The IPL 2022 auction concluded after two days of intense bidding wars between the 10 teams that saw a total of 204 players being bought.
Mumbai Indians resigned Ishan Kishan for a record sum of 15.25 crore, making the left-hander the most expensive buy of this auction, while Chennai Super Kings splurged 14 crores to get back Deepak Chahar, making him the most expensive Indian pacer ever at an IPL auction. England’s Liam Livingstone was the costliest overseas buy of this auction, made by Punjab Kings of 11.5 crores.
So, the final squads are now there to observe for everyone. One can only wonder if the franchises got what they wanted and were they able to plug all the holes. But, there still remain some big mistakes done by every franchise in the two-day mega-auction.
One Big Mistake Made By Each Franchise At The IPL 2022 Auction:
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians became too predictable with their waiting game for Ishan Kishan on day 1 and Jofra Archer on day 2 of the IPL 2022 auction. While they acquired the services of both the players, other franchises were able to raise their prices seeing Mumbai’s tactics.
Further, MI lack an elite quality replacement opener for Rohit and Kishan. On the spin-bowling front, they don’t have an established name and look weaker on that than on any other aspect with M Ashwin, Mayank Markande, and Sanjay Yadav.
Chennai Super Kings
While Chennai Super Kings continued with their strategy of buying back their previous players – in the process overspent on Deepak Chahar – this could hurt them in the long run with MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, and Robin Uthappa all aged 33 and above.
CSK also lacks a high-pace fast bowler other than Adam Milne, who is injury prone; both Milne and Chris Jordan have been observed to be inconsistent with the ball, especially in the death overs.
Lucknow has built a really strong first-eleven – dare I say, a title-winning first-choice eleven – with Gautam Gambhir marshaling the bidding process. They are stocked with decent all-rounders and express pacers.
The only aspect which can concern them is the lack of an experienced or big-name spinner; Ravi Bishnoi, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem are LSG’s options in spinners. What Lucknow would only need is for KL Rahul to bat in his aggressive self.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals were the most active franchise in the auction room during the two days. However, their first-eleven looks weaker than last it did in the last two seasons; their middle-order and bowling department is heavily dependent on Rishabh Pant and Anrich Nortje respectively.
DC do not have a fast bowler in back-up for Nortje, who is now South Africa’s all-format bowler.
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings have done an almost complete revamp and prepared a mouth-watering, intimidating batting line-up that could hit most sixes in the tournament. Punjab’s batting and all-rounder department look complete with decent back-ups, their bowling may once again go for a hit – especially with weak fourth and fifth bowling options.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders shelled out big money for re-buying Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins, and Nitish Rana, therefore being chiseled down to a small purse and forced to be mere standbys for most of the auction.
A batting order that has Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Sam Billings together doesn’t exude great threat and may struggle against high pace. This would once again demand high work from Ander Russell and Sunil Narine.
Expect plenty of changes in KKR’s eleven throughout the season, but the back-ups aren’t a great deal either.
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals made some handy overseas buys in the accelerated session at the end with Rassie van der Dussen, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Daryl Mitchell. RR’s bowling is formidable, however, the batting may continue to struggle as it has over the past few seasons; there is a jam of top-orders batters that RR has created.
The balance in the lower-middle order will also come under a scanner involving Neesham and Coulter-Nile.
It’s won’t be wrong to say that SRH was the worst of all teams in the auction. Despite knowing their shortcomings of a feeble middle-order over the past few seasons, SRH didn’t do much to strengthen it. How they would be looking to win the championship with an experienced middle-order of Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, and Washington Sundar!
SRH’s replacement of Rashid Khan is Shreyas Gopal! Meanwhile, with a month to go for the IPL 2022, Kane Williamson is still recovering from his long-time injured elbow.
RCB spent 10.75 crores each on Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga when they could have retained at least one of them. They would also require Kohli and Faf du Plessis to bat more aggressively than their normal against spinners.
RCB is banking on Indian youngsters – at least two are expected in the first eleven – to support middle-order duties with Maxwell and Karthik. This could indeed add more responsibility and pressure on Maxwell, contrary to the freedom he got last season because of AB de Villiers down the order.
Gujarat Titans
In their first-ever auction, Gujarat Titans almost forgot to buy a wicket-keeper until the last rounds when they bought Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha – both of them who could become liabilities in certain conditions and situations.
Gujarat have a strong opening combo of Shubman Gill and Jason Roy but their batting fades away after that! Hardik Pandya, the skipper, may be asked to promote himself and play the anchor role at the start of his innings.
They spent big on Rahul Tewatia (9 crore!) who hasn’t done anything worth remembering since his career-changing knock against Punjab in 2020. Gujarat are also likely to struggle with their bowling at the tournament goes deep, more so if Hardik isn’t offering 2-3 overs per game.
