Cricket’s commercial behemoth, the IPL, raised the bar once again, generating eye-popping bids for the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer besides providing the opportunity of a lifetime to first-timers including 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
The mega auction’s venue, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also added to the growing global appeal of the league as 182 players were sold over the two-day event.
PTI looks at how the 10 teams stack up following a memorable auction.
Delhi Capitals: Delhi Capitals, who surprisingly let go of their marquee player Pant, bought 19 players in the auction after retaining four including Axar Patel, Jake Fraser McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav and Abhishek Porel.
At ₹14 crore, their most expensive buy was KL Rahul who will be expected to open the batting alongside Fraser McGurk.
There is no denying the class of Rahul but his strike rate has come under the scanner season after season. It remains to be seen if he ends up leading the franchise.
Their playing composition looks sorted but they don’t have a lot of proven back up players in the middle-order.
The fast bowling has been bolstered with the arrival of Mitchell Starc and T Natarajan while the front-line spinners include the retained Axar and Kuldeep.
Mumbai Indians: Having spent a majority of their purse on five retained players including Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, the five-time champions have their Indian core all figured out.
Considering Mumbai spent ₹75 crore for their retentions, they were relatively quiet on day one of the auction before going for established fast bowlers on the concluding day.
Their biggest buy was New Zealand veteran Trent Boult (₹12.5), followed by injury-prone Deepak Chahar (₹9.25 crore).
The team has brought in English batter Will Jacks to offset Tim David’s departure. Following Ishan Kishan’s departure, the franchise doesn’t have a proven force to open alongside Rohit Sharma.
South African Ryan Rickelton is set to open the batting alongside the World Cup winning skipper.
Lucknow Super Giants: LSG purchased 19 players in the auction after retaining five including Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni.
They were the ones who made a record bid of ₹27 crore for Rishabh Pant who is set to captain the franchise.
Pant was by far their costliest buy with Avesh Khan (₹9.75 crore) and Akash Deep (₹8 crore) a distant second and third respectively. The likely opening pairing of Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram is not the strongest in the competition, putting more responsibility on Pant and Pooran.
The fitness of their retained pacers Mohsin and Mayank over the course of 14 games also poses questions.
Rajasthan Royals: Royals were not the busiest team at the auction, having bought 14 players to go with its six retentions, the joint highest alongside KKR.
The retained players included five batters and only one bowler in Sandeep Sharma, therefore it wasn’t a surprise they tried to shore up that department.
Their most expensive buy at the auction — Jofra Archer at ₹12.5 crore — was a questionable one with perennial questions surrounding his fitness.
Royals would be hoping that he lives up to the potential come IPL 2025.
They let go of their star Indian spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin, leaving a huge void, which is now expected to be filled by Sri Lankans Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga. Like Archer, even Hasaranga is injury-prone.
Also under the spotlight would be Suryavanshi, the 13-year-old batter from Bihar. He might not start the tournament but could get an opportunity down the line. He made his first-class debut at the age of 12, a testament to his rare talent.
Punjab Kings: Having retained just two uncapped players, Punjab Kings expectedly went on a shopping spree and ended up buying 23 players to hit the upper limit of squad size. The biggest buy was IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer at ₹26.75 crore and in all likelihood, he will lead the side.
Having under-performed consistently since IPL’s inception, Punjab are banking on new head coach Ricky Ponting for a much awaited change in fortunes.
Besides Arshdeep Singh, they don’t have an established Indian fast bowler, leaving a lot for New Zealander Lockie Ferguson and all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Marco Jansen.
Spin duties will be shared by Chahal and Harpreet Brar. Young Delhi batter Priyansh Arya also fetched a life changing contract from Punjab Kings and would be desperate for an opportunity.
Kolkata Knight Riders: KKR bought 15 players at the auction and their most debatable purchase was Venkatesh Iyer at a whopping ₹23.75 crore.
The team benefitted from his ultra aggressive approach with the bat last season when it captured its third title.
KKR retained majority of the performers last season but will be interesting to see who captains the side following Iyer’s improbable exit. Venkatesh could be a potential captain if KKR decide to name an Indian leader.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Like KKR, SRH also impressed with their approach in the previous edition and ended up retaining their core including Abhishek Sharma, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen.
The Cummins led side was able to get the players they wanted at a good price and they included Ishan Kishan (₹11.25 crore), Mohammed Shami (₹10 crore), Harshal Patel (₹8 crore) and Adam Zampa (₹2.40 crore).
They also have decent back up for Indian pacers and Rahul Chahar is another effective leg-spin option alongside Zampa.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB retained three players — Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal and Rajat Patidar — leaving them with a lot to do at the auction. They did not have a very productive opening day but caught up on day two. Fast bowling has been the weaker link for RCB over the years and they have tried to fix that with signing of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The heavy English flavour to the squad is provided by Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Phillp Salt. Their superstar, Kohli, could be seen captaining the unit once again as RCB chase the elusive crown.
Gujarat Titans: After retaining five players, Gujarat bought 20 players to reach the maximum squad limit. The buying featured plenty of fast bowlers including Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma and Prasidh Krishna.
Jos Buttler was one headline buy and he is expected to open alongside skipper Shubman Gill.
The middle-order doesn’t posses the firepower possessed by other teams, putting the onus on retained Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan.
Chennai Super Kings: CSK are known for their value buys at the auction and tend to go after the players they were unable to retain. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise to see Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra being bought back for ₹6.25 crore and ₹4 crore respectively. The other bargain buys included Sam Curran (₹2.40 crore) and Rahul Tripathi (₹3.40 crore).
R Ashwin’s return to CSK attracted most attention as he went for ₹9.75 crore.
Published – November 26, 2024 07:14 pm IST
