More than 200 players were bought in the two-day IPL 2022 mega-auction on February 12 and 13. Mumbai Indians’ bid of 15.25 crore for Ishan Kishan made the young left-hander the costliest pick of this mega-auction and the second-costliest Indian player ever at any auction.
Chennai Super Kings also got back Deepak Chahar, for a whopping 14 crore amount, the most any Indian pacer has ever gotten at any auction. There were plenty of other big buys too – including Liam Livingstone, Nicholas Pooran, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer – made from all 10 teams as they look to build the team around the retained players.
Here’s one best buy made by each franchise in the IPL 2022 mega-auction:
Mumbai Indians: Jofra Archer
Mumbai were very happy after acquiring both Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer – two bids that they had planned hard upon. Archer’s acquisition, for 8 crore, is an interesting one – for is unlikely to be available for this season. However, the prospect of Archer and Jasprit Bumrah in the same bowling attack has got other franchises and their fans stunned.
Archer is perhaps the best buy of the entire mega-auction. Not only Archer, the MVP of 2020 IPL, will make a deadly pair with Bumrah next year, but the 26-year-old is also a long-term option for the 5-time champions.
Chennai Super Kings: Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Apart from Deepak Chahar’s 14 crore signing, CSK bought the rest of the players at lower prices, and targetted several of their previous ones. One new addition is that of 19-year-old Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who has made huge waves as an India under-19 player in the past few months. At 1.5 crore, Hangargekar was a steal for CSK.
The lanky fast bowler from Maharashtra is known for his high pace and climbing short balls, in addition to his hard-hitting prowess as a batsman. At the under-19 World Cup Hangargekar showcased his ball-muscling abilities during his 39* knock off 17 balls against Ireland, when he walloped 5 towering sixes. He has 10 wickets in 5 List-A games.
A seam-bowling Indian all-rounder who can whack the ball good is a rare commodity even in the abundance of talents in India. Hangargekar could well be the next big thing in Indian cricket.
Delhi Capitals: David Warner
Getting David Warner for 6.25 crore was a steal for the Delhi Capitals. They now have perhaps the most destructive opening pair in the IPL with Warner and Prithvi Shaw. Warner was scrapped off his captaincy and place in the eleven by the SRH management last season. However, he shut down all his doubters with a Man of the Tournament performance at the T20 World Cup.
The 35-year-old Warner is fit and firing with the bat – and will be expected to give at least a couple of good seasons to the Capitals.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis
While RCB may have gone over budget for Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga, they made a couple of impressive buys in Josh Hazlewood and Faf du Plessis. South African du Plessis, in particular, is a key name here as he gives RCB a solid captaincy option as well; their alternatives for captaincy are Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik.
Another point to note is that du Plessis doesn’t play Test cricket anymore – he has not been called up for white-ball matches either by South Africa – this would allow him to remain fit and fresh for the IPL. Faf was the second-highest run-scorer last season and contributed massively to CSK’s title-winning campaign.
Lucknow Super Giants: Jason Holder
Lucknow Super Giants were brilliant in their maiden mega-auction. Their best buy perhaps was Jason Holder at 8.75 crore; fans had expected Holder to go for more considering the enviable balance he brings to the side, plus he has been in great form in white-ball cricket, both with the ball and bat.
The services he offers to a team – can bat in different gears, bowl in all phases at all lengths, and is a safe fielder at the boundary – makes him a first-eleven player.
Punjab Kings: Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone was expected to set off bidding wars; he did as five franchises went after him with Punjab Kings finally managing to get him for a whopping 11.5 crore. Livingstone is worth every penny of it.
He is amongst the most destructive hitters of the cricket ball – and can take down both spin and pace. His value has been upped by his versatile bowling – Livingstone can bowl both leg-spin and off-spin depending on the match-up against a batsman. Livingstone provided England great balance in the T20 World Cup, regularly bowling 2 or 3 overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer
KKR didn’t really enjoy a great auction as they shelled out big money in the early rounds, and now holes in the squad glare up. Nonetheless, they were able to buy the one player that they dearly wished for: Shreyas Iyer. 27-year-old Iyer is likely to be named the captain of the franchise with a long-term vision and play the role of a stabilising anchor in the middle-order that had been shaky for the past couple of seasons.
Rajasthan Royals: Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal’s long-time association with RCB has ended in which he became RCB’s leading wicket-taker. Chahal was snapped up by RR for 6.5 crore. He has made his way back to the Indian team as well, and remains the country’s premier leg-spinner.
Yuzvendra Chahal will be bowling in tandem with R Ashwin for the Royals and could deliver match-impacting performances.
Sunrisers Hyderabad-Kartik Tyagi
Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t really solve their middle-order issues from the past two seasons. However, they added a new gem in the pace-bowling arsenal: young pace sensation Kartik Tyagi, who was with Rajasthan in the last season, and in one of the league matches defended four runs in the last over against Punjab Kings.
The 21-year-old has raw pace, height to gain extra bounce, and has shown the temperament to succeed at a higher level. He would form a sizzling pace attack with Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar and Umran Malik at SRH in IPL 2022.
Gujarat Titans: Jason Roy
Jason Roy was an absolute bargain at 2 crore price for Gujarat Titans, who fared rather disappointingly in the rest of the auction, with the squad now looking thin on middle-order options.
A key part of England’s 2019 World Cup-winning team and continues to be, Jason Roy is a rapid starter in any form of white-ball cricket. He will pair up nicely and be complemented well by Shubman Gill for the Titans in IPL 2022.
