Kolkata Knight Riders bought Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Litton Das and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Shakib and Litton were unsold when they were introduced to the auction in Kochi. Later on, they both attracted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and will be under Khan's pandal in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Both of them were bought by KKR at their base price, Rs 50 Lakh for Litton Das and 1.5 Crore for Shakib Al Hasan. Kolkata was the sole bidder for Litton and Shakib, while no other IPL franchise was interested in the bids.

Obviously, this is not the first time for Shakib in IPL or Kolkata, after being overlooked in the last season - Shakib is back in the galaxy of knights again.

On the other hand, Litton Das is the seventh cricketer from Bangladesh to get selected by an IPL team, following Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, and Mustafizur Rahman.

There were two more Bangladeshi cricketers introduced in the auction this year. But Taskin Ahmed and Afif Hossain did not attract any bids for their base price of Rs 50 lakh each.

Anyways, Bangladesh's 'cutter-master' Mustafizur Rahman has already been retained by his previous franchise Delhi Capital in November.

Although, earlier, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the franchises about the availability of the players for the 2023 IPL. Which turned out Bangladesh players could just take part for a little time of the tournament because of some international series of Bangladesh national cricket team that is supposed to take place in the same time-frame.

IPL 2023 Auction Review: Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes crack records in a breathtaking auction.

Foreign all-rounders, Indian pace bowlers, and uncapped all-rounders dominated the mini-auction in Kochi making a Rs 167 crore sale of 80 players on Friday, December 23.

For the record books, 24 year old English sensation Sam Curran broke the record for the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL auctions. He was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping amount of Rs 18.50 crore, breaking South African cricketer Chris Morris’s total of Rs 16.25 crore from the auction of the 2021 season.

However, the record of Sam Curran was looking like it will not last long as the bidding war started for 23 year old Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green. Minutes later, Mumbai Indians secured Cameron Green for a magnificent sum of Rs 17.50 crore, the second-most expensive buy in the history of the IPL auction - which was just Rs 18.25 crore less than Curran.

The show was still on air when the England test captain Ben Stokes was introduced to the franchise teams in the auction. He was bought for big money - 16.25 crores by the Chennai Super Kings.

West Indian cricketer Nicholas Pooran was the 4th most pricey player at the IPL 2023 auction. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) guarded off the bidding war from Delhi Capitals (DC) to buy the former West Indies captain for Rs 16 crore. Pooran, who was dismissed by Sun Risers Hyderabad after an unfortunate run in the previous IPL found his way back in this new season. The big hitter scored 306 runs in 14 matches but failed in crunch situations last season.

Except for Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, and Punjab Kings, all other franchise teams in the 10-team league met their quota of 25 players. Kolkata and Punjab will head into IPL 2023 with solely 22-member teams while Mumbai will hold 24 players. Unlike Mumbai Indians, Kolkata and Punjab had sufficient funds to complete their teams for the new season, which is designated to be held in both home and away formats.

While the big money expenditures, many stars like South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen, Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka, England's Chris Jordan, and Dawid Malan were some of the big foreign players, who went unsold. On the other side, there are going to be a few thrilling first-timers in the IPL 2023 as the preferences of former England captain Joe Root and Ireland pacer Josh Little, England’s youngster big-hitter Harry Brook and Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das apart from Green.

FIFA investigating how ‘Salt BAE’ entered the World Cup final pitch.

FIFA has started an investigation into the fact of how some individuals attained “undue access” to the field in the World Cup 2022 final after photos and videos of Turkish celeb chef Nusret Gokce celebrating with Argentina’s players went viral on social media.

Nusret Gokce, a celeb who is the owner of a chain of restaurants and is known as ‘Salt Bae’ for his theatrical style of sprinkling salt on his steaks. Gokce has posted videos and images on his Instagram profile of himself with Argentine players after their triumph over France in the 2022 World Cup final.

Moreover, Gokce was also photographed carrying the World Cup trophy. As per FIFA’s website, the trophy can only be touched by a “very select group of people,” including ex-winners and heads of state. Videos were spreading on social media and also directed Gokce gripping for Lionel Messi’s arm in an endeavor to attract the Argentina captain’s attention.

“Following a review, FIFA has been establishing how individuals gained undue access to the pitch after the closing ceremony at Lusail Stadium on 18 December,” the world football’s governing body stated in a notice. “The appropriate internal action will be taken.” Gokce ran viral in 2017 after publishing videos of himself salting meat with a cobra-like maneuver.

He has almost 50 million followers on Instagram and has aided in launching Nusr-Et restaurants, which charge several hundred bucks for some stakes of meat, in a limited number of places across the globe. The restaurateur has been photographed with several footballers and other superstars at his restaurants, the list includes Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski and French young sensation Kylian Mbappe. He also published a video of an earlier meeting with Lionel Messi to his Instagram account earlier this week.

Argentina's President thanks Sheikh Hasina, the PM of Bangladesh for support.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez thanked Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for supporting the Argentina national football team in the recently ending Qatar World Cup 2022.

The Argentine President published a tweet on his authorized account on 20th December, responding to the letter sent by the Bangladesh prime minister a day before where she hailed Argentina for triumphing in their third World Cup championship in football.

“Thank you Sheikh Hasina and the entire people of Bangladesh. The union and mutual affection that we have seen in recent weeks has become inexplicable, and today both flags are flying here as well. Let’s deepen this link,” president Fernandez noted in the post on Twitter.

Earlier, the individuals of Argentina and Bangladesh assembled a special bond over the course of the Qatar World Cup 2022 over their common passion for the Argentina national football team. Argentines were surprised and overwhelmed witnessing photos and video clips of the incredible support for their national football team thousands of miles away in Bangladesh. To show solidarity, some Argentinians even introduced fan groups on various social media platforms to support Bangladesh in cricket, a sport they have very little to no understanding of.

World Cup champion Messi decides to remain at PSG.

Lionel Messi will celebrate his World Cup win by deciding to stay at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), local media proclaimed on Wednesday, as he endeavors to guide the French flank to an elusive Champions League title which they are still to conquer.

The 35-year-old, who guided Argentina to win in the World Cup final against France in Qatar last weekend, will agree to an extension of another season to his existing contract in the French capital which would have expired in the summer.

Le Parisian and RMC Sport conveyed that Messi will sit down with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and other leading club officials when he returns after his World Cup leave.

Messi entered PSG in 2021 on a two-season contract with an option for another year after having spent his entire proficient career with Barcelona. The seven-time Ballon d'Or prizewinner collected four Champions League titles in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015 in Spain as well as 10 La Liga peaks.

On Sunday, he uplifted Argentina to a penalty shootout triumph over France in the World Cup 2022 final after the epic battle had ended 3-3 in extra time.

Messi was crowned as the player of the tournament, winning the tournament's golden ball - scored two times in the match against PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe clutching a hat-trick for France.