IPL 2020 Auction | Franchises Set to Break the Bank for Overseas Players in Kolkata

The IPL 2020 Auction gets underway in Kolkata on December 19th, 2019. The original list of 997 players has been cut down to 332 – these include 186 Indian players, 143 overseas players and 3 players from Associate Nations.

The highest reserve price of INR 2 crore is reserved for seven overseas players – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Dale Steyn & Angelo Mathews.

Robin Uthappa is the only Indian in the INR 1.5 crore bracket while three others – Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan & Jaydev Unadkat have set their base price at INR 1 crore. We analyse the squads and look at the possible strategies each of the eight franchises could adopt ahead of the auction in a couple of days.



MUMBAI INDIANS

Purse Remaining: 13.05 crore

Slots: 7 (Domestic:5, Overseas:2)

File photo of Martin Guptill.

MI will have the lowest budget at the auctions to select a maximum of 7 players. They would look for a replacement for Evin Lewis at the top of the order – the West Indian has the fifth-highest strike rate in T20I cricket history and a great ability to hit sixes – the best sixes/innings ratio in T20I cricket.

Martin Guptill could be a good buy for them. The Kiwi batsman is the third-highest scorer in T20I cricket history and a T20 veteran having amassed more than 6500 runs including 4 hundreds in as many as 230 T20 innings. They could also consider Brandon King if they are looking for a cheap buy (base price INR 50 Lakh) at the top of the order.

King hasn’t set the international stage on fire but was the highest scorer of the CPL, 2019 aggregating 496 runs in 12 innings at an average of 55.11 and strike rate of 148.94. MI also need to strengthen their middle order with some solid Indian batsmen and may have their eyes set on Robin Uthappa and Hanuma Vihari.

The former is the eighth-highest scorer in IPL history with over 4000 runs in the coveted league. They will also look for an extra right-arm overseas fast bowler – Pat Cummins or Josh Hazlewood could be good options although they are in the highest reserved price bracket.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Purse Remaining: 14.6 crore

Slots: 5 (Domestic:3, Overseas:2)

Source: IPLT20

CSK have the most settled squad amongst all the eight franchises. They have just 5 slots available and the second-lowest purse of Rs 14.6 crores at the auction. They would look to go for a specialist batsman – someone like a Shimron Hetmyer could be a good buy for them – and a left-arm quick as their overseas players. They could target Sam Curran.

CSK may alternately also aim for a hard-hitting all-rounder batting lower in the order as a cover for Dwayne Bravo – they would love to have someone like a Glenn Maxwell or Mitchell Marsh in their squad.

KINGS XI PUNJAB

Purse Remaining: 42.7 crore

Slots: 9 (Domestic:5, Overseas:4)

(Image: AP)

Kings XI not only has the maximum purse of Rs 42.7 crore, they also have the maximum budget per player in the upcoming auction. Having released some of the big players like Varun Chakravarthy, David Miller, Sam Curran and Andrew Tye, Kings XI can target some star replacements as they only have a maximum of 9 slots to fill in the auction.

With the release of Tye and Henriques, Kings XI would target two overseas pacers to partner Shami – they may target Adam Milne and Sheldon Cottrell. The New Zealander has an impressive T20 record having taken 116 wickets in 93

innings at a strike rate of 17.4.

Kings XI would also want some experience in their top-order and may go all out for the likes of Aaron Finch. The Australian is one of the all-time great T20 batsman having aggregated 8440 runs in 267 T20 matches at an average of 35.76 and strike rate of 143.92, including 7 hundreds. His T20I strike rate of 156.5 is the

fourth-highest (min. 500 runs) in the format’s history.

DELHI CAPITALS

Purse Remaining: 27.85 crore

Slots: 11 (Domestic:6, Overseas:5)

DC have been the smartest with their releases and retentions. They have added to their pool of experienced and talented Indian players (Dhawan, Pant, Shaw, Iyer, Ishant Sharma) by trading in the likes of R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane.

They would now focus on their 5 overseas buys at the auction. Ideally, they would want a combination of two top-order batsmen, a couple of all-rounders and a left-arm seamer. With their Indian contingent sorted, they would have the luxury to go all-out with their foreign players.

DC should target two out of these three – Guptill, Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer – and could face a stiff challenge from MI for these players. Amongst all-rounders, on their radar would be Grandhomme and Marcus Stoinis

– both released by RCB. Stoinis was in excellent form in the 2018-19 BBL. He was the third-highest scorer with 533 runs in just 13 innings at a strike rate of 130.63 also picking up 14 wickets.

DC, in all likelihood, will go big on Sam Curran/Jaydev Unadkat as they would look to add variety to their fast bowling unit comprising of the likes of Rabada and Ishant.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Purse Remaining: 17 crore

Slots: 7 (Domestic:5, Overseas:2)

(IPL T20)

Having released three all-rounders (Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan), that is where SRH would look to invest in the auctions in December – they need explosive batting all-rounders down the order in their line-up.

They could potentially go big on Grandhomme and Stoinis but would also keep an eye on Maxwell and Jimmy Neesham.

The talented West Indian, Fabian Allen could also be a potential pick for them.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Purse Remaining: 35.65 crore

Slots: 11 (Domestic:7, Overseas:4)

(BCCI)

KKR have the second-biggest purse having released 11 players including some big names like Uthappa and Chris Lynn.

They need a striker at the top – preferably an overseas batsman and won’t be surprised if they bet big on Evin Lewis. They would also need to replace Carlos Brathwaite with a hard-hitting all- rounder down the order and Colin de Grandhomme could be a great bet – he has a stunning strike rate of 162.34 in T20 cricket.

KKR could rope in someone like Ricky Bhui to bolster their top-middle order with an Indian batsman. Bhui has a good T20 record with an average of 30.13 and strike rate of 131.42. They would also look to purchase two other top-order overseas batsmen – Guptill and Colin Munro would be on their radar.

The latter has an exceptional T20 record having aggregated more than 5000 runs in over 200 matches at an average of 28.91 and strike rate of 145.45. His strike rate of 160.04 is the second- highest in T20I cricket history!

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

Purse Remaining: 27.9 crore

Slots: 12 (Domestic:6, Overseas:6)

Source: Twitter/ICC

With the release of as many as 12 players, RCB would be looking to re-build their squad and re-plan their strategy – not surprising as they haven’t yet won the IPL and did not do particularly well in the last edition too.

They can choose a maximum of six overseas players – ideally, they would be aiming for two from each category – top-order batsmen, fast bowlers and all- rounders.

RCB would do well to get two out of these three – Lewis, Munro and Guptill. They should invest heavily on all-rounders like David Willey, Curran, Cutting and Lynn. In particular, Lynn could be a great buy for them as he will give them the flexibility to bat up the order or provide the impetus at the death – the Australian is a veteran of 162 matches and has scored in excess of 4000 runs at a strike rate of above 140.

Amongst fast bowlers, RCB could look at Alzarri Joseph, Cottrell, Chris Morris or Milne. They would also look to strengthen their Indian batting unit to support Kohli and could bargain for the likes of Bhui, Vihari and Uthappa.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Purse Remaining: 28.9 crore

Slots: 11 (Domestic:7, Overseas:4)

(IPLT20)

RR have released a number of Indian players and would be looking at the auctions to re-build the Indian nucleus of the side. They need a couple of batsmen in the middle order and could bet heavily on the likes of Uthappa and Vihari.

RR would also consider someone like a Deepak Hooda who could be a good replacement for Stuart Binny. They would need to bolster their pace attack and could target the likes of Cottrell, Milne or even Dale Steyn. Nathan Coulter Nile and Ben Cutting would also be excellent overseas options.