Recipe for a disaster buy in Indian Premier League ft. Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat, Andrew Fintoff

ByAakash Sivasubramaniam, SportsCafe Editor

12/18/2019

The Auction table is perhaps not the best place where Delhi Daredevils did their business, selling some of the most iconic players including AB de Villiers, David Warner amongst the others. Bangalore, on the other hand, trusted Tymal Mills for 12 crores leaving fans to ask ‘Yake?’

How many of you remember Andrew Flintoff’s match-winning performance for Chennai Super Kings? Me neither! That talks a lot about the $ 1.55 million marquee signing for the Super Kings. It is just a one-off example of some of the worst buys that a franchise has done in the past, with Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) having done it several times on the auction table.

We have listed out all the teams that have committed the worst of blunders on the Auction table and it would not be a surprise if you find your team on the list as well.

Chennai Super Kings- Andrew Flintoff in 2009 for 1.55 million

Till date, we have not seen the yellow table on the Auction go into the “go big or go home” mood. However, like everything, this has an exception and that is Freddie ‘Millionaire’ Flintoff. The English all-rounder was bought by the Chennai franchise for $ 1.55 million, which after our calculation comes around the 16 crores, see a similarity with fellow countryman Tymal Mills?

There is interestingly another similarity between the two and that is they have both failed during their stint in the cash-rich tournament. Freddie played three games in the yellow jersey, scoring 62 runs in aggregate and picked up 2 wickets conceding 105 runs. Poor by not only the league’s standard but also from his own standards. Following that stint, we have not seen Flintoff any closer to the cash-rich league.

Delhi Capitals- Yuvraj Singh in 2015 for 14 crores

Back when Delhi Capitals did not quite have the right people on the auction table, they purchased Yuvraj Singh for 14 crores. And, surprisingly or not Yuvi could fit into the worst buys of any franchise from MI, SRH, RCB or Delhi. In 2015, the southpaw scored only 248 runs at an average of 19.07. With the ball, he only picked up one wicket and for 14 crores that is just bonkers (in a negative way). A World Cup winner Yuvraj slowly faded into a nightmare in franchise cricket and slowly his glorious days were reduced to ashes.

Kolkata Knight Riders- Mitchell Starc in 2018 for 9.4 crores

It was an interesting prospect to see the fiery Australian Mitchell Starc in the Kolkata Knight Riders setup. Starc was in prime form ahead of the IPL and would have been handy for Shahrukh Khan’s side if he managed to stay fit. 9.4 crores for the pacer looked paltry compared to what he could bring to the table, however, he never arrived at the table unfortunately for the Knight Riders.

Prior to the 2018 season, Starc was seen donning the red and gold jersey of RCB in the 2015 season, where he picked up 20 wickets. The left-arm seamer had the talent, had the pace and skills to give the batsmen in the league a run for their money, except that he did not have an eye for his fitness. Incidentally, it was also the last time that we ever saw Starc in the IPL Auction with the speedster opting out of the cash-rich tournament in the following years.

Kings XI Punjab- Mohit Sharma in 2016 for 6.5 crores

After a successful stint at the Chennai Super Kings under MS Dhoni, Mohit Sharma became a seasoned pro on the IPL circuit. While his former team CSK were not on the table, there was an interested owner in the KXIP’s Preity Zinta. Zinta has always been a keen follower of the players that CSK are interested in, or have played for the franchise or even if the players are from the area of Tamil Nadu. With Mohit, it was the second option with the right-arm pacer showing all variations required to shine in the IPL. The KXIP owner shelled 6.5 crores for the pacer, as he went on to play for three years for the franchise. While he did pick up wickets for them, he was not at the form that he showed during his stint with the CSK. 26 wickets in two seasons, at an average economy rate of 8.6, the pacer could not sadly lead the Punjab side to an IPL title.

Mumbai Indians- Glenn Maxwell in 2012 for $ 1 million

Glenn Maxwell played for Mumbai Indians two seasons, yet he is best known for his stint at Kings XI Punjab says a lot about his stint right? Maxwell was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for $1 million, as he played five games for the franchise. Five games for a million is quite the costly purchase, but is it not the money which is staggering us but the way they have under-utilised him. The Australian opened the innings for Mumbai and scored a 22 against Rajasthan Royals and that was pretty much his last game in a blue jersey.

Royal Challengers Bangalore- Tymal Mills in 2017 for 12 crores

A Yorkshire lad turned into a Bengaluru disaster would be the title of Tymal Mills cricketing career. New Zealand’s Super Smash or Australia’s Big Bash League name it and you will find the Englishman plying his trade in the league. RCB were struggling in the bowling department, with the absence of Mitchell Starc and Mills looked like the right replacement, well it quickly became like a purchase made on the Chinese shopping portals.

What turned out in the red and gold colours was like the Chinese product that we all complain of being faulty and not matching the description mentioned. Neither did Mills provide the breakthrough early on nor did he manage to pick up wickets in the death overs. In the five games that he played, the left-arm seamer picked up 5 wickets only giving away 8.57 runs an over. Sadly for Mills, it turned out to be the first and last IPL for him as RCB decided to get their money back after a faulty purchase.

In 2018, he went on to pick a hattrick for Sussex, so probably was it on an RCB curse that had its effect on Shane Watson too?

Rajasthan Royals- Jaydev Unadkat in 2018 for 11.5 crores:

Jaydev Unadkat, who finished as the highest wicket-taker in Rising Pune Supergiant way to the finals against Mumbai was the ‘hot pie’ on the IPL Auction market. Sold like a hot pie was indeed what happened with Unadkat in the Auction, with a huge bidding war between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kings XI Punjab. As it looked like Punjab bought the left-arm seamer there was the twist. The twist that saved Punjab their 11 crores, the twist that fetched the pacer 11.5 crores and an overnight fortune.

Rajasthan Royals walked right into the trap after this exploits at RPS. Unadkat slowly became a shadow of himself in the 2018 IPL. Under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, the pacer could only pick up 11 wickets the entire season after his 24-wicket RPS exploit. 9.65 and 10.66 read his economy rates during his days at the Royals leading to the question, why, mighty why?

Sunrisers Hyderabad- Deepak Hooda in 2018 for 3.6 crores

The 2018 IPL Auction looks like one of the places where franchises have committed blunders. Sunrisers Hyderabad were tricked into getting the all-rounder Deepak Hooda. Hooda proved to be a handful during his stint with the Royals, including a match-winning 50 against the then Delhi Daredevils in just 25 balls. It was not a surprise that Sunrisers went all out for the all-rounder, as they always have had a close eye on the domestic circuit to find out talents.

While Hooda certainly looked like a match-winner during his RR days, his form and confidence slowly started fading in the second season with the Sunrisers. In the 11 innings that he played, he only scored 64 runs, including a high score of 20 which is a pale reflection of his glorious RR days. SRH have never been able to capitalise on his talent and the 3.6 crores suddenly looked like a skyrocket for the all-rounder despite his brilliance on the domestic circuit. Could he redeem himself in the 2019 IPL Auctions? We are yet to find that out!