2018-19 IPL Auctions: The Review Part-II

So taking off from where we left off in Part-I of my attempt to analyse the business of the 8 IPL franchises at Tuesday’s auction and which players in my view were the smart picks for their franchises. Please do read it and bouquets and brickbats are always welcome.

1.       Mumbai Indians: -

o   The 3-time champions didn’t enjoy the best of seasons and failed to make it to the playoffs after losing their last game. A major reason for that could be attributed to the relative level of inexperience of that line-up and also the inconsistent performances by their big stars such as Kieron Pollard, captain Rohit Sharma and also their big-money signing West Indian opener Evin Lewis. This year, they decided to correct this by making a very smart move in acquiring the hard-hitting South African keeper-opener Quinton de Kock from RCB in a pre-auction transfer and in the auctions, they went about in resigning their legendary Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, while also signing left-arm pacer Barinder Sran as a back-up to Jasprit Bumrah, at a hefty 3.4 crores. They made a very smart signing in the young in-form Punjab batsman Anmolpreet Singh and also signed Himachal all-rounder Pankaj Jaiswal & the young J&K pacer Rasikh Salam Dar. But the surprise signing came right towards the end of the auction which was that of Yuvraj Singh at his base price of 1 crore. Clearly, Mumbai have punted on bringing in a degree of experience and in Malinga & Yuvi, they have got a lot of experience on their dugout and that can only be a good thing for the Mumbai Indians.

My Smart Pick: -

·     Anmolpreet Singh came into this auction on the back of a phenomenal run of form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which led to an India A call-up for their tour of New Zealand, where he didn’t disappoint in the one List A game he got against New Zealand A in the series and scored an attractive half-century, which led to Mumbai Indians signing him at a price of 80 Lakhs in the auction. If Mumbai, which is a franchise known for discovering and backing young Indian players, gives him the opportunity to play to his talent, he is destined for a long run.

2.      Rajasthan Royals: -

o   The erstwhile practitioners of the “Moneyball” strategy, the Royals had spent a lot of money in the previous auction, but this year the Royals released quite a few players including their 11.5 crore signing of the previous auction, the left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat along with a few other players, and at the auctions, they spent 8.4 crores on resigning Unadkat, which makes him an IPL millionaire for the second auction in a row and even more incredibly, in the same year itself. The price paid for Unadkat seems extremely high for someone considered to be a uni-dimensional bowler, but on observing the auction trends for the price that was being spent on Indian pacers, it is an understandable price to pay. They also spent 2.4 crores on the perennially-injured Varun Aaron but also made some very smart purchases, amongst them was the 1.1 crore signing of the West Indian pacer Oshane Thomas, who had impressed everyone with his blistering pace during the T20 series against India in November, and right towards the end, signed opener Manan Vohra, the English all-rounder Liam Livingstone & the Australian Ashton Turner. The main challenge for them would arise when they lose their overseas core of Steve Smith, Jos Buttler & Ben Stokes for the second half of the IPL for the World Cup preparations with their respective teams, and they may also lose all-rounder Jofra Archer, if he makes it to the England squad.

My Smart Pick: -

·     A lot of people outside the English shores may not have heard the name of the Lancashire captain Liam Livingstone, but if his T20 record is given attention, one would realise the reason why his name is often talked up so much. He’s known as an effortlessly clean hitter of a cricket ball and is also a very useful leg-spinner and his base price purchase by the Royals should be regarded as an exceptionally smart piece of business as he would lend a lot of utility to that line-up.

3.      Royal Challengers Bangalore: -

o   The Virat Kohli-led had yet another poor IPL season in 2018 and they decided to change their backroom staff by handing the coaching reigns over to former India coach Gary Kirsten and appointing our beloved Ashish Nehra as their bowling coach, and in the auctions, they clearly punted on match-winners, by spending big money to sign the power-hitting West Indian left-hander Shimron Hetmyer, the unheralded Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube, whose performances in the ongoing-Ranji season and also the Mumbai T20 League was attracting a lot of attention, which was further magnified when he hit 5 sixes in an over twice this year first in a game in the Mumbai T20 League & then in a Ranji Trophy game against Baroda, and also signed UP’s Akshdeep Nath for 3.6 crores while making base price bids to sign South African keeper Heinrich Klaasen and all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh. If Kohli can keep his equilibrium intact and not take the kind of strange captaincy decisions that he’s been taking for India in the recent past and also ensure that the big players perform in the crucial moments, then RCB have a side which can mount a strong title challenge.

My Smart Pick: -

·     I had a tough time deciding this but it’s really hard to ignore the recent performances that Shivam Dube has been putting in the recent past. Dube’s been the lone bright spot for Mumbai in what’s been a really tricky Ranji season for them, often coming up with impact performances in situations of strife, be it taking important wickets with his effective right-arm medium pace or destroying bowling attacks with his powerful batting. He would be coming into this IPL on the back of a massive 5 crore contract hanging over him, which is a massive price tag pressure to carry, but if he can continue to perform the way he’s been performing recently and bring the same to the IPL, then there’s absolutely no guaranteeing how far his star may go.

4.      Sunrisers Hyderabad: -

o   Last season’s runners-up traded unsettled opener Shikhar Dhawan to the Delhi Capitals in exchange for Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma before the auctions and had no major gaps to fill in their squad, bar the absence of a first-choice wicketkeeper after the release of Wriddhiman Saha. In the auction, they pulled off arguably one of the smartest moves of the auction by signing the England keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow for 2.2 crores and then resigning Wriddhiman Saha for just 1.2 crores and then picked up the New Zealand opener Martin Guptill towards the end of the auction, who would serve as a backup for David Warner, who’ll miss a major portion of the season, firstly due to his ban which would end after the first week of the IPL season and then for Australia’s World Cup preparations. The only possible drawback in their squad is the absence of a backup overseas pacer for Billy Stanlake, but with their bowling attack being their source of strength, this is a drawback which could be easily be covered up.

My Smart Pick: -

·    There’s not a lot of choices here, but obviously the acquisition of Jonny Bairstow is SRH’s standout acquisition. Bairstow’s reinvention as a white-ball basher has been a godsend for England and with his hard-hitting ways at the top of the order, he would provide SRH with some lightning-quick starts while also ensuring that the SRH bowlers which boast of the likes of Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed & Siddarth Kaul have a reliable keeper standing behind the stumps. Also a special word of mention must be given to SRH’s pre-auction trade with the Delhi Capitals to let Shikhar Dhawan go to Delhi in exchange for Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma, as they were able to fill multiple slots with a single trade, as Nadeem’s presence now gives them a quality Indian spin bowler, which they lacked the previous season, Vijay Shankar offers them a good medium pace-bowling all-rounder who’ll lend solidity to the middle order and Abhishek Sharma’s potential as a finisher was seen last IPL and thus, SRH would really benefit with the presence of the youngster in their batting order.

Please do read this and share your views.