The defending champion Gujarat Titans have traded New Zealand’s pacer Lockie Ferguson and Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz to Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming season as the IPL (Indian Premiere League) 2023 auction gets closer.

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Ferguson was acquired by Titans at the mega auction for the price of 10 crore, and during his 13 matches as a member of the team, he claimed 12 wickets. From 2017 to 2021, the Kiwi international played for the Knight Riders, two-time IPL champions.

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On the other hand, as a replacement for England batter Jason Roy, Gurbaz was added to the team. But during the 2017–18 season, the young wicketkeeper–batter was absent from all of the games. As Hardik Pandya and company won the IPL championship in their first season, Titans had an incredible debut in the lucrative T20 competition. In the final game of the tournament, they defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets.

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Jason Behrendorff to join Mumbai Indians

Further, Jason Behrendorff, an Australian who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, will join the five-time defending champion Mumbai Indians in the upcoming campaign. In the mega auction leading up to the IPL 2022, RCB paid 75 lakh rupees to purchase the Australian pacer. Behrendorff previously participated in the 2018 competition for MI.

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By the deadline of November 15, which has been set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, all ten franchises must submit a list of the players they have kept (BCCI). According to news agency PTI, the auction for the next edition will take place on December 23 in Kochi.

It is anticipated that the total purse value will rise from INR 90 crore to 95 crore. Ishan Kishan, who was acquired by Mumbai Indians for a whopping sum of 15.25 crore, was the most expensive player in the previous season’s auction. The most expensive foreign player at the auction was Liam Livingstone, who was acquired by Punjab Kings for 11.50 crore.