Now that the dust of the IPL auction 2023 has settled, let us reflect on the Australian dominance in this IPL auction.
First things first, in the end, every IPL franchise wants to win the IPL and thus to have the best athletes, fielders and team players as its constituents, and needless to say, Aussies marked those criterias, like everytime.
Secondly, I feel it is no brainer that every IPL team creates or tries to create a combination that they think is perfect to win the IPL, at any cost. For eg. this time, Starc, Cummins have fitted and solved the missing jig-saw puzzle to KKR, SRH’s team combinations and thus they went beyond boundaries for them!
Third and the last point is that, however one may deny, it is winning arc of the Test Championship 2023, ODI WC 2023, which also led to enhance a psychological perception about the Australian players, which in my opinion has led to a bit increase in their prices, than the expected price. This might be at the subconscious level, if not necessarily consciously.
However, one must note that some celebrated but not in much form players like Steve Smith are unsold, which in turn highlights the underlying practicality in the auction as well.
Thus, to conclude, it would be wise to say that, the Aussie dominance in this IPL has not come just out of the blue, but is a combination of reality, perception and perceived image!!!
Vijay Bhandare 