The countless hours of brain-storming and umpteen strategies have all come to fruition with the culmination of the IPL 2018 player auctions. Some franchises would be extremely pleased with their squads, while a few would be contemplating on what could have been done differently, so as to have a better balanced squad.
The two day mega auction saw a total of 169 players sold and a total of 431.7 crores spent.
Country-wise breakup of the players purchased in the auction
| Country | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| India | 113 |
| Australia | 17 |
| South Africa | 8 |
| England | 8 |
| West Indies | 7 |
| New Zealand | 7 |
| Afghanistan | 4 |
| Sri Lanka | 2 |
| Bangladesh | 2 |
| Nepal | 1 |
For a second year running, Ben Stokes proved to be the costliest purchase at 12.5 crores, just a couple of crores less than the amount he had fetched in the auction held a year before. While, the costliest Indian player had a surprise in store for us in the form of Jaydev Unadkat, who was sold for a whopping 11.5 crores. Both players were purchased by the Rajasthan Royals franchise after having faced tough competition from Kings XI Punjab and CSK on both occasions.
Ben Stokes was bought by RR for 12.5 cr
Unadkat, costliest Indian player, went to RR for 11.5 crores
Let us now have a look at how the teams are placed after the 2-day gruelling auctions.
Chennai Super Kings – (3 retained, 22 bought)
Known to be an extremely smart team with clear plans in mind, it looked as if CSK had got their strategies all wrong this time around, probably the two year break played a role. Having made just 8 purchases on the first day and missing out on some big names, like Ashwin, Stokes, Woakes, because of their reluctance to bid higher, CSK had to make sure that they atleast assembled a squad that would be able to give a stiff competition, come IPL. With some extremely good value buys in the second day, CSK just about ensured that they would.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Suresh Raina | 11 | Batsman |
| Murli Vijay | 2 | Batsman |
| Francois du Plessis | 1.6 | Batsman |
| Monu Singh | 20L | Batsman |
| MS Dhoni | 15 | Wicket-keeper |
| Ambati Rayudu | 2.2 | Wicket-keeper |
| Sam Billings | 1 | Wicket-keeper |
| Jagadeeshan Narayan | 20L | Wicket-keeper |
| Kedar Jadhav | 7.8 | All-rounder |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 7 | All-rounder |
| Dwayne Bravo | 6.4 | All-rounder |
| Shane Watson | 4 | All-rounder |
| Deepak Chahar | 80L | All-rounder |
| Mitchell Santner | 50L | All-rounder |
| Dhruv Shorey | 20L | All-rounder |
| Kshitiz Sharma | 20L | All-rounder |
| Kanishk Seth | 20L | All-rounder |
| Chaitanya Bishnoi | 20L | All-rounder |
| Karn Sharma | 5 | Bowler |
| Shardul Thakur | 2.6 | Bowler |
| Harbhajan Singh | 2 | Bowler |
| Mark Wood | 1.5 | Bowler |
| Imran Tahir | 1 | Bowler |
| Lungi Ngidi | 50L | Bowler |
| Asif KM | 40L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Kedar Jadhav, Karn Sharma
Value Buys – Shane Watson, Murli Vijay, Ambati Rayudu
Steals – Mitchell Santner, Francois du Plessis, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir
CSK have been very smart in the auctions in the second day atleast, can’t say the same about their approach on day one. They have picked up quite a few proven performers at reasonable prices and some of them have been real steals. However, they have also splurged on a couple of Indian players which raised a few eyebrows.
Rajasthan Royals – (1 retained, 22 bought)
This year saw a marked difference in the way RR approached the auction as compared to the previous years. This year, RR went all out for those players that they saw as the core of the team, unlike the previous editions where they used to have just a single marquee player while building a young squad around him. Purchasing two of the most expensive players in the auction is proof enough of the same. Steve Smith is a huge fan of Stokes, which was made amply clear when RPS paid 14.5 crores for the latter in the previous edition. It seemed as if the RR owners had been given clear directives by Smith on the players that he wanted back after having played with RPS in the previous edition. As many as 5 players were part of RPS in the previous edition, while an additional 3 represented RR in the 2015 edition, a season when Smith was also a part of Rajasthan Royals.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Smith | 12 | Batsman |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 4 | Batsman |
| Rahul Tripathi | 3.4 | Batsman |
| Sanju Samson | 8 | Wicket-keeper |
| Jos Buttler | 4.4 | Wicket-keeper |
| Prashant Chopra | 20L | Wicket-keeper |
| Ben Stokes | 12.5 | All-rounder |
| Jofra Archer | 7.2 | All-rounder |
| D'Arcy Short | 4 | All-rounder |
| Stuart Binny | 50L | All-rounder |
| Aryaman Birla | 30L | All-rounder |
| Mahipal Lomror | 20L | All-rounder |
| Shreyas Gopal | 20L | All-rounder |
| MS Midhun | 20L | All-rounder |
| Jatin Saxena | 20L | All-rounder |
| Ankit Sharma | 20L | All-rounder |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 11.5 | Bowler |
| Krishnappa Goutham | 6.2 | Bowler |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | 75L | Bowler |
| Zahir Khan Pakteen | 60L | Bowler |
| Dushmanta Chameera | 50L | Bowler |
| Ben Laughlin | 50L | Bowler |
| Anureet Singh | 30L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson
Value Buys – D’Arcy Short, Rahul Tripathi
Steals – Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny
Rahane and Tripathi will be reuniting with Smith and will represent RR this time
A good mix of batsmen coupled with some excellent and highly explosive all-rounders, RR have their batting sorted. The bowling does not look highly intimidating, but it sure has some really smart T20 bowlers in Laughlin and Unadkat. The RR team looks quite a well-rounded side. Making their comeback to IPL after two yearz they would be itching to get the ball rolling right from game one.
Mumbai Indians – (3 retained, 22 bought)
Having retained a part of the core group in the player retentions, MI’s decision makers had the task of getting the complete core back together. They were quite successful in this venture as they got Pollard and Krunal Pandya back in their ranks, via RTM’s of course.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | 15 | Batsman |
| Evin Lewis | 3.8 | Batsman |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 3.2 | Batsman |
| Saurabh Tiwary | 80L | Batsman |
| Siddhesh Lad | 20L | Batsman |
| Sharad Lamba | 20L | Batsman |
| Ishan Kishan | 6.2 | Wicket-keeper |
| Adiitya Tare | 20L | Wicket-keeper |
| Hardik Pandya | 11 | All-rounder |
| Krunal Pandya | 8.8 | All-rounder |
| Kieron Pollard | 5.4 | All-rounder |
| Ben Cutting | 2.2 | All-rounder |
| JP Duminy | 1 | All-rounder |
| Tajinder Dhillon | 55L | All-rounder |
| Anukul Roy | 20L | All-rounder |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 7 | Bowler |
| Pat Cummins | 5.4 | Bowler |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 2.2 | Bowler |
| Rahul Chahar | 1.9 | Bowler |
| Jason Behrendorff | 1.5 | Bowler |
| Pradeep Sangwan | 1.5 | Bowler |
| Akila Dananjaya | 50L | Bowler |
| Mayank Markande | 20L | Bowler |
| Nidheesh Dineshan | 20L | Bowler |
| Mohsin Khan | 20L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan
Value Buys – Kieron Pollard
Steals – Evin Lewis, Mustafizur Rahman, Ben Cutting, Anukul Roy, JP Duminy
The solid core has only been enhanced with the purchases of some extremely talented bunch of cricketers. A really strong top order, followed by hard-hitting all rounders and an enviable bowling attack MI look an extremely well-balanced side. With the second choice and third choice players being as good as the men who will be part of the eleven, MI will have the sweet headache of an abundance of talent at its disposal.
Delhi Daredevils – (3 retained, 22 bought)
The major talking point prior to the auctions was would Gautam Gambhir get a chance to represent his home team once again. Now that he has been snapped up by DD, fans will be eager to see if he can replicate his success with KKR. Also having Ponting in place of Kallis(KKR head coach), it would be interesting to see how well the two would work together.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | 7 | Batsman |
| Gautam Gambhir | 2.8 | Batsman |
| Jason Roy | 1.5 | Batsman |
| Prithvi Shaw | 1.2 | Batsman |
| Manjot Kalra | 20L | Batsman |
| Rishabh Pant | 8 | Wicket-keeper |
| N Ojha | 1.4 | Wicket-keeper |
| Abhishek Sharma | 55L | Wicket-keeper |
| Glenn Maxwell | 9 | All-rounder |
| Chris Morris | 7.1 | All-rounder |
| Vijay Shankar | 3.2 | All-rounder |
| Rahul Tewatia | 3 | All-rounder |
| Colin Munro | 1.9 | All-rounder |
| Dan Christian | 1.5 | All-rounder |
| Gurkeerat Singh | 75L | All-rounder |
| Jayant Yadav | 50L | All-rounder |
| Harshal Patel | 20L | All-rounder |
| Kagiso Rabada | 4.2 | Bowler |
| Amit Mishra | 4 | Bowler |
| Mohd. Shami | 3 | Bowler |
| Shahbaz Nadeem | 3.2 | Bowler |
| Trent Boult | 2.2 | Bowler |
| Avesh Khan | 70L | Bowler |
| Sayan Ghosh | 20L | Bowler |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | 20L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Glenn Maxwell
Value Buys – Gautam Gambhir, Kagiso Rabada, Mohd. Shami
Steals – Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Dan Christian, Trent Boult, Prithvi Shaw
Sandeep Lamichhane, first player to represent Nepal in IPL, will be playing for DD
DD have made some excellent purchases in the auction. They have the maximum batsmen who can single-handedly turn the match in their favour, if they are in the mood and on the zone. The variety in their bowling should be an able support to their batting might. A highly explosive batting unit and an equally diverse bowling attack should keep the boys from Delhi in good stead throughout the IPL.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – (3 retained, 21 bought)
The perennial under-achievers of IPL, RCB with their batting muscle, have inexplicably never managed to win the IPL title. Unlike other seasons, where they would go in with a batting heavy side and have one star bowler with everyone around him leaking runs, RCB have gone ahead and assembled a squad that looks the most balanced in their entire 10 year IPL history.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 17 | Batsman |
| AB de Villiers | 12 | Batsman |
| Brendon McCullum | 3.6 | Batsman |
| Sarfaraz Khan | 1.75 | Batsman |
| Mandeep Singh | 1.4 | Batsman |
| Manan Vohra | 1.1 | Batsman |
| Quinton de Kock | 2.8 | Wicket-keeper |
| Parthiv Patel | 1.7 | Wicket-keeper |
| Chris Woakes | 7.4 | All-rounder |
| Washington Sundar | 3.2 | All-rounder |
| Colin de Grandhomme | 2.2 | All-rounder |
| Moeen Ali | 1.7 | All-rounder |
| Pawan Negi | 1 | All-rounder |
| Anirudh Joshi | 20L | All-rounder |
| Pavan Deshpande | 20L | All-rounder |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 6 | Bowler |
| Umesh Yadav | 4.2 | Bowler |
| Navdeep Saini | 3 | Bowler |
| Mohd Siraj | 2.6 | Bowler |
| Murugan Ashwin | 2.2 | Bowler |
| Nathan Coulter Nile | 2.2 | Bowler |
| Tim Southee | 1 | Bowler |
| Kulwant Khejroliya | 85L | Bowler |
| Aniket Choudhary | 30L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Chris Woakes
Value Buys – Manan Vohra, Coulter Nile, Moeen Ali, Tim Southee, Washington Sundar
Steals – Quinton de Kock, Colin de Grandhomme
The long list of all-rounders and their quality is sure to make them a side that bats and bowls very deep. The bowling attack looks one of the best, in terms of variety and experience, that RCB have had in a long long time. Having two top quality wicket keeper batsmen suited to T20s gives them the additional flexibility in terms of team balance. RCB have finally managed to put together a complete squad, traditionally a batting heavy side, that can give a serious challenge to the coveted trophy. This makes them a team to look forward to in this edition of the IPL.
Kings XI Punjab – (1 retained, 20 bought)
Kings XI decided to have a complete overhaul of their squad, proof of which was their retention of just a single player. The way the Kings started off in the auctions, it felt as they would exhaust their complete purse by the end of the first session. Their approach mirrored Sehwag’s when he used to open the batting, which was going bang bang bang right from ball one. They had come with a clear strategy of bidding for all the marquee players, even succeeded in purchasing quite a few of them only to lose them to other franchises courtesy RTM. Dhawan, Rahane, du Plessis, Bravo were all purchased by KXIP only to return to their previous franchises, this even made Preity Zinta say that she hates the RTM option. However, by the end of the auctions, KXIP seemed to have put together a very good squad with an equal mix of foreign and international stars.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| KL Rahul | 11 | Batsman |
| Aaron Finch | 6.2 | Batsman |
| Karun Nair | 5.6 | Batsman |
| David Miller | 3 | Batsman |
| Chris Gayle | 2 | Batsman |
| Mayank Agarwal | 1 | Batsman |
| Manoj Tiwary | 1 | Batsman |
| Ravi Ashwin | 7.6 | All-rounder |
| Axar Patel | 6.75 | All-rounder |
| Marcus Stoinis | 6.2 | All-rounder |
| Yuvraj Singh | 2 | All-rounder |
| Akshdeep Nath | 1 | All-rounder |
| Mayank Dagar | 20L | All-rounder |
| Manzoor Dar | 20L | All-rounder |
| Andrew Tye | 7.2 | Bowler |
| Mujeeb Zadran | 4 | Bowler |
| Ankit Rajpoot | 3 | Bowler |
| Mohit Sharma | 2.4 | Bowler |
| Barinder Sran | 2.2 | Bowler |
| Ben Dwarshuis | 1.4 | Bowler |
| Pradeep Sahu | 20L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – KL Rahul, AJ Tye, Ravi Ashwin
Value Buys – Mohit Sharma, Ben Dwarshuis, Mujeeb Zadran
Steals – David Miller, Mayank Agarwal
KXIP will have a strong Australian flavour this IPL, with Tye, Stoinis, Finch and Dwarshuis representing them
With Ashwin as their potential captain, and quite a few players who have captained a team at different levels, the team has no dearth of experience. The only concern which the KXI team management would be having is the lack of a specialist wicket keeper. Having shelled out 11 cr for Rahul, he would be expected to perform the dual role of an opener as well as a wicket-keeper. A team that looks well balanced on paper with a strong batting line-up, with a lot of international experience, and a few little known, yet extremely talented bowlers.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – (2 retained , 23 bought)
As always, SRH were pretty clinical in the auctions after having retained their best performers, Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They have managed to re-associate with quite a few players who were part of the 2017 squad, which helps in maintaining consistency and continuity, both in the dressing room as well as with the fans.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| David Warner | 12.5 | Batsman |
| Manish Pandey | 11 | Batsman |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 5.2 | Batsman |
| Kane Williamson | 3 | Batsman |
| Sachin Baby | 20L | Batsman |
| Ricky Bhui | 20L | Batsman |
| Tanmay Agarwal | 20L | Batsman |
| Wriddhiman Saha | 5 | Wicket-keeper |
| Sreevats Goswami | 1 | Wicket-keeper |
| Deepak Hooda | 3.6 | All-rounder |
| Shakib al Hasan | 2 | All-rounder |
| Carlos Brathwaite | 2 | All-rounder |
| Yusuf Pathan | 1.9 | All-rounder |
| Mohd Nabi | 1 | All-rounder |
| Bipul Sharma | 20L | All-rounder |
| Mehdi Hasan | 20L | All-rounder |
| Rashid Khan | 9 | Bowler |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 8.5 | Bowler |
| Siddharth Kaul | 3.8 | Bowler |
| Sandeep Sharma | 3 | Bowler |
| Syed Khaleel Ahmed | 3 | Bowler |
| Chris Jordan | 1 | Bowler |
| Billy Stanlake | 50L | Bowler |
| Basil Thampi | 95L | Bowler |
| Thangarasu Natarajan | 40L | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul
Value Buys – Yusuf Pathan, Kane Williamson, Sandeep Sharma
Steals – Mohd. Nabi, Shakib al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan
With Warner and Dhawan opening again plus the addition of Manish Pandey for a hefty price tag and one of the best bowling line-ups in this year’s IPL, SRH should be quite contented with the auctions. To top it all, the depth of all-round talent at their disposal, team SRH will surely be looking to add another title to their cabinet.
Kolkata Knight Riders – (2 retained, 17 bought)
Having decided to let go of their skipper, Gautam Gambhir, and deciding to retain two internationals, KKR needed to have an auction which would help them get a team worthy of their history. With the thinnest squad in this year’s IPL, a total of 19 players, and their most expensive foreign buys being injury prone, KKR seem to have missed a trick.
IPL 2018 Squad
| Player Name | Amount | Specialism |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Lynn | 9.6 | Batsman |
| Nitish Rana | 3.4 | Batsman |
| Shubman Gill | 1.8 | Batsman |
| Rinku Singh | 80L | Batsman |
| Ishank Jaggi | 20L | Batsman |
| Apoorv Wankhede | 20L | Batsman |
| Dinesh Karthik | 7.4 | Wicket-keeper |
| Robin Uthappa | 6.4 | Wicket-keeper |
| Sunil Narine | 8.5 | All-rounder |
| Andre Russell | 7 | All-rounder |
| Cameron Delport | 30L | All-rounder |
| Javon Searles | 30L | All-rounder |
| Mitchell Starc | 9.4 | Bowler |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 5.8 | Bowler |
| Piyush Chawla | 4.2 | Bowler |
| Kamlesh Nagarkoti | 3.2 | Bowler |
| Shivam Mavi | 3 | Bowler |
| Mitchell Johnson | 2 | Bowler |
| Vinay Kumar | 1 | Bowler |
Hot Picks – Chris Lynn, Mitchell Starc, Dinesh Karthik
Value Buys – Vinay Kumar, Mitchell Johnson
Steals – Cameron Delport, Javon Searles
With no clear-cut captain choice, a fast bowling attack that lacks international experience, except Starc and Johnson, and a batting line-up that is suddenly starting to look shaky, post the departures of Gambhir and Pandey(did not use the RTM as he had gone way above their budget cap), KKR have more questions, than one, to answer.
Despite having the smallest squad, KKR have a batting attack that can blow away oppositions
With the IPL 2018 auction done and dusted, all teams would be eager to lay their hands on the trophy. With a host of international stars, promising youngsters and legends in display, this edition of IPL promises to be an exciting affair.
Players highlighted in bold are internationals, a maximum of 8 per team
Note: This article just talks about the team balance and the players that make up each squad. Detailed analysis of each team will be done as we get closer to the IPL.
Very nicely articulated and compiled.
Two-thumbs up!
Covered all aspects… Nicely done