CricWiz.in

With just a few hours to go before the IPL auctions 2018, let us have a look at what we can expect. The auctions always end up throwing more surprises than one which is what makes it a highly anticipated event in cricketing circles.

Let us have a look at the current teams, the available purse and also the players that can be bought back via the RTM.

Mumbai Indians – Available purse(47 crores), Right to Match – 2

Historically, MI has been a team that has laid a lot of focus on having the core group intact. So not many surprises in them deciding to go for the 3 Indians who played a huge role in helping them win the trophy.

• Rohit Sharma – 15 crores
• Hardik Pandya – 11 crores
• Jasprit Bumrah – 7 crores

Having gone ahead and retained 3 of their key Indian players, MI cannot get anymore Indians via RTM and will be looking to complete the core by exercising the RTM on two of their four foreign players from Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler, Lendl Simmons and Mitchell McCleneghan. While Pollard seems almost certain to be retained via RTM, the other choice seems to be a little less straight-forward. Lendl Simmons has played quite a lot of significant knocks for MI over the years, while McCleneghan has been a great death bowler for them and seems to have done no damage to his reputation by plying his trade in T20 leagues across the globe. Among the 3, Buttler is surely the most in-demand cricketer, but he has not been his usual explosive self when in MI colours in the previous 2 editions. You might be wondering where Lasith Malinga is, but going by his performance in the previous edition and also his past year record with Sri Lanka, it seems he is a spent force and is almost in the sunset of his cricketing career. So, going for him doesn’t make much cricketing sense anyway.

Kolkata Knight Riders – Available purse(59 crores), Right to Match – 3

After a below par first 3 years, they had a complete overhaul of their side which began with getting Gambhir for a whopping 11.04 crores. After leading the team to 2 titles in the last 7 editions, Gambhir finds himself in the auction pool perhaps because the KKR management do not trust his abilities anymore!! KKR have decided to retain 2 of their most influential foreign players.

• Sunil Narine – 8.5 crores
• Andre Russell – 7 crores

Kolkata Knight Riders – KKR are in a situation opposite to which MI find themselves in. Having retained 2 foreign players, they can use RTM on only their Indian contingent which makes missing out on Chris Lynn real possibility. Given a choice of retaining 3 internationals, they would have surely gone ahead and retained Lynn but the IPL rules do not allow for the same. Among the Indian players, the 3 players on which KKR are most likely to use their RTM are Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Kuldeep Yadav. KKR might also spring in a surprise by opting for Gambhir, as it is almost certain that he would not be bought for anything more than 5-6 crores, making him much cheaper than what they would have had to pay had they retained him.

Sunrisers Hyderabad – Available purse(59 crores), Right to Match – 3

Of all the decisions the Sunrisers management has ever made, making Warner the skipper has to be the best one. He has been a talisman for the Sunrisers over the years and along with Dhawan has ensured a solid opening combo. However, Dhawan has been thrown back into the auction pool, making him a real RTM possibility for them. SRH have gone ahead and retained their best batsman and best bowler(a tough choice to make when you have Rashid Khan in your ranks).

• David Warner – 12 crores
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 8.5 crores

Sunrisers Hyderabad – With Warner and Bhuvi back in their ranks, SRH will be looking to get Rashid Khan and Dhawan in the auction. Rashid Khan has been a sensation over the past one year plying his trade across the globe in different conditions and with different teams. The only thing constant with Rashid Khan has been his performance on every country that he has played in and on every T20 league that he has been a part of. Dhawan, likewise, has been a trusted ally of Warner’s over the years and the two have played many memorable knocks for SRH. The third RTM is likely to go unused by SRH.

Royal Challengers Bangalore – Available purse(49 crores), Right to Match – 2

Always a team that is expected to blow away oppositions with their batting might, RCB have flattered to deceive more often than not. Having Kohli, AB, Gayle and Watson in your ranks sure makes you a contender for the trophy but the bowling has been a massive let down almost every season. The biggest surprise or I must say shocker was the retention of Sarfaraz Khan by the RCB management, they sure trust his abilities and back him to the hilt. The other two retentions have been pretty straight forward, with Gayle not being in the best of nicks last time around and Watson not putting up a real challenge to AB’s spot as the second retention.

• Virat Kohli – 17 crores
• AB de Villiers – 12 crores
• Sarfaraz Khan – 1.75 crores

RCB are almost certain to buy back Chahal. He has been a consistent performer for RCB over the past few years, while also being really impressive for India in the shorter formats of the game, in the past year. Other than Chahal, RCB do not look like making use of their second RTM. Chris Gayle sure is the universe boss in T20 and more so in IPL, some of his records are probably never going to be broken. He also played a couple of mind-blowing knocks in the Bangladesh Premier League knockouts, but lately he also gives this feeling that the Gayle of the old is a once in a while phenomenon rather than a much regular one like the years gone by. Tymal Mills was the biggest flop in the previous edition with hardly any returns that justified his price tag of 12 crores. Watson sure is a force to be reckoned with, continuing to perform well for Sydney Thunder in this year’s BBL as well, however the chances of him being bought again seem bleak.

Kings XI Punjab – Available purse(67.5 crores), Right to Match – 3

A low profile team that has managed to reach the final only once in 10 attempts. The only time when they posed a real challenge was in 2014 when Maxwell just took the tournament by storm. The management has decided on a complete overhaul of the squad and have gone ahead with just a single retention.

• Axar Patel – 6.75 crores

They have pretty much decided to go with a clean slate for the auctions and hence there would not be much surprises if they decide to not use their RTM’s on any of the players. Amla and Sandeep Sharma seem the only 2 players that might be bought back via RTM’s. Maxwell is too unpredictable, his IPL record if you remove the UAE leg in 2014 is rather poor, while Miller has performed well for the Kings and has also been quite consistent for the national side over the past year but does not seem a likely buy.

Delhi Daredevils – Available purse(47 crores), Right to Match – 2

DD began the lats two seasons in a positive note only to lose steam towards the end and miss out on a play-off place. Having lost Dravid and Upton, DD will be hoping that Ponting’s appointment brings in a change of fortunes for them. They have gone ahead with a supremely talented all-rounder and 2 local lads as the 3 retentions.

• Rishabh Pant – 8 crores
• Chris Morris – 7.1 crores
• Shreyas Iyer – 7 crores

Having already retained 3 players, they have 2 RTM’s available. One among de Kock and Brathwaite are likely to be bought back. de Kock has been quite consistent at the top of the order for DD as well as for South Africa, while Brathwaite has been a regular performer for whichever side he has represented in the past year. Be it IPL, BPL or the Windies national team and now in the Big Bash League, Brathwaite has been quite consistent with his performance. The other RTM might go unused if DD decide on completely changing their Indian unit. The only likely player who might be bought via an RTM seems to be Amit Mishra.

Rajasthan Royals – Available purse(67.5 crores), Right to Match – 3

RR are back after a 2 year gap and have chosen to take a fresh guard ahead of the auctions. They have gone in with just a single retention and that of someone who is in the form of his life, atleast in the longest format of the game).

• Steven Smith – 12 crores

Having decided to retain only Steve Smith, RR seem likely to use an RTM only for Rahane. A lot of them have played for DD in the previous 2 years which makes them ineligible for purchase via RTM, the likes of Samson, Karun being some of them. Faulkner has been a good performer for RR in the previous editions, however his performance in the year gone by has been far from encouraging which should turn the tables against him in the RR management room.

Chennai Super Kings – Available purse(47 crores), Right to Match – 2

The most successful franchise is back this IPL, and by the looks of it so is their core group which established them as one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. They have gone ahead and retained 3 of their best players over the years and there can be little debate on their retentions, for it has been on expected lines.

• MS Dhoni – 15 crores
• Suresh Raina – 11 crores
• Ravidra Jadeja – 7 crores

Similar to Mumbai, CSK have retained 3 Indian players and can use the RTM’s only on foreigners. Bravo is most likely to be bought via RTM, provided he does not go for too many which might upset the budgets of CSK and the other RTM should be a toss up between du Plessis and Brendon McCullum. Both are exceptional performers in their own right, but McCullum has a slight advantage over the former when it comes to T20 cricket. They might also choose to not exercise any of their RTM’s.

Now let’s look at some promising talents as well as yesteryear stars, one set who can set the auctions on fire while the other might not even be picked by any of the franchises owing to age, agility, performance etc.

Little known players

Talking about promising youngsters, it is difficult to look beyond Jofra Archer. An exceptionally talented bowler, specializes in both bowling at the early stages of the innings as well as death bowling. With match defining performances in the Natwest T20 Blast, Archer made a name for himself by the end of Bangladesh Premier League. At present playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Archer has been the go-to bowler at the death when the team needs to plug the runs and take wickets, in addition to his ability with the bat he can also swing the long handle to good effect which makes him a good lower middle-order bet for a quick 15-20 runs. Not to mention his extraordinary ability in the field, Archer will surely be in very high demand come the auctions. Priced at as low as 40 lakhs, he is sure to fetch much more than his base price. He might end up at more than 3-4 crores given the dynamics of the auction.

D’Arcy Short – An opening batsman who can explode once he is set. He is a very promising talent for which the his BBL numbers this year are proof enough, 504 runs in 9 innings at an average of 63. With one century, 2 scores in the nineties and another 50, he has had a rather productive season in the Big Bash. He does not have a lot of First class matches under his belt but who looks at first class numbers in a T20 competition. He should be a good addition to any side that is in search of a good solid opening batsman.

Alex Carey – An opening batsman, Carey, has been in very good touch in the BBL this year, which also enabled helped him to play for Australia in the absence of Tim Paine. Carey is a keeper-batsman. With a strike rate of around 130 in T20 cricket with a century, in BBL vs the Hurricanes, Carey should be a good buy. A good striker of the cricket ball and a keeper with a safe pair of hands, a good deal at the auction seems a realistic possibility for Carey.

Glenn Phillips – He has played a few T20 matches for New Zealand but is yet to establish himself in the world stage. He was the highest scorer in the Super Smash 2016-17 tournament with 369 runs, with a highest score of 116 of 57 balls. An explosive keeper-batsman, he will be a good cover, at an affordable price, for the front-line internationals in the side.

Prithvi Shaw – The captain of the India U-19 team, Shaw made a name for himself at a very early age while playing for the Mumbai U-16’s and U-19’s. Having performed well in the Ranji trophy this year, Shaw should be chased by quite a few teams. Shaw has also been equally impressive in the U-19 World cup, scoring a solid 94 against Australia.

Special mentions – Mujeeb Zadran, Evin Lewis, AJ Tye, Anton Devcich, Shubham Gill, Athisayaraj Davidson

Fading Stars

Lasith Malinga should surely be on top of this list. With age not being on his side, a poor series against India, an even poorer BPL, after which he hasn’t played much cricket, Malinga is on the wane. Loss of form doesn’t help when you are in the twilight of your career, Malinga is a good example of that. With not much cricket, performances to be precise, to show the past year, it would be no surprise if he goes unsold in this year’s auction.

Chris Gayle is another player whose stocks are not as high as they once used to be. He sure is someone to be feared even today, but the Gayle of the old has become a rarity nowadays. His chances of going unsold remain slim, but do not expect fireworks when Gayle’s name is announced by the auctioneer.

Harbhajan Singh – Having been released by MI this time, the only way that he can be a part of MI again is if he is bought through the normal auction process. MI cannot use the RTM on Harbhajan, as they have already retained 3 Indian players and the chances of him being in MI colours again look slim. Being an Indian sure is an advantage in such cases, as a team needs to field 7 Indians and Harbhajan for all his international experience will surely prove to be a valuable addition to any squad. But it remains to be seen if he goes for his base price or manages to attract a good amount in the auctions.

Yuvraj Singh – Another boy from Punjab, Yuvraj Singh, also has his stakes going down in the last couple of years. Out of the Indian team, his performance has swung from poor to pathetic in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy. With a strike rate of less than 100, he was one of the reasons for Punjab’s poor performance in this year’s T20 tournament. With his fitness gone, bowling nowhere close to what it used to be, Yuvraj has a base price of Rs. 2 crore!! Once attracting the highest bid, twice to be precise, Yuvraj should consider himself lucky if he manages to get more than his base price of 2 crore.

Irfan Pathan – The third Indian to find his name on this list is sadly, Irfan. Having hardly played any cricket in the last 6 months, Pathan finds himself at a point in his career where he might have to switch the state that he plays for in order to get playing time. However, unlike Harbhajan and Yuvraj, Irfan has a base price of only 50 lakh rupees which might encourage some franchises to go for him. He is not likely to attract more than a couple of bids, but given the auction dynamics, might also find himself without a team at the end of the auctions.

To sum up, the auctions before the 11th edition of the IPL promises to be an exciting affair. We can analyse the teams better, once we have the teams in place. A place where many a fortunes are made, one can only expect to see more such occurences. The question of how many will only be answered once the auctions are done!