Budget XI from the IPL 2023 auction

The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction was an extravagant affair that saw most of the 10 franchises shell out record-breaking sums to secure the services of world-class domestic and international players.

Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, Sam Curran, Harry Brook, and Nicholas Pooran were among those who experienced massive paydays. At the same time, as in any auction, several players flew under the radar to be snapped up at cut-price amounts.

Here is a playing XI comprising budget picks from the IPL 2023 auction.

Note: The IPL rule that states only four overseas players can be part of a XI has been followed.

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Openers: Vishnu Vinod, KS Bharat (wk)

A dangerous keeper-batter who has long been regarded as a future IPL record-breaker, Vishnu Vinod has found opportunities hard to come by in the league. He was signed by the Mumbai Indians for ₹20 lakh, presumably as a backup keeper.

KS Bharat, meanwhile, was always going to go to the Gujarat Titans (GT), who needed an Indian gloveman. An excellent player of spin, Bharat will surely justify his ₹1.2 crore signing with ease.

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Middle order and all-rounders: Samarth Vyas, Nishant Sindhu, Prerak Mankad, Sikandar Raza, Jason Holder (c), David Wiese

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Samarth Vyas has been supremely consistent across formats in domestic cricket, having experienced an upswing of late, particularly in T20s. The 27-year-old will want to make the most of his first taste of the IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who raised their paddle for him at ₹20 lakh.

A slew of all-rounders make up the rest of this budget XI. Prerak Mankad, another consistent performer in domestic cricket for Saurashtra, will play for the Lucknow Super Giants. He, too, was bought at his base price of ₹20 lakh.

The immensely talented Nishant Sindhu fetched ₹60 lakh from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a decent sum for an 18-year-old but still one that is probably on the lower side for a player of his caliber.

In the overseas department, Jason Holder, David Wiese, and Sikandar Raza were the standout budget picks. While Holder plugged a massive hole in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) XI for just ₹5.75 crore, Wiese and Raza were signed at their base prices by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) respectively.

Wiese and Raza might only be backups for their respective franchises, but they are world-class T20I players who have a lot more to offer than their price tags suggest.

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Bowlers: Jhye Richardson, Mayank Markande, Yash Thakur

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Jhye Richardson is no stranger to big paydays in the IPL auction, but he commanded only ₹1.5 crore this time around. The Mumbai Indians (MI) have a high-quality fast bowler who is among the canniest T20 operators in the world when fit.

Mayank Markande has been around the IPL for a while now but hasn't been able to nail down a spot in a playing XI since his breakthrough debut campaign. The leg-spinner, who will play for the Sunrisers for ₹50 lakh, was one of the best domestic wrist-spinners on the market in the auction and was a steal.

Yash Thakur might not be as well-known as the other names on this list, but his ceiling is immense. The 24-year-old has been stellar for Vidarbha across formats and was particularly prolific in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year. He will ply his trade for the Super Giants, who shelled out just ₹45 lakh for his services.