2020 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 the auction on 19th December and which players in my view were the smart picks for their franchises. Please do read it and bouquets and brickbats are always welcome.

Mumbai Indians: -

• The defending champions Mumbai Indians were very active during the trading window and filled a few gaps in their squad by acquiring the New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult and West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford, both from the Delhi Capitals and also getting back local boy, the right-arm pacer Dhawal Kulkarni from the Rajasthan Royals, while letting go of Mayank Markande to the Delhi Capitals and also the batsman Siddhesh Lad to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Before the auctions, they did make some big-ticket releases such as that of recently-retired batsman Yuvraj Singh, West Indies opener Evin Lewis and Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting amongst the major names. With a maximum of 7 slots to fill (including 2 overseas players) and having only Rs. 13.05 crores in their purse to spend, it was clear that Mumbai would only look to purchase mostly backup players, considering that they already had a gun first-11 ready. Mumbai made the first purchase of the auction when they snapped up the dynamo Australian opener and former Kolkata Knight Rider Chris Lynn at his base price of Rs. 2 crore, before spending a huge sum of Rs. 8 crores on Lynn’s compatriot and pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile. They then rounded off their day by making base price signings of batsman Saurabh Tiwary, UP pacer Mohsin Khan, and rookies Digvijay Deshmukh and Prince Balwant Rai Singh. With the acquisitions of Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mumbai probably look like the odds-on favourite to retain their crown, but this is an even year edition, where Mumbai don’t really do well, so they'll have to pull this monkey off their back.

My Smart Pick: -

• There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Mumbai made one of the biggest steals of this auction by buying Chris Lynn on his base price. Lynn made his name by bashing big runs and bigger hits for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous seasons. Barring his fitness issues, if Lynn gets game time, that Wankhede track would be one that would really be up his alley and an in-form Lynn can and will create his moniker “Lynnsanity” for any bowling attack and that wouldn’t be a pleasant sight for any side.

Rajasthan Royals: -

• Rajasthan had a pretty forgettable year in 2019, where they missed out on the playoffs and that weak year saw them not only change their head coach by bringing in former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald, who took the Melbourne Renegades to the Big Bash League title, while also releasing major players like Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Tripathi and Ashton Turner getting released by the Royals and then traded away Ajinkya Rahane to the Delhi Capitals while also letting go of off-spinning all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham to the Kings XI Punjab as well as pacer Dhawal Kulkarni to his hometown team Mumbai Indians, while securing the services of leg-spinners Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia from the Delhi Capitals and UP pacer Ankit Rajpoot from Kings XI Punjab. They came into the auction with a purse of Rs. 28.90 crores and had a maximum of 11 players to buy (including 4 overseas players). In the auctions, they went back to their original “Moneyball” strategy and bought quite a few young players, especially a bunch of the present India Under-19 World Cup squad players, including the in-form Mumbai batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal for Rs. 2.4 crores, and pace duo of Kartik Tyagi and Akash Singh for Rs. 1.3 crores and Rs. 20 lakh base price, while also purchasing Delhi wicket-keeper Anuj Rawat for Rs. 80 lakhs, as well as adding Aniruddha Joshi at his base price of Rs. 20 lakhs. Amongst the more experienced Indian international purchases was the re-buying of Jaydev Unadkat for Rs. 3 crore and also added Robin Uthappa for Rs. 3 crores as well. Their overseas purchases were mostly base price purchases for backups, which were West Indies pacer Oshane Thomas, England pace-bowling all-rounder Tom Curran as well as veteran Australian pacer Andrew Tye and also added South African left-handed batsman David Miller. With the fact that they’ve now got a squad that looks more rounded than last year’s, Rajasthan Royals could be looking at making the playoff grade this year.

My Smart Pick: -

• It was a tricky choice for me to choose my smart pick for Rajasthan from this auction, but my choice would be their purchase of the young Yashasvi Jaiswal for a hefty Rs. 2.4 crores, which is 12 times his original base price of Rs. 20 lakhs. His back story is one that makes everyone believe that even in the toughest of circumstances, one can emerge and make their mark. Having had a breakout domestic limited-overs season for Mumbai, which saw him crack an incredible double-century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and become the youngest player to score a double century in a List A game, plus the experience he’ll gather of playing the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa a few weeks from now would really set him up for what could be a breakout season for the youngster. If he can get a few games and play a few decent innings, Jaiswal could certainly be placed on the fast track to higher honours. A honourable mention in this category must also go out to Tom Curran, whose purchase also seems to be a very sensible move by the Royals.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: -

• RCB encountered disaster yet again and that resulted in a coaching staff reshuffle yet again, with Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra quitting to be replaced by Mike Hesson as their Director of Cricket Operations and Simon Katich taking over as head coach. They then released almost all their foreign players, barring AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali, the list which included names like Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Colin de Grandhomme and Nathan Coulter-Nile, with domestic players like Akshdeep Nath also getting their proverbial pink slips. Thus, they came into the auction with the most players to buy (maximum of 12 players including 6 overseas players) and had Rs. 27.90 crores to do that. They first bought the Australian white-ball captain Aaron Finch for Rs. 4.4 crores, thus making RCB Finch’s eighth team in his IPL career, then walked into a major Rs. 10 crore trap to purchase veteran South African all-rounder Chris Morris. They made another similar overpriced purchase of Australian pacer Kane Richardson for Rs. 4 crores, but then they also made a few smart base price purchases, which included the hard-hitting Australian keeper-opener Josh Philippe, legendary South African pacer Dale Steyn as well as Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Isuru Udana, while their domestic signings included local boy Pavan Deshpande and Bengal left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, both of whom were purchase at their base prices. If Mike Hesson, Simon Katich and Virat Kohli can really put their heads together and sort out the still-apparent errors that are there in this RCB squad, then there’s still a lot of hope for them, otherwise, it could be yet another long season for them and their loyal fans.

My Smart Pick: -

• RCB’s smartest auction pick was made when they signed the uncapped Australian ‘keeper-opener Josh Philippe at his base price of Rs. 20 lakhs. Philippe has impressed many commentators with his hard-hitting aggressive knocks for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League and his eye-catching 81* off just 44 balls against the Perth Scorchers a day before the auctions was evidence of just how destructive he can be on his day. He’s known to be one of the best players of spin bowling in the Australian cricketing circles and if given a chance, then it’s certainly going to be interesting in seeing how Philippe goes about in the IPL.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: -

• Last season, the Sunrisers just about squeaked through into the playoffs after a major second-half meltdown, after making a rollicking start to their season, courtesy of their super-destructive opening partnership of David Warner-Jonny Bairstow. Considering the close shave they had in 2019, the coaching staff saw a shuffle, as the popular Tom Moody was replaced by England’s World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss, who has also taken the Kolkata Knight Riders to its two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. Considering that SRH too, like Chennai and Mumbai have a reasonably settled core group of players, they didn’t release too many players, but the major ones that were released included the banned Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, New Zealand opener Martin Guptill as well as Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda and Ricky Bhui. With a purse of Rs. 17 crores available to them to buy a maximum of 7 players (including 2 overseas players), SRH pursued on a strategy of strengthening their Indian middle-order batsmen, which was their bane last season. They attempted to correct this by signing the aggressive young Jharkhand southpaw Virat Singh as well as the current India Under-19 captain Priyam Garg for Rs. 1.9 crores each, while also signing local boy and left-hander B. Sandeep, Abdul Samad, and Sanjay Yadav at their base prices, while also making base price signings of Australian pace-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and the West Indies left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Fabian Allen. If SRH can have a settled team combination ready and their Indian middle-order batsmen led by Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar fire away, then the Sunrisers could be in for a massive season.

My Smart Pick: -

• One of the smartest picks of the auction for the Sunrisers was the signing of the West Indies left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Fabian Allen at his base price of Rs. 50 lakhs. Allen had a stunning season for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League, where his big-hitting abilities in the death overs, married with his accurate and quick left-arm spin and a demonic ability to take the most ridiculous catches in the field saw him being name-checked by the former West Indies fast bowler and legendary commentator Ian Bishop for bigger honours. The utility of Allen could suit the Sunrisers on some of the spin-friendly surfaces such as Chennai, Delhi and Jaipur and on those games, the presence of an ice-cool customer like him could become an X-Factor for the SRH side.

Please do offer your views and suggestion on this, while here's wishing everyone a very very happy new year. May the year 2020 bring loads of joy and success for all of you in all spheres of life.