Who Gujarat Lions need to buy at the 2017 IPL auction

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

02/16/2017

Gujarat nearly made the perfect debut last season, but a couple of individual performances from AB de Villiers and David Warner stopped them in their tracks. However, they have the right base in the squad to build upon, and the addition of a couple of good spinners could make them the team to beat.

How they performed last season

Gujarat Lions did almost everything right last season, almost. They topped the league table winning nine of their 14 matches in the group stage. Nearly every batsman, from Suresh Raina to Dinesh Karthik, contributed consistently throughout the tournament. Dhawal Kulkarni and Dwayne Bravo picked up 35 wickets between themselves. Everything was going well for them.

In their first knockout game, they scored 158 on a difficult wicket and then restricted RCB to 68/6 by the 10th over. The dangerous Virat Kohli was back in the pavilion for a duck. They were on the cusp of their first final – that was until AB de Villiers decided to take matters into his own hands. All of Gujarat’s good work in the 14 games and 30 overs of that match were undone in the 50 deliveries by the South African genius.

They had another chance in the second qualifier, but this time it was David Warner’s turn to spoil their party. Two innings of utmost brilliance and Gujarat Lions had to return empty-handed from what was a smashing debut season.

Released players (8): Dale Steyn, Paras Dogra, E Diwedi, Sarabjit Ladda, Pravin Tambe, Umang Sharma, Amit Mishra, Akashdeep Nath

Players retained (14): Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Andrew Tye, Ishan Kishan, Pradeep Sangwan, Shivil Kaushik, Shadab Jakati, Jaydev Shah

Auction budget: 14.35 Crores

Who they need to eye at the auction

Rasool could be the missing piece in Gujarat © IPL Media

They have released eight players, and Dale Steyn is the only foreigner in the list. The pacer had suffered a shoulder injury during South Africa's tour of Australia in November and was cut from the Gujarat squad. Even last season, he played only one game for them.

Having released a host of Indian players, Gujarat will be eyeing a lot of the local contingent during the auction. Although Ravindra Jadeja has been in good form recently, they will also be eyeing a couple of spinners – perhaps the only weakness in the squad from last season. The likes of Pragyan Ojha, Rahul Sharma, Pawan Negi, Parvez Rasool, and Karn Sharma are all up for grabs. However, considering they already have Jadeja, Gujarat are unlikely to opt for another left-arm spinner which rules out bids for Ojha and Negi. Considering current form, Parvez Rasool and Karn Sharma are likely to be at the top of the priority list of Gujarat.

Rasool, who has previously featured for Pune Warriors, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, is coming into this auction on the back of a fantastic Ranji season. The 28-year-old, who recently made his T20 debut for India against England, had picked up 38 wickets in 15 innings in the Ranji Trophy. His off-break will be a fine complement for the left-arm spin of Jadeja, however, Gujarat might face a lot of competition for during the auction for him.

Karn Sharma, who picked up 31 wickets for Railways this season, could be another decent target for Gujarat. The 29-year-old had featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, and it was a season to forget for him. The leg-spinner went wicket-less for five games and bowled at an economy rate of 10.46. However, he seemed to have improved a lot in domestic cricket this season and will be good as a good backup in case they miss out on Rasool.

Gujarat are also likely to replace Steyn with another pacer and with Ishant Sharma available, they might not look beyond him. Buying him will also mean they can push more foreigners in the batting half of the lineup, and the experienced pacer has shown signs of getting back to form recently. In case, they opt for a foreigner, they have the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Trent Boult to pick from, although a host of other teams will also be eyeing them.

Players they should target: Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Mitchell Johnson, Trent Boult