IPL Auction 2018 has been a riveting one which has seen Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals make a comeback to the money minting league.
This year’s IPL is set to be one of the closest contests in recent history as all the teams have built up strong squads by shrewd buys and taking advantage of the open auction of all the players other than that of retained players.
Without much ado, let us take a look at the biggest takeaways and surprises in the auction:
1. The Old Brigade Has Passed Its Utility:
Chris Gayle who has been one of the top performers in previous editions of IPL has gone unsold and so has Malinga. Considering that they have reached the twilight of their career, a decision to buy them at their high base price maybe wasn’t logical enough. Finally, on the second day of the auction, Gayle was bought by Punjab at the third round which speaks volumes about his decline and influence.
Shaun Marsh, Lendl Simmons, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Alex Hales and Travis Head found no buyers.
2. The Effective Use Of Right To Match Card
The Right To Match card gives the power to the original employer to buy the player back at the price at which he has been sold to the new employer.
It was effectively used for spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Chahal and Rashid Khan who were all retained by their original teams with Right To Match cards.
3. Chennai Super Kings And RCB Have Built Up Strong Squads While KKR Is Looking Woefully Weak
With players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu in CSK ranks, they are bound to be one of the favorites in the current IPL season.
The only drawback which I feel is that they have an aged squad where most of the players are above 30. This might be good in the short term but may prove to be harmful in the long term.
RCB has stalwarts like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Brendon McCullum, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Quinton de Kock, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Nathan Coulter-Nile which makes their bowling and batting department quite strong.
KKR is short on the batting side having not retained Gambhir which will be a decisive factor in this campaign.
Also read: Calling Man City The Greatest PL Side Of all Time is An Overstatement
4. The Rise Of The Uncapped Indian Stars
Krunal Panday was bought for a handsome amount of money by Mumbai Indians and so was Ishaan Jaggi by KKR. Also, India U19 speedster Shivam Mavi was sold to KKR for Rs 3 crores. Similarly, many such players earned big bucks at the auction.
The logic behind buying uncapped players is clear. The franchises understand the need to prepare for the future and build the team around these youngsters gradually. For example, when Kohli was bought by RCB, he was an unknown quantity in the international circuit though he had performed well in Under 19 World Cup. RCB stuck with him through his bad phase and now he is the best batsman in the world.
Apart From KKR and DD, the other squads seem to be on an equal footing.
I’m placing my bet on CSK to win the IPL. Who are you betting on?
Sources- Quint, Scroll, Economic Times
Image Credits- Google Images
Also read:
http://edtimes.in/2018/01/why-sanchez-mkhitaryan-swap-deal-is-a-win-win-situation-for-both-united-arsenal/
Bhai galat likha hai adha article.
Piyush Chawla pe sbse fuddu RTM use kia hai and experts like Anil Kumble and Harsha Bhoglr and Dean Jones said that Hyderabad and Delhi outperformed everybody at the Auction, and even then you’re keeping it as low as Kolkata.
And how is KKR short on Batting power?
Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, S.Narine, DreRuss, Kartik, Shubhaman Gill, Nitish Rana, Cameron Delport! Bhai aur kya chaie batting mei?
And Joe Root, Morgan, Hales, And Travis head ko aapne First point mei, under “Old Brigade” likh dia? Sir chaaron ki milaake average age 28 bhi nhi hai. Check toh krlete ek baar.
From a cricket lover’s perspective, and with the point of view of a person who regularly stays updated with the sport, this article deserves no more than 6/10.
Hello Harshit,
All of us are genuine cricket fans out here and have different points of view on selection issues. As far as KKR issue is concerned, I believe that without Manish Pandey and Gambhir, their batting looks weak. Youngsters like Shubham Gill are undoubtedly talented who have performed exceedingly well recently but performing in IPL is a different ball game altogether. KKR’s batting strength is weaker compared to earlier editions without a shade of a doubt.
Chawla is a seasoned leg-spinner and will always prove to be more than handful at Edens where the wickets are usually low and turn a lot. He knows the conditions in and out and is handy with the bat as well. As per my opinion, there are only about 3 quality leg spinners in India- Mishra, Chahal and Chawla. It wasn’t a waste to retain him.
Also, we need to remember that there is a limit to the number of foreign players in the playing X11. Delhi’s bowling squad is brilliant but their Indian contingent is weak. A strong batting spine of Indian players is vital to win IPL and one could see decipher it by analyzing the winning squads of the past years. Pant, Iyer, and Ojha might be excellent on their day but are very inconsistent.
As far as Hyderabad is concerned, I haven’t mentioned anywhere in my blog that they are on a par with KKR. They do have a good squad and are much better balanced than Kolkata.
The purpose of writing the names of Root, Morgan, Hales and Travis head was to highlight that though they are quality T20 players, there weren’t any takers and not to put them under ‘Old Brigade’. I probably should have written a different subheading for them to make it clearer.
Each one of us in India considers oneself to be an expert in Cricket. We have different opinions on copious selection issues every now and then. If the opinion of every expert was to be taken seriously, we would be in ruckus and nothing else.
I totally respect your stand on the selection issue which is logical but i see cricket from a slightly different perspecive. If there were one perfect expert opinion, the unpredictability in cricket would die.
Thank You:)