Former cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that he expects Karnataka and India opener Mayank Agarwal to fetch INR 8-10 crores in the upcoming IPL 2023 auction and also predicted which two teams could seriously bid for him.

The IPL 2023 auction will take place on Friday, December 23 in Kochi and will see 405 players going under the hammer.

Mayank Agarwal was released by Punjab Kings (PBKS) whom he had captained in the IPL 2022 and was earlier replaced as captain by Shikhar Dhawan. Agarwal’s form with the bat had dipped under the pressure of captaincy and after the IPL as well, he failed to retain his place in the Indian team as well.

Agarwal has entered the auction with a base price of one crore and Aakash Chopra said that Gujarat Titans and the Sunrisers Hyderabad could be in contention for Agarwal.

He felt that though the IPL 2022 champions GT doesn’t need an opener or top-order batter, Mayank could be paired with Shubman Gill at the top.

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"I have kept Mayank Agarwal in fifth place on this list. The only thing that could go against him is that most teams don't want an opener or a top-order batter. Gujarat Titans might be interested in him. They do have Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, but if they get Agarwal to open with Gill, then wow," said Chopra on his YouTube channel, as quoted by Sportskeeda.

The other team Chopra suggested would go for Mayank Agarwal was Sunrisers Hyderabad. He says SRH has a huge purse and is in need of quality batters and he sees Mayank getting 8-10 crores in the auction.

"Sunrisers once again will be in contention due to the massive purse that they have. I don't see any quality batters there apart from Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram.They already have the bowling so they need to stack up their batting. Unless there's a case where no bidding war happens, I expect Mayank to go for 8-10 crore in the auction," said Chopra.