IPL High Budget buys which caused Team Imbalance

Bidding for a player in the IPL is the same as playing casino games. A small mistake will cost crores. Just like in a horse race, teams must be smart enough to bet money on winning horses that fit into frames. Even in the recent IPL auction, some teams’ moves were Gambit, but some teams’ moves must be categorized as catastrophes. 

Johan Cruyff once said, “Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins”. This is true with IPL and even IPL auctions too. Which side did mistakes and which committed devastating miscalculations in buying players that led to blunders and which teams were flawless???!!!

Let us decode and discuss….

Gujarat Titans:

With the branded Hardik Pandya and 52 crores in its purse, Gujarat was expected to go with tactical plans for the auction and win some great players for its side. But, things went upside down for it. Gujarat had Rashid Khan on its side and there was no need for it to have a second thought on part-time spinners. But, as a big fault, Gujarat Titans went for Rahul Tewatia. He might have put on some effervescent shows in previous seasons, in a few matches, but he is not an outstanding or promising player who maintains consistency. Even in the last season, his batting average hit the rock bottom of 15.50 and his strike rate was only 105.44, which was very ordinary for any T20 batsman. In 14 matches, he had taken 8 wickets and his economy was 9.18, which was too high. But without any hesitation, Gujarat was going at its hammer and tongs with CSK for him. Narrow escape for CSK, but Gujarat paid 9 crores as the penalty for it. This is what prevented them from forming a good and balanced team.

Lucknow Super Giants: 

With the guidance of Gautam Gambhir, Lucknow was one among the teams which performed decently well in the auction, irrespective of the fact that this is its maiden season. But even Lucknow failed when it had bought Mark Wood. He is not that incredible in T20 format. More than that Lucknow already had four overseas greats, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder and Dushmantha Chameera. So once again, Mark Wood cannot be fixed anywhere. Rather than spending 7.50 crore on one single overseas player, Lucknow could have bought a few players at the average price of 2 – 3 crores, just like how MI and CSK did and RR did at the last moment. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

SRH is always known for its well-built bowling component. Even this time, it has some of the best pacers of India like swing king Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yorker Natarajan, Speedster Umran Malik with it. So it must have looked up into strengthening its batting line up and that is where it failed a bit. Even without getting satisfied with Indian bowlers, it had gone for Romario Shepherd for 7.75 crores. Hitting sixes maybe his cup of tea but as a bowling all-rounder, he may not aid the team like how Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram. It should have gone for a batting all-rounder who can hit the ball hard and take the team towards the target. That is where the team is lagging back now because of the one wrong move by SRH. 

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan is known for pouring money down the drain, especially for overseas players. An IPL fan can never forget it for smashing its bank and paying 16.25 crores for Chris Morris, breaking all the bidding records. Even this time, some costly mistakes were done by it which was leading to disorientation. With two outstanding openers, Jos Butler and Yashasvi Jaiswal on the side, still cannot guess what made Rajasthan to go for Devdutt Padikkal, that too for 7.75 crores. In the same way, Rajasthan bought Riyan Parag for 3.8 crores without minding his average of 11.62 with the below-average strike rate of 112 in the previous season. This emptied its pockets on the first day itself and it had to approach the IPL auction with the tied hands on day 2. Getting 4 overseas players, at the last moment brought it back to the track, but it missed some golden players, in between, with less money in its hands.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Here before, in previous auctions, RCB is renowned for its worst bids and buys, surprises and shocks and this auction was not an exception. Picking Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga for 10.75 crores for each head out of 57 crores already made it go short of money. But to the top of it, it bought Josh Hazlewood for 7.75 crores which almost unloaded its money. It was left out only with 9.25 crores at the end of the first day. With Mohd. Siraj and Harshal already in its quiver, its bowling unit was powerful but that will not settle its batting woes. RCB could have gone for an Indian middle-order batsman who can act as a good finisher. That might have filled the void created out of A B de Villiers’ exit. RCB which was very active on the first day of the auction had to stay concealed under the carpet, with an almost empty pocket. 

Mumbai Indians:

The whole cricket fraternity is waiting to witness the disaster which will be brought to the opposition on the field by beastly Bumrah and brutish Archer. Even, Mumbai owner Akash Ambani proudly said “Archer will make a “formidable” pace pair with India’s Jasprit Bumrah”. Yes! If one can target the leg, another one’s bully will be the head. Deadly combination it will be, is not it? But will it ever happen? Archer cannot play in this IPL season, because of his elbow injury. As a fast bowler, who is prone to injury, his availability for the seasons to come is also not guaranteed. This creates an opinion that Mumbai’s tight fight with the other teams and picking up him for the 8 crores will be in vain. So, this is observed as the biggest mistake that was committed by Mumbai. Future may have the answer.

Chennai Super Kings:

The CSK was smart enough to retain two all-rounders who are finger spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali. With these two extraordinary players already on the plane, there was no need for CSK to pick up Mitchell Santner into its crew. If it tightly held on to its purse, with that 1.9 crores, it could have easily bought Rovman Powell, who is excellent in hitting bullets as described by Pant recently. CSK lost him to Delhi for 2.8 crores and that is going to be a considerable loss for it when reading his recent scores. 

When the above said teams made some epic mistakes in selecting the wrong players and spent money as if there were no tomorrow, Punjab, Kolkata and Delhi came with a clear game plan and blueprint and dominated throughout the auction with clarity. Its’ bids and buys were picture perfect.

*Punjab got some great overseas players like Jonny Bairstow and Kagiso Rabada at a reasonable price, at the same time it was scoring at the purchase of some Indian players at a base price too. None of the players except Liam Livingstone (and retained Mayank Agarwal) were bought by spending more than 10 crores.

**KKR spent a substantial amount of money on Shreyas Iyer. With him as the captain to lead in the front and most of its ex-players back in the team, it appears as an even more stronger squad.

***Delhi’s pick of players is distinguished and it is already looking like a champion team to wear the crown this year.

One should not forget the hidden theory behind T20s; Whatever words were spoken based on the SWOT analysis, may change its tone totally, on the field. 

T20 format and field are the home town of miracles. We may come across one or two even in the upcoming season. Let us see whether everything will go in the same direction as predicted or will it travel opposite to the expectations.