All 10 franchises announced their respective lists of retained and released players on Tuesday, November 15. The Sun Risers Hyderabad opted not to retain Nicholas Pooran.
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Pooran, who SRH bought up for a high price of ₹10.75 crore at the IPL 2022 mega-auction, failed to live up to the expectations and lost his contract.
In 14 appearances in the previews season of the IPL, Pooran scored a total of 306 with only two half-centuries to his name. With Pooran now being released other franchises will be eyeing the wicketkeeper batter.
Nicolas Pooran one of the cleanest strikers in cricket, he is hugely talented and can singlehandedly win a game for his team.
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Let’s take a look at the three franchises that target Pooran at the upcoming IPL 2023 auction.
Sun Risers Hyderabad (SRH)
Pooran could be to rejoin his former franchise, SRH, once again. The Orange Army released the southpaw to add up ₹10.75 cr to their purse and will be well-equipped to buy him back come the auction in December.
Considering that Pooran has not set the world alight with his batting in recent times, the bidding will be low and could provide an opportunity to buy him back.
Hyderabad are looking out for a specialist wicketkeeper and having already worked with the franchise previously, Pooran would be an ideal candidate for SRH to bid for in the upcoming auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
KKR released all three wicketkeepers, Sheldon Jackson, Baba Indrajith, and Sam Billings ahead of the auction, and this opens up an opportunity for Pooran, who can keep wickets and bolster the middle order.
The only wicketkeeper KKR has on their roster is Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Buying Pooran will fill a significant gap for the Kolkata-based franchise, it won’t be as easy for them since they are left with the lowest purse value at ₹7.05 cr for the upcoming auction.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Gujarat titans have two wicketkeepers in Wriddhiman Saha and Matthew Wade, the duo didn’t play to the best of their ability. Saha blew hot and cold and Wade just had one or two performances with the bat which is not enough in this day and age.
Wade managed to score just 157 runs at an average of 15.70 and an equally disappointing strike rate of 113.77.
Nicolas Pooran could just be just the right fix the franchise is looking for, they will definitely will be interested in bidding for the West Indies T20 Captain.
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