IPL 2019 auction: How the teams stack up for next season
Chennai Super Kings
The IPL Champions filled the only two spots for Indian players that they had available. Mohit Sharma returned to CSK following the franchise’s failure to pick up a left-arm pacer in Jaydev Unadkat after a heated bidding war with Rajasthan Royals. MS Dhoni’s familiarity withthe two pacers during their stints at CSK and Rising Pune Supergiantrespectively may have influenced the CSK management’s aggressive bidding forthose two. Mohit was CSK’s most expensive buy at INR 5 crore, but they failed to secure a left-arm quick and a back-up Indian offspinner for Harbhajan Singh.
Total players: 25
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, M Vijay
Middle-order batsmen: Suresh Raina, Kedar
Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Sam Billings, Dhruv Shorey, Ruturaj
Gaikwad
Wicketkeepers: MS Dhoni, J Narayan
Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo,
Monu Kumar, David Willey
Wristspinners: Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir
Fingerspinners: Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell
Santner
Fast bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar,
KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Mohit Sharma
Delhi Capitals
The new-look franchise came with assistant coach Mohammad Kaif, flanked by fresh team owners. They filled the gaps left by allrounders – that have been traded with Sunrisers Hyderabad – by picking up Axar Patel (their most expensive buy at INR 5 crore), West Indian hard-hitterSherfane Rutherford and Kerala allrounder Jalaj Saxena. They also backed India’s Test duo of Hanuma Vihari and Ishant Sharma, together with pinch-hitting Guyanese fast bowler Keemo Paul. T20 specialist Colin Ingram, alate buy, added variety to their middle order that is primarily composed of young Indian batsmen.
Total players: 25
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: Colin Munro, Prithvi Shaw, Manjot
Kalra, Shikhar Dhawan
Middle-order batsmen: Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma
Vihari, Colin Ingram
Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, Ankush Bains
Allrounders: Chris Morris, Jalaj Saxena,
Axar Patel, Bandaru Ayyappa, Sherfane Rutherford
Wristspinners: Amit Mishra, Rahul Tewatia,
Sandeep Lamichhane
Fingerspinners: Jayant Yadav
Fast Bowlers: Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada,
Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma, Keemo Paul, Nathu Singh
Kings XI Punjab
They started the auction with the most money to spend and bought 13 players under the watchful eyes of a new coach, and former New Zealand coach, Mike Hesson. They beat four other teams to get mysteryspinner Varun Chakravarthy for INR 8.40 crore, and also snapped up England allrounder Sam Curran for INR 7.20 crore. Apart from these big buys, they picked up Australia’s Moises Henriques, who will be available for the whole tournament, and some young Indian allrounders.
They also backed pacers who bowled hard balls. Hardus Viljoen – who finished with the most wickets in the T10 league -and Mohammed Shami were added to their pace battery. Prabhsimran Singh, only17, went for a whopping INR 4.80 crore, presumably due to his performances withIndia’s Emerging squad at the U-19 Asia Cup. Harpreet Brar and Agnivesh Ayachiwere also among those who were shortlisted by Kings XI’s player scouts.Nicholas Pooran, who gave a solid audition during West Indies’ tour of India,was taken for INR 4.20 crore.
Total players: 23
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris
Gayle
Middle-order batsmen: Karun Nair, David
Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan
Wicketkeepers: Prabhsimran Singh, Nicholas
Pooran
Allrounders: Agnivesh Ayachi, Varun
Chakravarthy, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Moises Henriques, Sam Curran
Wristspinners: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, M Ashwin
Fingerspinners: R Ashwin
Fast bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Andrew Tye,
Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, Mohammed Shami
Kolkata Knight Riders
What KKR lacked last year – back-ups for their overseas players plus an experienced pace attack – has been sorted some what. They’ve got Carlos Brathwaite at a slightly-inflated INR 5 crore andEngland’s Joe Denly as possible replacements for an injury-prone Andre Russell. Denly’s addition gives KKR a cushion if Chris Lynn leaves early for Australia’sWorld Cup prep. That will allow Uthappa to slot in as opener with Denly taking the fourth overseas spot.
With Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson discarded, KKR added Anrich Nortje – who bowled 150kph+ in the Mzansi SuperLeague – and New Zealand’s right-arm pacer Lockie Ferguson to their overseas bowling team. From a very thin 18-man squad last year, they’re now at 21. It remains the smallest of all eight squads.
Total players: 21
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa
Middle-order batsmen: Shubman Gill, Nitish
Rana, Rinku Singh
Wicketkeepers: Dinesh Karthik, Nikhil Naik
Allrounders: Andre Russell, Joe Denly, Shrikant
Mundhe, Carlos Brathwaite
Wristspinners: Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav
Fingerspinners: Sunil Narine
Fast bowlers:: Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam
Mavi, Prithvi Raj, Harry Gurney, Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson
Mumbai Indians
Total players: 24
Number of overseas players: 8
Mumbai were one of the first teams to stop shopping at the auction in Jaipur. They bought six players, mostly to fill ingaps, and their biggest buys were Lasith Malinga – at a base price of INR 2crore following a mentoring stint with them last season – and Yuvraj Singh,twice the IPL’s most expensive Indian, after his name came up for a third timefollowing two unsuccessful calls for a bid by the auctioneer.
They also added fast bowlers Barinder Sranand Rasikh Salam, in case Jasprit Bumrah is not available for the whole season. Mumbai’s primary XI was already set up with the addition of Quinton de Kock via trade with Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this year, and they chose to simply plug a few holes in their bench. Mumbai, however, failed to get aback-up wristspinner for IPL 2018 sensation Mayank Markande.
Openers: Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock,
Anmolpreet Singh
Middle-order batsmen: Rohit Sharma,
Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad
Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare
Allrounders: Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard,
Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting, Yuvraj Singh, Pankaj Jaiswal
Wristspinners: Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar
Fingerspinners: Anukul Roy
Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Adam Milne,
Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, Rasikh Salam, Lasith Malinga, Barinder
Sran
Rajasthan Royals
Coming into the auction, their primary focus was to look at safety-guards due to the limited availability of (up to) three English superstars and Australian Steven Smith, but they weren’t able to fully do that. They moneyballed on Perth Scorchers’ Ashton Turner and formerLancashire captain Liam Livingstone, while West Indies quick Oshane Thomas was bought for INR 1.10 crore.
Varun Aaron joined Oshane – and Jofra Archer- to strengthen their pace line-up, while last season’s most expensive Indian Jaydev Unadkat was brought back for INR 8.40 crore – 3.10 crore less than his price tag from last season. With a squad still having some spots available, Royals picked up three youngsters during the third accelerated bidding process. Barring allrounder K Gowtham, however, Royals’ squad has no finger spinners.
Total players: 25
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi
Middle-order batsmen: Steven Smith, Aryaman
Birla, Manan Vohra
Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson,
Prashant Chopra
Allrounders: Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Jofra
Archer, K Gowtham, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Shashank Singh, Liam
Livingstone, Ashton Turner, Shubham Ranjane
Wristspinners: Shreyas Gopal, Midhun S, Ish
Sodhi
Fingerspinners: –
Fast bowlers: Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal
Kulkarni, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Two high-profile purchases in Mumbai allrounder Shivam Dube (INR 5 crore) and West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer(INR 4.20 crore) took a large chunk of their purse away. Heinrich Klaasen’saddition solved RCB’s dearth of wicketkeepers after the exit of Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock.
They failed to buy any Indian bowlers,opting to instead purchase Milind Kumar – the fastest man to 1,000 Ranji Trophy runs this season – and wicketkeeper Akshdeep Nath. But one problem they failed to solve was that of their opening combination. Parthiv Patel aside, they don’t have a senior opening batsman, and that raises a question on Virat Kohli’s batting position in 2019..
Total players: 24
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: Devdutt Padikkal
Middle-order batsmen: Virat Kohli, AB de
Villiers, Milind Kumar, Himmat Singh, Shimron Hetmyer
Wicketkeepers: Parthiv Patel, Heinrich
Klaasen
Allrounders: Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme,
Marcus Stoinis, Prayas Ray Barman, Akshdeep Nath, Gurkeerat Singh, Shivam Dube
Wristspinners: Yuzvendra Chahal
Fingerspinners: Washington Sundar, Pawan
Negi
Fast bowlers: Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh
Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammad Siraj, Tim Southee
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad were astute in the auction room. Wriddhiman Saha, released last month after being bought for INR 5crore, was bought back for INR 1.20 crore. Sunrisers also added wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow and opener Martin Guptill to their roster.
With David Warner likely to miss the firstand last week of the tournament and Shikhar Dhawan traded to Delhi, Bairstowand Guptill could make up for their lack of openers. Having already procuredthree players in Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar and Shahbaz Nadeem from Delhi in a swap for Dhawan, the Sunrisers kept their shopping list short, but finished with no overseas replacement for the injury-prone Billy Stanlake.
Total players: 23
Number of overseas players: 8
Openers: David Warner, Martin Guptill
Middle-order batsmen: Manish Pandey, Kane
Williamson, Ricky Bhui
Wicketkeepers: Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats
Goswami, Jonny Bairstow
Allrounders: Shakib Al Hasan, Abhishek
Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi
Wristspinners: Rashid Khan
Fingerspinners: Shahbaz Nadeem
Fast Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel
Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Billy Stanlake
70 slots available, 60 filled
While all teams filled their full overseas
quota of eight players, only three of them – Chennai Super Kings, Delhi
Capitals and Rajasthan Royals – filled all 25 slots in their squad. Kolkata
Knight Riders ended with 21 players, the fewest in the field.
Caribbean hit a 6, England’s fifer
West Indies ended up with the highest representation among overseas sides, with as many as six of their stars attracting bids. With most of them coming at relatively low, below-one-crore base prices, they were all snapped up for a cumulative INR 17 crores, five times their combined base price of INR 3.4 crores. England, despite their players not being available after April 25, 2019 – they will miss almost half the tournament – ended up with five players, all first-timers, being bought. Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Denly, Harry Gurney and Liam Livingstone areall set to make their IPL bow in 2019.
Capped Indian fast bowlers: Worth (over five
times) their weight in gold
Eight capped Indian fast bowlers were up forbidding. Only two – Karnataka’s Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun – went unsold. The rest fetched hefty price tags, total 5.3 times their listed reserve price. Jaydev Unadkat, a left-arm seamer and hence a precious commodity, was boughtback by Rajasthan Royals, for 5.6 times his INR 1.5 Crore base price. That still represented a bargain for Royals, who had spent INR 11.5 crore on him last year before releasing him in the off-season.
Once a near-guarantee to trigger bidding wars, Yuvraj Singh’s value at the IPL auction has declined since Delhi Daredevils bought him for 16 crore in the 2015 auction. On Tuesday, he wentunsold in the first round, before Mumbai Indians bought him in the rapid-firebidding towards the end. This is the second successive season he has been soldat base price.
You either go unsold and fade into oblivion,or live long enough to play for every IPL team. With their latest IPL deals,Yuvraj and Ishant Sharma’s count has risen up to six IPL sides, equalling therecord set by a number of others already, most famously Parthiv Patel. They’re still one short of perpetual franchise-hopper Aaron Finch’s, whose all-time record count stands at seven. Yuvraj hasn’t yet represented CSK, KKR and Royal samong the active franchises. Will he be around long enough to become the first to complete the entire set?
16 years 54 days, and other teenage signings
Prayas Ray Barman is all of 16 years and 54 days old, and won’t be 17 by the time IPL 2019 comes around. Royal Challengers Bangalore put in a 1.5 crore bid for the teenager, a mystery spinner makingwaves in age-group cricket. If he plays in the upcoming edition, Barman willbecome the youngest player in the tournament’s history, going past Mujeeb urRahman, who debuted for Kings XI Punjab aged 17 years and 11 days.
He is among five players born after 2000 to be picked up by teams at the auction, along with Rasikh Dhar (Mumbai), Riyan Parag (Royals), Devdutt Padikkal (RCB) and Prab Simran Singh (KXIP).
42 – Varun Chakravarthy’s magical number
Varun Chakravarthy was an architect who’d given up his cricketing hopes not so long ago, but was almost certain to be among the biggest buys at the auction, having excelled with his mystery spin in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. As an uncapped player, he had set his reserveprice at just INR 20 lakhs, and benefited from a multi-way bidding war betweenfranchises. When the hammer came down, he had fetched himself 8.4 crores, 42times his base price. It fell just short of the 45 multiple paid by Rising PuneSupergiant for Tamil Nadu legspinner M Ashwin in the 2016 auction, comfortablythe highest in the last four seasons.