IPL auction 2019: How the teams fared in bidding battle

The IPL auction 2019 saw some fierce bidding with the teams focused on bagging their right picks from the pool.

Chennai Super Kings didn't had to put on its thinking hat at the auction.

Chennai Super Kings

Squad strength: 25

Auction signings: 2

Batsmen: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (w.k.), Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, M. Vijay, Sam Billings (w.k.), Ambati Rayudu, Dhruv Shorey, N. Jagadeesan (w.k.), Ruturaj Gaikwad.

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, David Willey, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Chaitanya Bishnoi.

Spinners: Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma.

Pacers: Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, K.M. Asif, Shardul Thakur, Monu Kumar, Mohit Sharma.

Among all the teams, CSK had the easiest of auction with a maximum of two Indian slots available. With the team in need of a reliable Indian pacer, it lost out in the race for left-arm pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Barinder Sran, but it resulted in Mohit Sharma’s return to the CSK den. Ruturaj Gaikwad, the promising Maharashtra batsman, was the other signing for CSK.

Delhi Capitals

Squad strength: 25

Auction signings: 10

Batsmen: Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (w.k.), Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Ankush Bains (w.k.).

All-rounders: Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Chris Morris, Jalaj Saxena, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Colin Ingram, Axar Patel.

Spinners: Amit Mishra, Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Pacers: Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma, Bandaru Ayyappa, Nathu Singh.

It may have signed 10 players on Tuesday, but barring Axar Patel none of the other nine may figure in the playing XI once the tournament starts. After all, the Capitals’ primary objective of the auction was to create strong back-ups for its core group and it appears to have fared reasonably well in its task.

Kings XI Punjab

Squad strength: 23

Auction signings: 13

Batsmen: K.L. Rahul (w.k.), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (w.k.), Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran (w.k.).

All-rounders: Harpreet Brar, Agnivesh Ayachi, Darshan Nalkande, Sam Curran, Varun Chakravarthy, Moises Henriques.

Spinners: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, R. Ashwin, M. Ashwin.

Pacers: Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, Mohammed Shami.

With 15 slots available, it was an auction primarily meant for the Kings. As expected, it made the most signings on Tuesday but appeared to be quite focused, with thrust on increasing the depth in pace department and getting suitable candidates for the finisher’s role. They signed Mohammed Shami and Hardus Viljoen as key pacers, while Sam Curran, Moises Henriques and Sarfaraz Khan could fit in as finishers. With suspense over Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s availability, it went all out to win the race for signing Tamil Nadu mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy.

Varun Chakravarthy earned a highest bid among uncapped players.

 

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad strength: 21

Auction signings: 8

Batsmen: Dinesh Karthik (w.k.), Robin Uthappa (w.k.), Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Joe Denly, Nikhil Naik (w.k.).

All-rounders: Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Shrikant Mundhe.

Spinners: Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav.

Pacers: Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, M. Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje, Harry Gurney, Prithvi Raj Yarra.

With just three overseas players on its roster, it didn’t come as a surprise that the Knight Riders signed the most number of overseas players on Tuesday but it lived up to its reputation of going for surprise picks even this time around. Lockie Ferguson and Anrich Nortje were picked for their ability to bowl quick, with all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite being a big plus.

Mumbai Indians

Squad strength: 24

Auction signings: 6

Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (w.k.), Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare (w.k.), Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock (w.k.), Yuvraj Singh, Anmolpreet Singh.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Pankaj Jaiswal.

Spinners: Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar.

Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Rasikh Dar, Barinder Sran, Lasith Malinga.

The three-time champion had a mixed bag. It missed out on acquiring all-rounder Shivam Dube - who was one of its prime target, owner Akash Ambani was thrilled to have acquired Lasith Malinga and Yuvraj Singh at base price. Ambani revealed that captain Rohit Sharma - whose batting position in IPL has been more of an enigma than his form in Test cricket - will open the innings and Yuvraj would lend the experience required in the middle order. The team also had a like-for-like replacement in Barinder Sran for left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman.

Rajasthan Royals

Squad strength: 25

Auction signings: 9

Batsmen: Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson (w.k.), Aryaman Birla, Prashant Chopra, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith, Jos Buttler (w.k.), Manan Vohra.

All-rounders: K. Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Stuart Binny, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag.

Spinners: Ish Sodhi, Mahipal Lomror.

Pacers: S. Midhun, Dhawal Kulkarni, Oshane Thomas, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat.

The three pacers that Royals acquired - Jaydev Unadkat (with price correction), Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron - would certainly be handy. Manan Vohra and Shubham Ranjane - both of whom could play a vital role in the tournament - turned out to be smart buys at base price. But one wasn’t sure if the Royals have roped in reliable replacements for the likes of Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and perhaps even Jofra Archer who would leave the IPL mid-way.

Jaydev Unadkat was roped in by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 8.4 crore.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad strength: 24

Auction signings: 9

Batsmen: Parthiv Patel (w.k.), AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Heinrich Klaasen (w.k.), Himmat Singh.

All-rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Milind Kumar, Prayas Ray Barman, Akshdeep Nath.

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal.

Pacers: Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Siraj, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya.

RCB has a reputation for going after the flavour of the season and the trend continued with the team loosening its purse for West Indian Shimron Hetmyer and domestic sensation Shivam Dube. Heinrich Klaasen emerged as a steal at his base price, however, it was surprising to see the Challengers not opting to bolster its death-bowling department.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad strength: 23

Auction signings: 3

Batsmen: Shreevats Goswami (w.k.), Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (w.k.), Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill.

All-rounders: Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar.

Spinners: Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem.

Pacers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T. Natarajan, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Billy Stanlake, Basil Thampi.

Just like CSK, SRH had very little areas to focus on during the auction. Getting a reliable back-up for David Warner and a first-choice wicket-keeper-batsman was on top of its agenda. In Jonny Bairstow it found an ideal replacement but after losing the race for Colin Ingram and Hetmyer, SRH settled for Martin Guptill towards the end of the auction.