Ft. RR, PBKS, SRH, KKR & LSG
With the IPL Auction done and dusted, and teams gearing up for another competitive season ahead, its time to look at the franchises from a critic angle and figure out if they have their squads set for a title-winning journey. As expected, lots of money was splurged on the Big-ticket overseas allrounders, there were few surprises as well. Few quality players went unsold while some under-performers of the previous seasons attracted huge bids. Let’s see how the franchises fared in the auctions and can their new recruits reward them with title-winning performances.
Can Jason Holder help RR cross the final hurdle?
Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals faltered in the finale last season. They rod highly on the back of impressive individual performances last time around with Jos Butler, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal leading the charts. However, their team always faced the issue of batting and bowling depth with none of the top 5 batsmen bowling and none of the 4 front-line bowlers capable enough to bat. They had to employ the tactic of 6 batsmen and 5 bowlers, with Ravichandran Ashwin being the team’s only capable allrounder. Riyan Parag was not trusted enough to bowl more than 2 overs, which meant they needed 5 proper bowlers. Jimmy Neesham and Daryl Mitchell’s poor performances meant Ashwin had to bat at 7 in most of the games. This time around, the arrival of Jason Holder has given some depth to their batting line-up with him slotting at number 7 and Ashwin to follow. But this also means Holder must turn up with the ball in almost all the games and give his team 4 good overs. Thus, with his arrival, can Jason Holder help Rajasthan Royals cross the final hurdle which they missed by a whisker last time around, will be seen soon.
Punjab break the bank for Sam Curran, but who bats at Number 3?
Punjab Kings have continued their auction trend of breaking the bank for overseas players. Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Liam Livingstone were some of the names who raked in huge money from the Kings with Sam Curran being the latest edition to the list. However, this time around the Kings can rightly say that they have managed to plug a huge hole with the edition of Sam Curran, though it cost them a massive record-breaking 18.5 crores. Their age-old issue of having a reliable overseas allrounder might be fixed this season if Sam Curran lives up to their expectations. Batting at number 7 as well as forming a threatening pace bowling troika with Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran has been quite a valuable addition to the Shikhar Dhawan-led side. However, with the exit of Mayank Agarwal, Punjab kings failed to find his replacement in the auction and thus have a question of finding a batter to bat at the crucial number 3 position. Either of Prabhsimran Singh or new-recruit Harpreet Bhatia are expected to fill the vacant position unless Trevor Bayliss manages to throw in Shah Rukh Khan in that position in which he played the final league game of the previous season.
Sunrisers welcome Mayank, Brook with huge bids, but who leads?
Sunrisers Hyderabad had entered the auction with the highest purse and have managed to assemble a strong squad with the purse. Former Punjab Kings-skipper Mayank Agarwal, Hard-hitting Englishman Harry Brook and Proteas keeper batsman Heinrich Klassen are some of the big names assembled by the Sunrisers. Along with the batsmen, the spin-duo of Akeal Hosein and Adil Rashid have entered the Hyderabad franchise as well. They have managed to tick quite a-lot of boxes but have a task at hand of choosing their skipper for this season. Experienced campaigner Bhuvneshwar Kumar was expected to take over the mantle of leading the franchise but with the arrival of Mayank Agarwal, things could change as well. There were rounds of Aiden Markram being considered as a captaincy candidate as well. Only time will tell who will be entrusted to lead the Sunrisers in the upcoming season.
Knights add in Bangladeshi flavour to strengthen line-up
Kolkata Knight Riders auction could be summarised as a tactical and back-up-oriented mission. The knights have successfully managed to assemble a strong side, atleast on paper, after some smart trades before the auction and tactical picks during the auction. Shakib Al Hasan’s return to the Eden Gardens is undoubtedly the headline for the KKR fans. Joining him is his Bangladeshi-mate Litton Das, who could end-up surpassing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the opening spot, given his recent red-hot form. Namibian-allrounder David Wiese has also been taken in by the Knights most probably as a back-up for Andre Russel. Narayan Jagadeesan and Mandeep Singh are the other value-picks by KKR which could provide them the much-needed stability in the lower middle order.
LSG spend big on muscle-power as Rahul-Pooran reunite for another bust
Lucknow Super Giants auction story revolved around the big-ticket purchase of Nicholas Pooran, much more than their base price picks of Jaydev Unadkat, Romario Shephard, Daniel Sams and veteran-Amit Mishra. The four base price picks have ensured they have batting depth with two overseas allrounders and bowling depth as well with both Unadkat and Mishra brining lots of experience to the table. After facing their middle-order shackles last season, the entry of Nicholas Pooran to the side has added much-needed strength to their middle-order. Expectations are high from the Caribbean Star to perform big this season after his underwhelming performances in the previous seasons.
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