Sam Curran CSK's future CAPTAIN, says Suresh Raina ahead IPL 2023 mini auction

England's star all-rounder Sam Curran is among th hot favourites at the IPL 2023 Mini Auction, that is to be held tomorrow (Friday, December 23) at Kochi. The event will be live streamed on Jio Cinema app. A day before the auction, Jio Cinema hosted a series of past IPL stars who take part in a mock mini auction. In this mock auction, Suresh Raina, the former CSK batter who was popularly known as 'Chinna Thala', represented Chennai Super Kings and he bought Curran for a whopping Rs 19.5 crore. Raina made a big statement on Curran after pending Rs 19.5 crore out of CSK's total purse of Rs 20.45 crore.

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Raina said that he picked Curran for such a big price because he could be the future captain of CSK. "Curran can be a future leader in CSK,” pointed Raina after outbidding Delhi Capitals to bring home the English all-rounder. Anil Kumble, representing Mumbai Indians, also felt his team could look at Curran. "He brings in that option of batting at 6 or 7 for MI," said Kumble.

England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes garnered a lot of interest from multiple franchises. As many as five of them fiercely bid for the English test captain. Eventually, Eoin Morgan, representing Punjab Kings, snapped Stokes for a price tag of 19 Cr.

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Just showing off our squad for December 2__3__'s #TATAIPLAuction. Tune in, 1 pm onwards _#TATAIPLAuctiononJioCinema #IPL2023Auction | @IPL pic.twitter.com/daB7RgOVvo

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) December 22, 2022

"He’s worth every penny. He not only offers leadership but brings a huge amount of experience under pressure, and PBKS needs that for their campaign,” Morgan said. “If he gets you to the business end of the tournament and leaves, it could build confidence." Raina and Kumble felt Stokes could fit into the plans of CSK and MI too.

There are 405 players up got grabs at the auction, which will start at 2.30 pm IST on Friday (December 22).