Auction review: RCB

 Finally - the right combination?

For a team that has never been short of stars, RCB have been perennial under achievers of the IPL. No team in the IPL has reached more finals and failed to win in each of them than RCB. Despite the presence of Virat Kohli and the ever flamboyant ABD throughout most of the last 14 seasons they have always stuttered in key moments - none more so than then 2016 season when they had Gayle, ABD and Kohli in the form of their lives with Kohli scoring 973 runs with 4 centuries in that season. 

The biggest Achilles heal for RCB over the past has been their bowling. They've had their fare share of bowlers - Anil Kumble, Danniel Vettori, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Dale Steyn are a few bowlers that have been in the team. But when it came to playing as a team, RCB tended to depend on their batsmen getting them runs than bowlers getting them wickets. And more importantly, in every season, they lacked an allrounder that could contribute both with bat and ball. And that is why by retaining Kohli(batsman), Siraj(bowler) and Glenn Maxwell(all rounder), they seemed to have hit the right choices even before stepping into the auction room. But it was odd that they decided not to retain one of Yuzvendra Chahal and Devdut Padikkal - two players who had major roles to play in their relatively successful 2020 and 2021 seasons - may be they wanted to risk it and thought they could pick them at the auction.

That decision did backfire though with both Padikkal and Chahal going elsewhere. But how did they fare at picking their team? The auction started with the surprise snatch of Faf du Plessis from CSK. Faf was picked by CSK in 2011 and was part of every up and down CSK went through over the next 10 years. CSK did put up a fight trying to wrest him but stopped when the stakes went high. RCB pounced on the opportunity to snatch an important player - they now had the openers concern sorted out. Having lost out Chahal and Padikkal, they were desperate to get some of their existing squad back. So when the other franchises put pressure for Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga, they went in all guns blazing - as a result both Patel and Hasaranga went for over 10cr - but more importantly RCB got them both. Dinesh Karthik came in next - to fill the void that ABD left - behind the wickets and in front as well.

The rest of the auction went relatively quite barring the annexure of Josh Hazlewood(interestingly from CSK again) and Shahbaz Ahmed. They did pick some good talent in the accelerated auction towards the end and managed to fill all required slots. It was definitely a case of lessons learnt from past experience as they concentrated on bringing in useful allrounders and key bowlers. In conclusion, RCB have tried to rectify mistakes of the past where they used to go for star value than skills. They seemed to have realized that a strong top order requires to be complimented by an able middle-order and an efficient bowling line-up. The picks seem to suggest that have succeeded in striking the right combination. Now all we can do is keep fingers crossed and hope they click as an unit.

Probable XI: Kohli, Du Plessis, Maxwell (C), Karthik (wk), Rutherford/Willey, Hasaranga, Shahbaz/Lomror, Harshal, Hazlewood, Karn Sharma/Kaul, Siraj 

Auction review: SRH

 Investment in youth - OK. Where is the old-guard??

A look at teams from the Hyderabad franchises of the past always gives you these key commonalities - a strong bowling line-up, a top-heavy batting line-up and a brittle middle order. But yet another common factor across the various teams that have been picked has always been the lack of a proper Indian middle order talent.

Players like Hanuma Vihari, Sunny Sohal, Yusuf Pathan (past his prime), Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Akshath Reddy have all played vital roles in matches on their days. But none of them have been able to provide the consistency that is needed for a successful team.

The only times the Hyderabad franchises have been successful - they've been driven by great captaincy - in Adam Gilchrist, David Warner and Kane Williamson. And the fact that these captains batted at the top only cements the "top-heavy batting line-up" argument. So everyone expected SRH to go for a balanced pick at the auction. Did they live-up to that expectation? Let's see

As a reminder, they had retained KW and a couple of rookies (Abdul Samad and Umran Malik (that was a surprise actually)). So effectively they just had a captain to build a team around. And when they seemed like going the full distance for Ishan Kishan, everyone thought they meant business. But alas! They gave up the Kishan chase after touching the 15cr mark and then (surprisingly) did not move a muscle when David Warner, Johnny Bairstow and Jason Holder came under the hammer!

The foreigner as a wicket keeper legacy seemed set to continue with Nicholas Pooran's purchase - despite his poor form in the past seasons. QDK could have been a better choice. And then came Washington Sundar - a promising purchase but not a signal of intent though. What followed after that was a complicated pursue of a variety of players. Despite having Brian Lara, Muthiah Muralitharan, Tom Moody and Simon Katich on the table, the picks never seemed to suggest the quartet had brainstormed the list. As if to make the case even more curious, they brought back Bhuvaneswar Kumar, T Natrajan and (!!!) Abhishek Sharma and made some big money annexures like Romario Shepherd, Rahul Tripathi and Marco Jansen.

At the end as I went through the 23 man team, that was supposed to be built around Kane the captain, I could see a bunch of rookies, a couple of (mandatory) West Indies players and a decent bowling line-up (not that they had managed to find a replacement for Rashid Khan - Shreyas Gopal really???).  It's all youth and dash written all over the team but the real problem would come on the field. They have a captain. But where is the vice-captain?? Who'll Kane go to if he wanted to come up with a Plan B? Bhuvi and Pooran can be handy. But a real experienced hand is what he will miss. Now go back two paragraphs and read that line again - did not move a muscle when David Warner, Johnny Bairstow and Jason Holder came under the hammer!

Probable XI: Tripathi, Pooran/Philips (wk), Kane (c), Markram, Abhishek, Samad/Gopal, Sundar, Jansen/Abbott, Bhuvi, Natrajan, Umran/Tyagi

Auction review: CSK

 Aww that family reunion, but...

Having retained MSD - I think more out of emotional connect and commercial strategy - CSK were already handicapped by 12cr when they went into the auction. Adding that to the retention fees for Jadeja, Moeen and Ruturaj and the handicap looked mammoth. With 48cr on hand and almost a full team to recruit - given they had picked an opener, an aging captain, an aging all-rounder and a good player whose availability could always be a point of contention - they were continually cautious throughout the two days.

 

And when they picked up Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa - it was getting clear. Get them all back and at any cost. But then what baffled me and most of the fans was the decision to ignore Suresh Raina. If anything, Raina came with more CSK experience, more T20 expertise and a spin option - something Robin Uthappa lacked. Did they really decide against going for Raina or were they holding cash for later? Moments later, they let long term star Faf Du Plessis slip through to be captured by arch rivals RCB - another shocker for the fans.

Then came the moments the fans were looking forward to - a CSK like show. On came Deepak Chahar under the hammer and fans had fingers crossed. They were hoping CSK would go for the kill here. But CSK did not dive in from the word go. They kept everyone on their tenterhooks even as the bids from other teams breached the 10cr mark. And then the hero made his entry. SRH gave up, DC gave up and RR jumped in only to give up as Chahar hit 14cr. I can imagine the yellow roar when the auctioneer announced that Chahar was heading to Chepauk.

Just as we were thinking that CSK were back, the next few bids(and non-bids) they made seemed to suggest that they had already settled on what they wanted. All their next few bids were feeble shots to check if they got lucky. Only Shivam Dube's pick and a later splurge for Chris Jordan looked anything close to a fight being put up by CSK. And we could see a Kiwi(Fleming) influence in the picks of Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne. 

All in all, except for the excitement of the Chahar pick, it was a lot less sombre from CSK this time. Despite investing high on MSD, CSK were continuing to look for a wicket keeper throughout and missed. 3 years from now with Dhoni at 41, he must definitely need an able keeper to fill in his shoes. The make-shift Rayudu isn't choices they should be relishing. Let's hope some Dhoni magic sets in here so he can groom N Jagadeesan as a worthy successor - only as a keeper. He'd still need to find a replacement skipper, a replacement finisher, a replacement middle-order batsman, a replacement guide, a replacement calming influence, a replacement brain... the list goes on. Definitely multi-faceted!

Probable XI: Conway, Ruturaj, Moeen, Rayudu, Jadeja, Dhoni (C, WK), Dube, Chahar, Santner/Theekshana, Milne/Jordan, Hangargekar/Asif

 

An exciting start

 Thrilling, pulsating, heart-stopping...

It lived up to the expectations. It was thrilling, it was pulsating, it had its heart stopping moments, it had its fun moments. If the IPL Auction was anything to go by, we are sure in for a roller coaster IPL2022.

Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna struck jackpot - a reflection of their elevation from IPL glitter to the national colors while on the foreign players front exciting prospects breached the 10cr mark.

Seasoned campaigners spanning across nationalities found bidders who did not hesitate to go the distance when required. The two new teams that were added this year performed just like any other team at the auction and did not seem ruffled - may be due to the fact that they had IPL experienced people on the board. 

Compare the 2022 auction to the 2008 auction and you can see a marked difference. Back then, the focus was on marquee additions. I remember an incredibly start-studded Deccan Chargers that looked like world beaters on paper. 14 seasons later, the franchises have grown matured. The chase is not for stars but for accelerators that can push the team's stock both on the field and off the field.

While Chennai Super Kings decided to bring back almost the entirety of the "family" that won the title last year, Sunrisers Hyderabad went in the with strategy to blood youth. Kolkata Knight Riders who have always been consistently shrewd at the auctions, cashed in again with their early bird approach. And for once, Royal Challengers Bangalore invested equally in all areas instead of loading up the team with batsmen. Delhi Capitals were focused on accumulating Indian players and Rajasthan Royals were bent on building a team that would compliment Sanju Samson and Jos Butler. Mumbai Indians only had Ishan on their minds and went for broke for him - once again a family reunion strategy. Punjab Kings seemed like going for everyone but did end up with a reasonable team while newcomers Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans had done enough homework with the staff they had at their disposal.

As if the drama of the auctions wasn't enough, auctioneer Hugh Edmeades had a bout of illness that kept everyone anxious for a few hours. Kudos to Charu Sharma for taking the baton on blindly and ensuring a smooth auction. Hugh did bring cheers back when he came back on later on the second day to wrap up proceedings. As the saying goes, all is well that ends well.