IPL 2015: The Eight Teams And Their Chances Of Success
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If you own a house full of rare antiques that rival collectors would give limbs for, and you happen to walk into Sotheby's, you'll probably whistle your way through it, hands in pockets. Partly because of a straitened wallet from already having built up a good collection, but mostly because you know you have stuff at home that's mostly as good as - or better than - what is on offer.
The whistling, insouciant routine was the equivalent of what Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals did at the IPL auctions 2015.
All four ought to have been in the playoffs last year, but Rajasthan were hit by Corey Anderson and their own nerves as Mumbai Indians sneaked past. Of the Punjab, Chennai and Kolkata trio, there was never any doubt - all three were playing in a different league, so to speak, from the rest.
The big spending at the auctions was done by Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai. All four had released more players and thus came with bulging wallets. The other four had already built good teams and didn't need to chop and change too much. The relatively thinner wallets suited them fine, although disclaimers are due for Rajasthan. They had a fairly useful Rs 12.75 crore auction purse, but typically with Rajasthan, you knock off a good chunk because they operate within a budget of their own. True to style, they spent just Rs. 2.1 crore - the least among all eight franchises at the auction.
Delhi arrived with Rs 39.75 crore spilling out of their suits, and left Rs 38.4 crore lighter. Which is all fine to compare if you want to just tot up rupees, but how did each side do at the auction? Here's a breakdown:
Chennai Super Kings:
Chennai already had a star-studded outfit and could have well gone back without spending any of the Rs 4.8 crore they were left with. They eventually went back having bought eight players - all at base price. The most significant was Michael Hussey. He had spent a year with Mumbai, but was back home, so to speak, with the franchise he has been with for the most part in the IPL. Kyle Abbott, at his Rs 30 lakh base was a steal, and post-World Cup, there might be several teams kicking themselves for not even attempting to get him. Given R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, not to speak of Samuel Badree and Pawan Negi, the addition of Rahul Sharma could foreshadow a plethora of low, slow turners at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. If Chennai want to include an overseas bowler from Matt Henry, Abbott or Badree, they can bolster the batting with the all-round talents of Irfan Pathan.
Delhi Daredevils:
Of the monies Delhi spent, more than 60% went into aggressively buying just two players: Yuvraj Singh (16 crore) and Angelo Mathews (7.5 crore). Throw in Amit Mishra (3.5 crore) and Zaheer Khan (4 crore) and that figure rises to 80%. This is the way of all auctions - the top layer gets the big bucks, the rest is distributed rather more thinly. Were Delhi wise to go so big on Yuvraj, who has spent a year out of the national team? On balance, you would have to say it was worth the punt. They had the cash and wanted to remake the side. Plus, both Yuvraj and Zaheer will be working with Gary Kirsten. The last time that happened, they delivered a World Cup for India. Delhi's main problem in 2014 was a lack of bowling bite. Now, with Nathan Coulter-Nile fit, Zaheer hungry, and Mohammed Shami and Imran Tahir having stepped their performances up spectacularly in the World Cup, the bowling doesn't look so thin anymore.
Kings XI Punjab:
By far the quietest at the auctions, Punjab bought one big-ticket player in M Vijay and three overall. Vijay, though, filled a big gap. While it's true that Manan Vohra had been getting the scores for Punjab and is a talent that bears watching, last season, he couldn't quite score at the pace demanded on good batting tracks. Case in point, the IPL 2014 final. In isolation, 67 off 52 by an opener looks good. In the context of both teams getting 200, it is quite inadequate. When you further account for Vohra batting for so long that the likes of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller hardly got a hit, the lacuna is evident. In Vijay, Punjab have not just a man with experience, but one who has shown he can tear attacks to shreds, in IPL and otherwise.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
They would have mirrored Chennai in having a quiet sort of auction exactly, except for KC Cariappa. His tale has been told too often to bear any mystery now. Kolkata will hope his bowling doesn't prove likewise, because you can speak all you want about a rags to riches story from nowhere to IPL millionaire, but everyone will be waiting to see how Cariappa bowls. Just for that element, I would put him in my starting XI. Kolkata do appear somewhat light on the batting up front, especially if Gautam Gambhir fails to fire. On the other hand, Gambhir began with a 0, 0, 0, 1 sequence last year - and see where they ended up. Kolkata had also picked James Neesham and already had Chris Lynn. However, with both injured, they went for Azhar Mahmood and Johan Botha. You've got to wonder - the New Zealand selectors saw fit to get Grant Elliott into their World Cup squad instead of Neesham. Did Kolkata miss a trick by not doing likewise?
Mumbai Indians:
There has always been a touch of the haphazard to how Mumbai go about buying players in the auction. As long as uncapped players weren't included, tie-breakers were there for the most in-demand players, and the retention rules meant they had men in their prime, they could afford that. None of those hold true anymore, which means Mumbai don't wear that 'unbeatable, formidable' look. They are merely very good. Their costliest splurge at the auctions was Aaron Finch for Rs 3.2 crore. In form, you would want Finch to stride out at the top of the tree every day, but he's had a poor World Cup and wasn't impressive enough in IPL 2014 for Sunrisers to retain him. Mumbai needed a solid opening option though, and you can't fault the strategy in bagging Finch. Mumbai also traded in Unmukt Chand and Parthiv Patel before the auctions, to ensure they had viable options at the top of the order. Apart from Finch, they got relatively lesser known names in the auction. But then, this time last year, Josh Hazlewood was a relatively lesser known name and Mumbai had bagged him in 2014 too. Quite valuable, especially when you consider Lasith Malinga is no longer the terror he used to be.
Rajasthan Royals:
Among the most interesting moments of this year's auction was when Rahul Dravid's was among the first paddles raised when Yuvraj Singh came under the hammer. Dravid kept at it, and the Royals only dropped out of the race when the bidding crossed Rs 5 crore. "I had a strict budget," smiled Dravid afterwards. They may be known for unearthing small-name players with big-name performances, but if a Yuvraj comes along, they aren't going to let go without at least trying to get him. The Royals' most valuable buy could well be Chris Morris, the talented seam-bowling allrounder who can now be a readymade replacement for the absent Kane Richardson. Among others, Rajasthan also went for Sagar Trivedi, who word has it hits the ball hard and long.
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
By far the most entertaining team at the auctions. Having let go of Yuvraj Singh, who had been bought for Rs 14 crore in 2014, the think-tank at Bangalore started bidding to buy him back. Nothing wrong with that. You buy a player who is too expensive, you let him go and try to get him cheaper. Considering the vagaries of auctions, you need to set an upper limit beyond which you won't bid - otherwise the whole rationale of releasing the player gets defeated. With 14 crore the going price, you would expect a reasonable upper limit to be 10 crore. But the Bangalore table kept bidding for Yuvraj past that, and then, conquering all logic, went past 14 crore too. They eventually went up to 15.5 crore, but were saved some egg on the face by Delhi going to 16. Why - if you were willing to pay 15.5 crore for someone you would let him go when you were paying 14 crore - is a mystery only the Bangalore auction strategy chaps can answer. They had come into the auction with a Rs 20.8 crore budget and were saved three-fourths of that when Delhi bought Yuvraj. That allowed Bangalore to buy Dinesh Karthik, Darren Sammy, Sean Abbott and Adam Milne - actually plugging holes that needed filling and ending up with a surprisingly balanced-looking squad. However, they stumbled into a good team rather than thought through it. As if to even the cosmic scales, Mitchell Starc and Milne have both been pronounced injured and won't be available for some days.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Far and away, the team that should come out smiling widest after the 2015 auctions. Kevin Pietersen may have decided to go back to Surrey, but the fact that Hyderabad got the New Zealand duo of Trent Boult and Kane Williamson for a combined Rs 4.4 crore means they were comfortably on the right side of the ledger. Add Eoin Morgan at a 1.5 crore base price and Praveen Kumar (2.2 crore). With the buying of Boult alone, Hyderabad have ensured their new-ball attack will be the most watched and feared. Don't miss their matches because you don't know when you will next see Dale Steyn from one end and his heir apparent from the other.
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