"I'd pick Sam Curran" - Chris Gayle has his say on which all-rounder he'd pick at IPL 2023 Auction

West Indian legend Chris Gayle has had a long-standing association with the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the 43-year-old last played in the cash-rich league in the 2021 season and hasn't been a part of the tournament since.

He played 142 matches in the IPL and scored 4965 runs at a strike rate of 148.96, cementing himself as one of the legends of the game. More recently, the Jamaican has taken time away from the game but hasn't officially called it quits on his career yet.

For the upcoming season, he is back in the IPL, but not as a player. Chris Gayle is now a part of the 'Expert Panel' at the IPL Player Auction for broadcaster Jio Cinemas.

In a recent media interaction, Gayle spoke about a host of things ahead of the player auction on Friday. Ben Stokes, Cameron Green, and Sam Curran are the talks of the town ahead of the upcoming IPL Auction. When asked by Sportskeeda about who he'd pick from the three aforementioned players, he said he would bet his money on England's MVP at the T20 World Cup, Sam Curran.

"I'd pick Sam Curran. He is the younger one out of the lot and teams in the IPL tend to look for the future and who they can get. They have to look at the availability of all these players as well. So you have to take that into consideration. Sam Curran was the MVP in the final. He pretty much had a good run in the tournament too," he said.

Gayle also mentioned that Ben Stokes could have a part to play, while also suggesting that the record for the most expensive player could be broken.

"Ben Stokes did it in the final moments again. It's a possibility that there might be some record-breaking in this auction. The guys who have the money, I'm sure they'll go in hard for these guys. These guys are the talk of the town. So, don't be too surprised if they go over the ₹16-17 crore barrier," he added.

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"Sam Curran, Cameron Green and Ben Stokes are hot property" - Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle also suggested that the three aforementioned all-rounders are going to be 'hot property at the 2022 IPL auction, after joking that team should just pay him the money and rope him into their squad.

"I don't know why they're calling those names. Just give me the money man", Gayle joked.

"All those guys we mentioned - Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes are hot property. Those are the three names everyone is looking at, at the auction. So, let's see. England winning the T20 World Cup obviously plays a part in that for Sam and Ben. So, it's going to be some money, money, money!" he added.

The IPL 2023 Auction takes place on Friday (23rd December) in Kochi. 405 players are set to go under the hammer with only 87 slots available for teams.