amazing knock of 55 runs not out to take cross the line for his team in a nail-biting thriller. The 30-year-old’s impact with the bat can’t be denied as he had shown his brilliant six-hitting abilities apart from his poor form in the recently concluded 20-20 World Cup 2022.

5. Hari Nishaanth

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The Tamil Nadu-based opener Hari Nishaanth was picked by the multi-time Indian T20 League champions, Chennai in the mega auction for the 2022 edition of the tournament. Although, he couldn’t get a chance to appear in a single game throughout the entire 15th season for Chennai.

Subsequently, the franchise happened to release the 26-year-old southpaw ahead of the mini-auction for the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League. Looking at his records in domestic T20s, Nishaanth has scored 652 runs in 29 innings of the 30 matches he played with an average of 26.08. He has also registered three half-centuries to his name in domestic cricket.

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