Who were the winners and losers of the IPL auction? Part 1/2
After last year's mega auction, the IPL 2022 auction had much to live up to and it delivered. The 3 most expensive players ever sold at an IPL auction and over £16,700,000 spent, this auction was not short of surprises. Let’s delve into the winners and losers of the auction this year.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK started incredibly strong with the big-money buy of Ben Stokes after losing out on Sam Curran. Stokes is a candidate to replace Dhoni as captain and is the perfect buy to fill the void in our middle order that has been glaring since Raina’s departure. Rahane is another candidate for captaincy but his recent batting form and the fact that he hasn't averaged above 20 in the last 3 seasons are enough to raise doubt over his position in the team. He is also striking at around a run-a-ball, which CSK has enough of. Jamieson was the last big buy for CSK and was a surprise to many. The New Zealand quick spent 2021 with RCB as the second most expensive player, taking 9 wickets in 9 games with an economy below 10. He will struggle to find a spot in the squad but is a solid backup to have. CSK also picked up a few valuable youngsters, Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu, the 2 half-centurions in India’s 2022 U19 World Cup Final win. Last year, CSK got their fellow winner, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, showing that CSK is preparing to move away from their traditional ‘Dad’s Army’ approach. Finally, Bhagath Varma returned and the leading wicket-taker in this year's Ranji Trophy, Ajay Mandal was picked up for his base price.
My XI
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Ben Stokes
- Moeen Ali
- Ambati Rayudu
- Shivam Dube
- MS Dhoni ( C ) ( WK )
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Dwaine Pretorius
- Deepak Chahar
- Maheesh Theekshana
- Mukesh Choudhary
As much as I would love Conway to play, it is difficult to pick him as it excludes Pretorius from the XI, our best death bowler. After Bravo’s departure, Pretorius must play otherwise we will be punished at the death. Rayudu and Rahane are very close, but Rayudu has been so consistent throughout the last few years, it is hard to overlook him. Rating: 8/10.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi only got rid of 4 players before the auction, so we knew it would be relatively quiet for them. However, they still went out and got 5 big names. Mukesh Kumar has been one of the most controversial picks of the auction. He has been imposing in red-ball cricket and recently got a call-up to India’s ODI squad vs South Africa but for around £550,000, many people think he is not worth his price tag. Manish Pandey was roped in to replace the released Mandeep Singh and Phil Salt replacing Tim Seifert. The experienced Indian pace bowler, Ishant Sharma was bought in and will be important as Delhi have quite an inexperienced Indian pace attack. Delhi was not done yet though as they went for a final push and battled with Rajasthan for the in-form Rilee Rossouw. He is a big steal as he struck a 48-ball, 100* earlier this year in India
My XI
- David Warner ( C )
- Prithvi Shaw
- Rilee Rossouw
- Sarfaraz Khan ( WK )
- Lalit Yadav
- Mitch Marsh
- Axar Patel
- Anrich Nortje
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Chetan Sakariya
- Khaleel Ahmed
A lot rests on Nortje’s shoulders in the pace department as Sakariya and Khaleel are young but both have a knack for taking wickets. Powell misses out, replaced by Marsh as a 6th bowling option as Powell is not reliable enough. With Pant out and no replacement named yet, Sarfaraz is the best option currently to keep wickets. Lalit Yadav will have to battle with Manish Pandey for his spot but his bowling will possibly tip him over Pandey. Rating: 8/10.
Gujurat Titans
The reigning champs traded Lockie Ferguson and released Jason Roy and Dominic Drakes before the auction. They also dropped a few other names but didn't want to disrupt their winning formula too much. However, it seems they have disrupted it with many improvements. Mavi was rumored to be a part of the Lockie trade but that ended up being a trade for cash. The Titans still went out and got him, the young Indian pacer already impressing on his T20I debut. The big signing for GT was Kane Williamson. Kane has not been in the best of form recently, but if Gujurat wants to try to repeat, having an experienced captain and batsman like Kane is beneficial to their ultimate goal. Josh Little became the first Irish player in the IPL. It is a bit confusing why they spent so much on him as there were many more experienced options, but it is a gamble which could pay off considering Little’s success in the T20 World Cup. K.S. Bharat is an excellent steal at a low price. He didn't have the best 2022 for Delhi but it was difficult circumstances with Pant on that team. With an aging Saha the current keeper for Gujurat, this buy may be solidifying their future. Mohit Sharma is a nice, experienced pick that can help with the development of Mavi and Little. Odean Smith at base price is one of the steals of the auction. Despite a lackluster IPL debut season, Odean strikes the ball at 160.21 for the West Indies in T20I. He is a big hitter but will struggle to start with GT’s solid overseas core. Urvil Patel is an excellent striker of the ball who has excelled for Gujarat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
My XI
- Shubman Gill
- Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
- Kane Williamson
- David Miller
- Hardik Pandya ( C )
- Abhinav Manohar
- Rahul Tewatia
- Rashid Khan
- Shivam Mavi
- Mohammed Shami
- Alzarri Joseph
Saha is most likely going to be GT’s keeper of choice but Bharat had an excellent 2021 season and with Saha most likely nearing retirement, Gujarat may want to give Bharat some time in the lineup. Sai Kishore has been many people's favorite to star this year for the Titans but with Tewatia’s inconsistency with the bat, I would opt to play an extra batter in Manohar. Manohar struck the ball at 144 in his first season and is an exciting prospect. Josh Little went for big money but due to his lack of experience in India, I would start the season with Joseph. Rating: 9/10.
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR was forced to release Cummins, Billings, and Hales due to personal reasons. they then went on to release Mavi, Nabi, Finch, Rahane, and 9 more players. This gave their auction team a lot of work to do. Litton Das is one of my favorite picks of the auction. He was the second top scorer of 2022 in all formats and they managed to get him at his base price. They paired him with his fellow Bangladeshi and returning KKR player, Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib has only ever had a few notable years in the IPL and hasn’t been in his peak form for a few years now. KKR will play Narine and Russell which will make it difficult for Shakib to find a spot on the team. David Wiese returns to the IPL after a 7-year hiatus. He has impressed for Namibia and in the Hundred along with numerous other T20 leagues around the world. CSK released Jagadeesan on the 15th of November, and his following 4 innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy were: 107, 168, 128, 277. KKR will most likely start him or Das as a wicketkeeper but Jagadeesan will hope he can finally take advantage of a stint in the IPL. In Mandeep Singh’s past 2 seasons, he has amassed 33 runs (4 innings). KKR has quite a stacked, Indian middle order in Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, and Narayan Jagadeesan. Mandeep will most likely be used as an experienced backup. Vaibhav Arora debuted last year and took a miserly 3 wickets in 5 appearances. Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur will comfortably keep him out the side. KKR has picked yet another mystery spinner, Suyash Sharma to go alongside Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Kulwant Khejroliya played 5 games for RCB in 2018 and 2019 taking 3 wickets.
My XI
- Litton Das ( WK )
- Narayan Jagadeesan
- Nitish Rana
- Shreyas Iyer ( C )
- Rinku Singh
- Andre Russell
- Sunil Narine
- Shardul Thakur
- Umesh Yadav
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Lockie Ferguson
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is an exciting young prospect but it is very difficult to look past Das, Lockie, Russell, and Narine as their overseas quartet. Venkatesh Iyer had an incredible 2021 and was pivotal in KKR reaching the final. Many people assumed he would be the replacement for Hardik as he was constantly injured, however, his 2022 IPL didn't live up to the hype, and subsequently, he may lose his place on the side. Shakib misses out due to form. Rating: 7.5/10.
Lucknow Super Giants
LSG was in the market for a frontline pace bowler, after releasing 4 of them before the auction including Dushmantha Chameera and Jason Holder. They ended up releasing 7 players leaving them with a purse of over £2.3 million. Out of nowhere, they splashed just under 70% of their purse on Nicholas Pooran. Pooran is averaging 16.3 runs per innings in his last 2 IPL seasons. For the price they paid, I think this may be one of the biggest overpays of the auction, however, Pooran has shown signs of committing to franchise cricket over international cricket as he relinquished the West Indian white ball captaincy. They managed to utilize the rest of their purse as they went on to sign 9 more players and had £350,000 left in the bank. LSG added to their extensive list of all-rounders, roping in Daniel Sams at base price. Sams took 13 wickets last year for Mumbai and strikes the ball at 170.97 in T20Is. He can bowl up front and at the death, an excellent steal for Lucknow. The Super Giants weren't done yet with their all-rounder buys, signing Romario Shepherd. The 28-year-old has had a decent start to his West Indian career, he may be used to provide some lower-order hitting late on in the tournament. They also signed 3 Indian all-rounders: Swapnil Singh, Yudhvir Charak, and Prerak Mankad. Lucknow has a relatively young bowling attack, so the additions of Jaydev Unadkat, who recently made his return to the Indian setup, and Amit Mishra will help the development of bowlers like Mohsin Khan and Ravi Bishnoi. To go alongside Unadkat in their updated bowling department, they added the emerging talent that is Yash Thakur who was Vidarbha’s top wicket-taker in the most recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 15. Finally, the young Afghan, Naveen-Ul-Haq whose bowling style has been likened to Jasprit Bumrah. He has taken an impressive 45 wickets in his first 29 white ball games for Afghanistan.
My XI
- KL Rahul ( C )
- Quinton de Kock (WK)
- Marcus Stoinis
- Deepak Hooda
- Nicholas Pooran
- Ayush Badoni
- Krunal Pandya
- Mark Wood
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Avesh Khan
- Mohsin Khan
Wood, de Kock, Stoinis, and Pooran are 4 players that will be very difficult to start over. Badoni was impressive last year, striking at 120+. LSG released Pandey which means Badoni is going to have to play a bigger role and has to be flexible in his batting position. Despite Unadkat’s comeback in the past year, it has mainly been a red-ball revolution, so Mohsin Khan should keep his spot. Gowtham has been given plenty of chances but is yet to have a big season with bat or ball. Rating: 8.5/10.
