Opening weekend review

 KKR stifle clueless CSK; DC find new saviors; RCB are at it again

Barely 6 months ago, a suddenly resurgent CSK played an extraordinary tournament in UAE and defied all beliefs to capture the IPL title for the 4th time. And now, 6 months later, with almost the same team against almost the same KKR team that they beat in the final in Dubai they looked a far cry from the champions they had become. In Narine and Chakravarthy, KKR had more than the required talent to stifle CSK. With half the team in the den and without Moeen Ali and Deepak Chahar, CSK needed former(!!!) captain MSD and current captain Jaddu to offer hopes of a rescue. For 8 overs, the spin twins held Dhoni and Jadeja in such a stranglehold that CSK looked at risk of not crossing 100 despite the presence of their two big stars. In the end KKR spared Dhoni the embarrassment of a feeble innings by using the pace bowlers - that Dhoni took advantage of and hit a few blows to take CSK to 130 and his score to 50. Even though it was a 50, Dhoni would have absolutely not enjoyed one run of that innings. KKR looked in no trouble in the chase and when Dwayne Bravo picks all wickets to fall, you should know CSK had no fire power to challenge KKR. That was a total swipe to start of IPL 2022.

MI don't normally have great opening games in the IPL. They've lost 9 out of the past 14 openers that they have played in. So when confronted with the ominous task of taking on a swashbuckling DC, history was definitely against them. But after having posted 177 on the board on the back of a smashing innings by(who else but) Ishan Kishan, they must have smelt victory when they had DC at 6 down with 75 to get in 40 balls. But DC had new saviors in the form of Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel who toyed with MI and preserved history by whacking MI with more than an over to go.

The last match of the weekend pitted two batting powerhouses in RCB and PBKS. True to the tone, the match turned out to be a run feast. New captain Faf ably filled in the void ABD had created while Kohli looked like he had found a new role at RCB - to be an anchor. Dinesh Karthik's finishing skills continue to be on the rise despite the rising age. And when they scored 205 in their 20, they must have though it was a beginning of a new era. Remember, Glen Maxwell hasn't joined the team yet. But as the second half of the game unfolded, the RCB of old also came to the fore - dropped catches, misfielding, wayward bowling. Agarwal, Dhawan, Rajapaksa - all batsmen benefitted from RCB's errors. Yes, RCB were at it again! Odean Smith & Shahrukh Khan then hit the final nails with such ferocity that they still had 1 over left by the time PBKS finished the chase.

It's kicked-off - reviewing the rest briefly

GT and LSG use IPL experiences of Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir; MI have an indifferent auction. 

LSG already had KL Haul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi in the dugout and made some interesting and worthy picks in Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Deepak Hooda and Avesh Khan. That they spent the maximum purse of Avesh provided an insight into their thought process while picking QDK, Wood and Holder strengthened their overseas squad. Gambhir's excellent analytical skills seemed to have come good at the table.

GT had picked Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan (that is one hell of a pick in my view) and Shubman Gill to begin with - there are questions about Pandya but on his day he could wreck havoc. At the auction, with Nehra by their side, they went about accumulating the squad in methodical manner - just like how Nehra methodically planned India's victory over England in that league game at the 2003 World Cup. Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson and Rahul Tewatia hit jackpot while a late Mathew Wade pick took care of the openers slot. David Miller, Alzarri Joseph, Vijay Shankar and Wriddhiman Saha were decent picks while Tamil Nadu spinner Sai Kishore was a surprise pick. He should do a fantastic job to complement Rashid Khan - something Rashid missed during his time at SRH.

MI had the toughest choices to make. In order to retain the top guys in Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Kieran Pollard, they had to let a lot of superstars go into the auction pool. And the fact that they invested over 15cr for Ishan Kishan alone only aggravated their position. So much so that the only other player that they could retain from the previous lot was Arjun Tendulkar. Their other picks at the auction did not elicit any excitement at all to be honest although Dewald Brevis who is dubbed the new ABD could be an eye catcher. Despite being unavailable for this season Jofra Archer made it to the team on a heavy budget as did Tim David brought in a new nationality into the IPL arena - Singapore. In summary - MI had an ordinary and indifferent auction. Let's hope the squad is able to prove that wrong.

Probable XI (LSG): Rahul (c), De Kock (wk), Pandey, Stoinis, Hooda/Vohra, Pandya, Holder/Chameera, Wood/Lewis, Bishnoi/Karn, Avesh, Rajpoot/Gowtham

Probable XI (GT): Wade (wk), Gill, Pandya(c), Saha/Tewatia, Shankar, Miller/Joseph/Drakes,  Ferguson, Yadav/Kishore, Rashid, Shami, Sangwan/Aaron

Probable XI (MI): Kishan (wk), Rohit(c), SKY, Brevis/David, Pollard, Meredith/Allen, Archer*/Mills/Sams, Ashwin, Bumrah, Unadkat, Markande

* - will missi IPL 2022

Auction review: RR

 A classic blend aimed at bringing back the winning feeling

Back in 2008, it was fantasy land for Rajasthan Royals. They were supposed to be outshined by the galaxy of stars that was taking centerstage at the IPL. But what transpired was a fairy tale. They went from strength to strength deflating stellar opposition before finally coming up trumps at the pinnacle. That fairy tale run was a prelude to many more such tales in the IPL over the next 13 years. But unfortunately for RR, none of those stories that resulted in ultimate glory involved them. So as IPL 15 kicks-off RR should be hoping to produce the same fable from 14 years ago. But before setting foot on the field, did they do the job right at the auction table? Let's see

With Sanju Samson, Jos Butler and Yashashwi Jaiswal retained at a total cost of 28 cr, they had already accounted for a strong opening partnership and a good captain. So it was a surprise that they also went for Devdut Padikkal. But in the end, it was more RCB's loss than RR's gain. Even before the annexure of Padikkal, RR went all out just like KKR bringing on Trent Boult, Ravi Ashwin and Shimron Hetmeyer. And then to add to Padikkal's purchase they dented RCB further by hooking out Yuzvendra Chahal as well (that combo of Ashwin and Chahal is going to be potent for sure). More was to come as they pushed the purse for Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini and Riyan Parag. Barring Karun Nair's pick, there was hardly any excitement thereafter. But it looked like RR had already picked their choices.

On the second day, RR sat through the auction until the end before enriching their foreign squad finally with the picks of Rassie van der Dussen, Daryll Mitechell, Nathan Coulter Nite and James Neesham. In the end, they barely managed to fill their required quota of 24 players. A look back at the squad and you can see a healthy mix of Indian players, youth and strong overseas players - a classic blend aimed at reliving the feeling that Shane Warne had inducted into the franchise when the IPL opened the avenue.

Probable XI: Samson (wk, c), Butler, Padikkal, Jaiswal, Hetmeyer/Mitchell, Parag/van der Dussen, Ashwin, Saini, Coulter-Nile/Neesham, Chahal, Krishna

Auction review: DC

 Focus on youth and adventurous - will it help cross the final frontier this time?

If only league position at the end of the league stage must be considered as a benchmark, Delhi Capitals have been as consistent as MI & CSK over the past 3 seasons - finishing 3rd, 2nd and 1st in the league in seasons 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. But unfortunately their performances at the last stage - in the play-offs - haven't been as consistent as the aforementioned two and hence DC find themselves branded as under-achievers. In Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Steven Smith and Marcus Stoinis they had a champion team and that reflected on their league position. So going into the 2022 auction, they had to retain the core and the lottery fell to Pant, Nortje, Axar and Shaw - letting Shreyas go in the process. But a more potent retention in my view.

DC's target at the auction was to find a similar flock of players (who would win matches just on their own might) and in the process also bring in a strong and youthful Indian contingent who would take the adventurous route - something coach Ricky Ponting would want in his team. The first two buys were both tactical and in keeping with the adventure in mind - David Warner, Mitchell Marsh. Worthy additions at cut-throat prices. And then the price catch of Shardul Thakur - wrenched away from CSK for more than 10 crores. A look at the 7 on their team at that point and you would only say - "That's a team". 

With the bulk of the batting taken care of, the focus shifted to bowlers followed by the "Made-in-India" youth contingent. Mustafizur Rehman and Kuldeep Yadav were significant bowling additions followed by Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Mandeep Singh and Yash Dhull. Dhull went on to score tons in both innings of his Ranji Trophy debut the following week. Incidentally, DC splashed the cash for most of these picks. By the time the auction ended, DC seemed like having the most satisfying auction - they even got to pick back-ups in all areas like Rovman Powell, Lungi Ngidi and Sarfaraz Khan, who went on to hit a triple ton the Ranji Trophy a few days later.

In conclusion, DC have once again taken the route to invest in youth and the adventurous and let us just hope that they buck the trend in the the new season and conquer the final frontier - an IPL trophy.

Probable XI: Warner, Shaw, Sarfaraz/Mandeep, Pant(c, wk), Marsh/Powell, Dhull/Bharat, Shardul, Nortje, Ngidi/Mustafizur, Kuldeep/Nagarkoti, Sakariya/Khaleel

Auction review: KKR

 Tactical masterpiece at the auction table once again, can it transform on to the field?

Kolkata Knight Riders have always been the team with the plan when it comes to the auctions. They had their task cut-out. With 42cr spent on Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine, all they needed were 2 handy foreign players and 2 effective Indian players. So they decided to make hay when the sun shone - right at the beginning of the auction.

It was like a whirlwind start the openers would give in a T20 game - taking the opposition by surprise in the process. Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana and Shivam Mavi - all picked up for big numbers right at the beginning. And they seemed satisfied after that - only failing to get a good wicket-keeper in the process. But at the end of Day 1, they had successfully retained 7 of their players from previous seasons - but at the cost of a huge hole in their pocket. If only they had applied the same thought about Shubman Gill before letting him go.

Day 2 was a somber affair more so because they could not afford the key players they sought. But they still seemed satisfied with the picks from the first day. So they played the wait and watch game - and it sounded like another tactical approach. As the day wore out and the remaining teams' purses started shrinking, KKR stepped up the pursuit and a host of players came on-board including Ajunkya Rahane, Alex Hales, Sam Billings (to fill the wicket-keeper slot), Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee and everything turned into a tactical masterpiece at the table again. Let's hope they can transform the same tactical approach to win on the field as well.

Probable XI: Rana, Narine, Hales/Billings, Rahane, Jackson (wk), Shreyas (c), Venkatesh, Russell/Southee, Cummins/Nabi, Mavi/Umesh, Varun

Auction review: PBKS

 Casting the net at the right location - did they catch the right fish?

Looking back at the IPL over the past 14 seasons, while RCB have been in the limelight in terms of under-achieving, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals have also floundered as much as RCB have done. Incidentally all three teams have tried everything to succeed - even changing their team names/logos recently. RCB's change was subtle - they changed the logo back in 2020. Delhi Daredevils transformed into Delhi Capitals - logo changed as well. But the most significant one has to be that of the Punjab franchise - Kings XI Punjab changing to Punjab Kings - KXIP becoming PBKS. The name or logo changes have not brought the trophy yet but at least, the relative successes of these teams have improved when compared to the seasons prior to the changes.

Alright, back to the real deal. How did PBKS fare at the auction? They had retained Mayank Agarwal (and let KL Rahul go to Lucknow - attributed to greed from Rahul rather than reluctance from PBKS - only time will say if that decision was right) and Arshdeep Singh, who has had significant IPL success and got rewarded for that. But the same can be said about Shahrukh Khan - more about that later. Historically, PBKS have always been among the top teams at the beginning of a season only to falter as the season progresses. With more teams getting added this season, it is only going to get longer and PBKS must be hoping to stay relevant until the end. So they had to pick a team that was ready to go to distance. 

Picking Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan and Johnny Bairstow were signals of intent. But they didn't only go for the three they picked initially. They tested waters on most of the players who went into the pool. And they went on to add Shahrukh Khan to that list - after stiff competition from other teams. Shahrukh had impressed immensely in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare trophies and that prompted the race. But PBKS eventually succeeded in wresting back the star player. It looked like they were determined to go even further. Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith came in for big money while they did bring back some of their Indian players - Rishi Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh and Sandeep Sharma - with little resistance from other teams. Harprit Brar was another "retention" and that was definitely reward for the wickets of Kohli, ABD and Maxwell in the same match in Dubai last year.

With Anil Kumble in support, they seemed to have worked out the best possible combination that can take them through. But the loss of KL at the top doesn't seem to have been taken care of - they have put the onus on the Englishmen Bairstow and Livingstone to take up that mantle. But with the Englishmen you always get the limited availability factor and one hopes that does not come to haunt them towards the end of the seasons. 

Like a seasoned fisherman, they cast their nets knowing exactly where to catch the right school. But if you asked me if the right fish got caught, I'd say "not entirely". Only time can tell if they made the right catch. I only wish that they prove me wrong.

Probable XI: Agarwal (c), Shikhar, Bairstow,  Livingstone/Smith, Shahrukh, Rajapaksa/Howell, Sandeep, Harprit/Prabhsimran, Chahar, Rabada, Arshdeep