With the dust now settled on a frenetic and intriguing IPL 2014 auction, franchises are left to ponder whether they have gained the required pieces to form a functioning side or a mere collection of white elephants.
writes Matt Carter
One of the most notable differences between this auction and those of previous years was the increased level of thought and apparent planning that had been put in.
There was always going to be one side though who would succumb to the pressure of a full purse and lose their nerve, that franchise was Royal Challengers Bangalore who splashed a massive $2.33 million of their cash on Yuvraj Singh. It left them shopping around the bargain bin for the remainder of the auction.
The addition of Yuvraj might leave them with a jaw dropping top order, but as a sacrifice there is not much else in terms of genuine quality.
Two of the more meticulous dealers were Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, both of whom have been able to mold together a strong and varied selection of individuals.
Rajasthan stuck to the methods that served them so well last term in investing in plenty of uncapped Indian talent, but they have also complimented that well with the inform Aussie duo of Steve Smith and James Faulkner.
Identifying a weakness at this stage in the Sunrisers squad looks tough. They have added several solid seamers who will complement the outstanding Dale Steyn and in Shikar Dhawan, Aaron Finch and David Warner they have potentially devastating top three. Some would argue they paid over the odds for spinner Karan Sharma but their pragmatic earlier work allowed for this and he could prove to be a crucial final piece.
Kings XI Punjab will also be extremely satisfied with their bargaining, with Virender Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey joining the retained David Miller in providing ample firepower. The capture of Mitchell Johnson means they can also boast the world’s most feared bowler. If you were to ultra-critical then the spin stocks are not as strong as say for instance Chennai’s, but Punjab look to have as strong raw materials as any.
Kolkata Knight Riders added plenty of solid performers, however their squad on paper at least, looks maybe a little too workmanlike to realistically challenge. Jacques Kallis was the most expensive buy and you do get the feeling a lack of x-factor might just hold them back this season.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings both chose to retain the maximum number of five players and as a result slipped under the radar a little in their activities.
Both franchises though come out of the auction with weaknesses; the Super Kings lacking in decent seamers while Mumbai look short on firepower at the top. Nevertheless both should remain strong taking into account the strong cores they have retained and several decent additions, most notably Corey Anderson for Mumbai and Brendon McCullum for Chennai.
The much talked about issue of where the golden ticket of Kevin Pietersen would find himself playing in the end turned out to be somewhat of a non-event, with Delhi Daredevils unsurprisingly using one of their right to match cards here. The Daredevils having finished bottom in 2013 decided to start from scratch and as a knock they picked up more players than anyone across the two days, including getting Ross Taylor at a steal who bizarrely went unsold on Day 1.
Who didn’t make the cut was just as much of a talking point as those who did.
English players were seemingly ignored completely, whilst Sri Lankan’s tour of England in May appeared to derail any significant interest in any of their assets. There were plenty of others though who had that gut wrenching feeling of being left on the sidelines and forced to watch the other kids play, with over 350 put on the scrap heap.
It’s always difficult to truly judge just who the big winners are on auction day, given that it’s simply impossible to fathom exactly which group of individuals will blend best together to form a cohesive unit and which will be stuck trying to fit square pegs in round holes.
On the face it though the squads look give or take, relatively well matched, outlining that this should be another year of excellent IPL cricket.
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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