How they performed last season

Pune’s biggest weakness was their bowling, though. Apart from Adam Zampa, who picked up 12 wickets in five games and ended up as RPS’s highest wicket-taker, and to so some extent Ashok Dinda, who won two man-of-the-match awards, none of their bowlers delivered. Ravichandran Ashwin struggled to make an impact, while Murugan Ashwin had a tournament to forget. Incredibly, Pune lost all of their eight matches in which they had batted first last season.

Players retained (16): MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis, Mitchell Marsh, Ashok Dinda, Ankush Bains, Rajat Bhatia, Ankit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Adam Zampa, Jaskaran Singh, Baba Aparajith, Deepak Chahar, and Usman Khawaja.

Auction budget: 17.5 Crores

The RPS franchise have released 11 players, the most among the franchises, from their squad last season, including six foreigners, which means they are likely to be very active in this auction.

With the likes of Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, Mitchell Johnson, Morne Morkel, Varun Aaron, Marchant De Lange, and Kyle Abbott available in this auction, RPS do have a lot of options to pick from, and given their affinity towards Australians, it won’t be a big surprise to see one of Johnson, Pat Cummins, or Nathan Coulter-Nile in Pune’s colours next season.

The Perth Scorchers recently won the Big Bash League and Johnson ended the tournament as their highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps in nine games. He also produced one of the best spells of fast bowling we have witnessed in recent times in the semis with figures of 3/3 in four overs! However, his base price is 2 Crores, and a few of the other franchises will also be keeping an eye on him. Cummins and Coulter-Nile, on the other hand, are much cheaper options. Although Cummins was not at his best in the BBL for Sydney Thunders, he had done a more than decent job for KKR when he got his opportunities in the 2014-15 season.

They might have to turn to some of the lesser-known names during the auction for that. The likes of Anupam Sanklecha, Mohammed Siraj, and Pankaj Singh – three of the best pacers in domestic cricket last season – will be up for grabs, and RPS are likely to make a dash for them. Siraj and Sanklecha are yet to make their IPL debut, while Pankaj has played for both Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past.

Anupam Sanklecha, who plays for Maharashtra, was the second highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy last season with 43 scalps in 13 innings. The base price for the 34-year-old is set at 10 lakh, and RPS could get him for cheap.

Varun Aaron and Pankaj Singh are the more experienced options available, though. The former has been released by RCB, and it is a reflection of what has been a disappointing year in his career. The 27-year-old is capable of bowling fast and picking up wickets but also concedes a lot of runs – something Dinda is already doing for RPS. Which is perhaps why Pankaj Singh can be a safer option, given that he has picked up 41 wickets for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy this season and has his excellent ability to extract bounce off any wicket.

MS Dhoni is unlikely to add another spinner to the squad with Zampa and Ashwin already battling for places in the lineup, however, they are sure to replace Pietersen with another big-hitter. Replacing an Englishman with another Englishman might not be a bad move with Eoin Morgan available in the market. Morgan has been in good form in the BBL and during his recent tour of India, and he can slot into the middle-order for RPS.