Dhoni likely to be poached by Pune team at IPL draft

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk,SportsCafe Editor

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All eyes will be on India’s limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with team-mates Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina as the Indian Premier League (IPL) draft for the two new franchises from Pune and Rajkot takes place on Tuesday, December 15.

Indian ODI and T20 captain MS Dhoni is believed to be the most coveted player in the draft having led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to IPL titles in 2010 and 2011. CSK also finished all eight IPL seasons in the last four under Dhoni’s captaincy with four them as runners-up. With Dhoni filling roles of captain, wicket-keeper and batsman, the 34-year old is likely to be the first pick at the auction.

The right to pick the first player rests in the hands of Sanjiv Goenka’s New Rising group, which went the extra mile with a Rs. minus 16 crore bid. It is highly unlikely that Pune will let go of a chance to sign Dhoni with the captain having a huge fan following, apart from his cricketing abilities.

On the top of Rajkot’s wish list will be one man - Ravindra Jadeja. The 27-year old Saurashtra all-rounder made a brilliant comeback into the Indian Test side against South Africa picking up 23 wickets in four Tests. The home-land lad might become the first pick on emotional grounds. Jadeja’s ability as an all-rounder will also become a factor in the draft, when Rajkot picks their first player in the draft on Tuesday.(Read: After cash-rich IPL, BCCI considers another T20 league)

Other Indian superstars in the fray are CSK’s Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin. Raina holds the record for the highest-run getter in IPL with 3699 runs from 132 matches. The 29-year old could become a crucial pick for both franchises after their first picks in the draft.

Ravichandran Ashwin, currently the best spinner in the country and arguably in the world, with 90 wickets in 97 matches and an economy rate of 6.45 will also become a crucial pick for both franchises. If the first picks in the draft look predictable, the next four picks are anyone’s guess.

Quality Indian players will be the criteria for both franchises with seven Indian players needed in the starting eleven. CSK’s Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith and Rajasthan Royals’ Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Shane Watson and James Faulkner will be the other players in the wish list of both franchises.

Each franchise will have an option of picking five players from the draft with a total of ten players getting picked from a possible 50. The cricketers of the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be divided into capped and uncapped players; the players who are not picked in the draft will go to an auction, which is to be held on February 6 in Bengaluru.

Both teams will have minimum of Rs. 40 crore and a maximum of Rs. 66 crore to buy players. As per the tender, the first capped player would be paid 12.5 crore, while the remaining four capped players are to get Rs 9.5 crore, Rs 7.5 crore, Rs 5.5 crore, and Rs 4 crore respectively. Uncapped players can be picked for a stipulated fee of Rs 4 crore, PTI reported.

Both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be allowed back in the league in 2018, after serving their two-year suspension.

IPL 2016 will start on April 9, with the final on May 29.

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