IPL 2020 Auction | What were the teams thinking ft. Mumbai’s pace obsession and Hyderabad's hibernation

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

12/21/2019

With two full days having passed post the frenetic IPL auction, it’s time to reflect on how well the teams actually fared. While some bid like there was no tomorrow, the others were mere bystanders, almost reluctantly putting in a bid or two. But could any team really call themselves ‘complete’?

The truth is, they cannot. Sure, each team did manage to snap up their very own ‘big name’ and make their fans happy, but what is the point of the auction if, at the end of the day, there are still holes to be filled and issues to be addressed? A few decisions from the franchises on the evening of 19th - to overpay, go and not go for certain players - were baffling, flabbergasting and beggared belief; decisions that make you wonder if they’d strategized the auction in the first place.

Mumbai Indians and their obsession with pacers

What is the one thing you DON’T have to do when you already have Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Dhawal Kulkarni in your squad? Buy pacers. What did Mumbai Indians do? Umm, splash just the 8 crore on YET ANOTHER PACER - Nathan Coulter-Nile. I mean, come on, there’s no justification for this. They did steal Chris Lynn (for 2 cr) but having let go of Mayank Markande, they are a spinner short, and it would have made all the sense in the world to hunt for perhaps a quality wicket-taking leggie. They will now go into the season with Rahul Chahar as their only attacking spinner. Oh well, Rohit & Co will only have themselves to blame should the younger Chahar show signs of the second-season syndrome.

Somebody please inform CSK that next year is 2020

Okay, I’m 100% sure that this is going to come back and haunt me, for CSK will once again make their way to the final (somehow), but that doesn’t mean they should be spared of criticism for their lacklustre auction, does it? Despite knowing that both their (old) openers - Watson and Rayudu - had stinkers last season, they made absolutely no effort to get reinforcements in that area. And oh as if 12 spinners weren’t enough, they went ahead and bought a 13th one - for a sum of 6.75 crore. And a 14th too, for just 20L though. Sure, both Watson and Rayudu have all the experience in the world, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop being proactive in the market when there are, in fact, plenty of options available. Good luck going back to Murali Vijay and/or Ruturaj Gaikwad if (and when) Watson/Rayudu/Faf falter next season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore being Royal Challengers Bangalore

If what we saw in the auction was what Mike Hesson was brought in for, then I’m afraid RCB would be better off getting rid of him even before the season begins. “We got everyone we wanted,” said Hesson after the auction; Oh, not like they wanted Cummins and ended up with Morris (whilst overpaying), wanted Jordan and ended up with Richardson and wanted Carey and ended up with Philippe. That’s still okay as they were bullied by teams with bigger purses, but what about an Indian wicket-keeper, Mr Hesson? RCB have got Padikkal, Finch, Kohli and Philippe in the squad yet will HAVE to open with Parthiv Patel in the first match as a) He is the only Indian keeper in the squad and b) He is of no use to the team batting elsewhere. Or maybe they’ll just ask AB to keep wickets instead - of course, not like, he has enough on his plate already.

Rajasthan's 'Royal' blunder

You have to give it to the Royals management, only they are capable of having Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in the team and yet possess the weakest squad in the tournament. All they needed was three things: A quality Indian spinner, an Indian lower-order batsman, an Indian pacer and a few backups. What did they do? They forgot about the Indian spinner and the finisher, bought back Unadkat (again) and signed three overseas back-ups for Archer. They did get Yashasvi Jaiswal, who I think is a good signing, and replaced Rahane with Uthappa, but them scooping five other kids literally makes no sense. So with K Gowtham gone, are they just gonna ‘attack’ with their leggies - Markande, Gopal and Parag? And do they seriously expect Gopal to finish games off for them with the bat too?

Punjab face the “Chris Gayle vs Balance” battle

I have to tip my hat off to Anil Kumble and the whole Punjab team management, they did an exceptional job in the auction on Thursday. They addressed almost every area they needed to and in each position, back-ups are plenty. But here comes the million-dollar question: are they willing to sacrifice Christopher Henry Gayle? Sure, The Universe Boss will win them a few matches on his own, but his inclusion will all but kill the balance of the team. He would not only eat up an overseas slot but with Maxwell and Pooran both set to be sure-shot starters, it will leave the team with just one overseas slot open. But should they drop him, however, they can open with Rahul/Agarwal, play Mandeep/Karun Nair at #3 and play two of Jordan/Cottrell/Mujeeb/Neesham. With death bowling being their Achilles Heel, at this point in time, it’s a no-brainer to keep Gayle out of the team. The ball is in your court, Mr Kumble.

Hold your head high, Delhi

I’m not sure if Delhi will win IPL 2020, but they, without a shadow of a doubt, they were the winners of the IPL 2020 auction. It was, in fact, a lesson to all the other teams - they addressed every single issue they had. By bringing in Carey, they added a calm influence in the middle order - something that they’d missed last season - by couping Stoinis and Hetmyer they made their middle-order formidable and by getting in Woakes, they gave Rabada the cushion he needs. Roy was a bonus signing, of course, but sometimes you need to reward yourself. If anything, a world-class Indian pacer is what they miss, but to be fair, there weren’t many available in the market. Mind you, they did make efforts to fill that void by bringing in both Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Sharma.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s puzzling hibernation

I’m fascinated to know what was going through the head of the SRH team management when they sat in for the auction. It took THREE HOURS for them to make their first bid and like, I’d mentioned previously, it was almost they were reluctant to buy players. They needed an overseas pacer, a world-class finisher and a Shakib replacement and I’m afraid they didn’t get any. Mitchell Marsh is an interesting buy, one that could go either way, but the fact that they did not even make efforts to go for the proven sub-continent giants - Maxwell, Hetmyer, Turner - is kind of startling. Oh and with Billy Stanlake being the only overseas pacer and with them having a pretty one-dimensional Indian pace attack, they desperately needed reinforcements on that front but despite having 10.10 crore left in their kitty, they will enter the tournament with Big Billy as their only overseas quick. Fabian Allen was a shrewd buy, no doubt, but hey, surely they can do better than him to replace Shakib. Once again, it’s going to come down to Warner and Rashid Khan, isn’t it.

Guess Kolkata forgot the word ‘backup’

There is no world where purchasing a fast bowler for 15.50 crore can be justified. I’ll let that go for now, but you know what makes it worse? The fact that he is by no means a world-class death bowler. The top six of Gill/Narine/Rana/Morgan/DK/Russell is, without a doubt, the best in the league, but what about the all-rounders? They cannot bat Cummins at No.7, for it’ll make the lower-order too fragile, and opting for a specialist batsman at #7 will kill the team balance. And where is the Russell replacement? Lose him and you not only your finisher but also one of your death bowlers. Reflecting on KKR’s auction, it might be perhaps the most eye-catching head-turning one, but for their own liking, the management has left way too many holes unfixed.