Home ›› 12 Feb 2022 ›› Sport
A new-look Indian Premier League is less than a couple of months away, and the teams are set for an all-out bidding war for global superstars from today as the first piece of action starts with the two-day mega auction at Bengaluru, where 590 players will be put under the hammer.
Two teams have been added in this edition of the IPL, taking the total number to 10. The debutants are Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, who were bought by RPSG Group and CVC Capital early on.
Due to the new format, the previous eight teams were allowed to retain a maximum of four players, with the two new teams getting their hands on a maximum of four players.
Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings held on to skipper MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Mumbai Indians retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard.
Kolkata Knight Riders kept Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, and Sunil Narine for the 15th edition, whereas Royal Challengers Bangalore kept Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammad Siraj.
Newbie Lucknow signed up KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravi Bishnoi, whereas Gujarat picked Hardik Pandya as their skipper along with Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill.
The teams have already spent a chunk of their 90 crore rupees purse and will have to use the remainder to pick 21 to 23 players to fill up their squad.
Most of the franchises might try to bag David Warner, who was let go by Sunrisers Hyderabad after a fallout between two parties. He is the most successful overseas batsman in IPL history with 5449 runs, and his captaincy will be an added benefit, making the package look more appealing.
His base price is set at two crore rupees, but Hyderabad paid 12.5 crores for his last season. And with the player of the tournament award of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in his bag, he might just go for a similar price but one small detail might hinder that. The left-handed opener is likely to be busy with Australia’s Pakistan tour in the early days of April, thus missing the first few matches of the IPL. That might mean the franchises losing a bit of interest, but Warner is still likely to pull big money.
Another Aussie who can be an attractive choice for various franchises is Adam Zampa. The leg-spinner was a key cog of Australia’s T20 World Cup triumph, and his impact on the game might see Zampa go for a hefty price. His base price is already higher than the 1.5 crore rupees paid for him by Bengaluru in 2020, and it is likely to go only higher.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada was let go by Delhi Capitals, and if they want him back, they will face serious competition. The pacer has 76 wickets in 50 IPL matches and has a deserving base price of two crore rupees. Last time around, he was sold for 4.2 crores, and it might go even crazier this time, though his national team commitment for South Africa’s series against Bangladesh might hinder his price going through the roof.
Five Bangladeshi players will be auctioned in the mega auction- Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, and Shoriful Islam. Both Shakib and Mustafiz have the highest base price available- two crore rupees, whereas the other three have a base price of 50 lakh rupees.
Shakib was not retained by Kolkata Knight Riders after a forgettable season, but his recent form in the Bangladesh Premier League along with his IPL experience of a decade makes him a lucrative choice for the franchises, especially with every team trying to put together building blocks.
Mustafiz was not retained by Rajasthan Royals despite picking up 14 wickets in 2021, he can be a good choice for several sides.
