For many cricket aficionados, the IPL mega auction throws up a lot of interesting talking points. With teams vying for the biggest of names on the world stage, there is a great deal of anticipation around who you can expect to see turn out in your team’s colours when cricket’s biggest carnival comes rolling into town. And it was no different on day 1 of the IPL mega auction. Here are some of the big talking points from the proceedings on day 1.
Rishabh Pant – ₹ 27.00 Cr. – Lucknow Super Giants
Even the most casual of cricket experts knew that Rishabh Pant would get all the teams hot and excited when his name got pulled out of the proverbial hat. The question is, how excited? Turns out, record levels of excitement, as he ended up snagging a record big of ₹ 27.00 Cr. from the Lucknow Super Giants.
Lucknow might have won the bid, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals all expressed an interest in signing the southpaw. Lucknow had won the open bidding by going all the way up to ₹ 20.75 Cr. for Pant, but Delhi wanted to use their Right to Match option for Pant. Lucknow responded by going all in on the maverick basher, offering up ₹ 27.00 Cr., a figure Delhi opted not to match.
Pant forms an interesting combination in the middle order with Pooran, Markram, Miller, and Marsh, and it will be fascinating to see how Lucknow get on with this plethora of batting riches come the next edition of the IPL.
Shreyas Iyer – ₹ 26.75 Cr. – Punjab Kings
High-quality Indian batsmen are a rare commodity in the IPL circuit, and those that can capably captain a team are even rarer. So when it was confirmed that Shreyas Iyer would enter the mega auction after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title last year, one was certain he would command a fat fee for his services. But one couldn’t expect just how fat the stack of cash headed his way would be.
Punjab Kings were eager to sign him on, and beat all other comers to secure his signature. With the biggest purse of anyone at the auction, one could have seen this coming. But even so, the size of the price left many agape. Having spent ₹ 26.75 Cr. of their kitty on the Indian international, the Punjab think tank could rest happy knowing that they had secured their middle order enforcer and captain for many years to come.
However, it is worth bearing in mind that the most successful IPL teams have had their legacy built on having standout bowling lineups. Think of Malinga and Bumrah at Mumbai (and Boult, Johnson, McClenagahan, and others before them), Rashid Khan and Shami at Gujarat, or Pathirana, Theekshana, and co. at Chennai.
For long, Punjab have had one of the most dysfunctional teams on the IPL circuit. This writer wouldn’t bet on that trend being broken this year.
Which brings us very nicely to the next few players on our list…
Arshdeep Singh – ₹ 18 Cr. – Punjab Kings
If premium Indian batsmen command top dollar at IPL auctions, Indian swing bowlers who can bowl at the top and the death can have the topmost of dollars home delivered, with franchises lining up to net these rare birds.
Arshdeep Singh is certainly one of that ilk. Particularly dangerous if the new ball is moving about a bit at the start, the Punjab southpaw has carved out a reputation as a reliable bowler at multiple stages of the game. Clearly, Punjab had gone in with a game plan of picking up a versatile bowler and had pinpointed Arshdeep as that player. But given Jasprit Bumrah was retained by the Mumbai Indians for ₹ 18 Cr., one can’t help but feel that Punjab overpaid by a fair bit for Arshdeep. It’s another matter entirely that if Bumrah were listed in the auction, he would quite possibly get closer to ₹ 30 Cr. But that’s pure conjecture.
There’s no doubt that Arshdeep will do well for Punjab. But as always, Punjab have created a lopsided looking team, even if some good names thrown into the mix. Arshdeep will certainly be left laughing all the way to the bank, but it might well be other teams having a laugh at Punjab’s expense come the IPL.
That’s because the next player on our list was also picked up by , surprise surprise, the Punjab Kings.
Yuzvendra Chahal – ₹ 18 Cr. – Punjab Kings
By all accounts, Yuzvendra Chahal is a canny customer. Having taken more than 200 wickets in the IPL since making his debut, the leggie is one of the premier spin bowlers to have graced the stage. And while he is a quality option to turn to through the middle of the innings, with his wicket-taking abilities, Punjab have missed a trick by going all-in on Iyer, Arshdeep, and Chahal.
One can’t help but believe that by spending a huge portion of their purse on Iyer, Punjab has frittered away the significant cash advantage they had by spending nearly a quarter of their available balance on this trio. Punjab have traded in the chance to bully the room, so to speak, and instead opted for the safety net of tried and tested names. One worries that might be to the detriment of the overall balance of their team composition, though.
Venkatesh Iyer – ₹ 23.75 Cr. – Kolkata Knight Riders
For many, the biggest surprise on day was the fierce level of interest in Venkatesh Iyer. The all-rounder is no stranger to the ways of Kolkata Knight Riders, having turned out in their colours for many years, but the sheer quantum of the bid caught many out.
In some ways, one can understand the interest KKR showed in securing Iyer’s services. Continuity goes a long way in building a successful franchise (just ask CSK and Mumbai Indians), and this sends out a strong message from KKR that they do value continuity in the squad. Iyer joins a talented squad at KKR, with his selection being topped up by the acquisition of De Kock, Nortje, Raghuvanshi, and Gurbaz, not to mention the retention of established stars like Narine and Russell. The defending champions are looking in great shape.
Mumbai and RCB have it all to do on day two
Mumbai and RCB seem to be leaving it for some late-stage fireworks, as they took it very easy in the first leg of the two-day auction. Mumbai bought only four players on day one of the auction, most notably Trent Boult for ₹ 12.5 Cr. This takes their squad strength up to 9, the same as RCB. RCB has an even bigger purse left, at ₹ 30.65 Cr., and were busy netting the services of Josh Hazelwood, Jitesh Sharma, Phil Salt, and Liam Livingstone, to name a few. Expect these two to be active on day 2 of the auction.
It will be interesting to see how day 2 plays out, with the likes of Padikkal, Warner, and Bairstow the most surprising players to go unsold. Expect these 3 and more to come back to play a role later in the auction. Keep your popcorn at the ready, it’s going to be a fun ride.
