The IPL auctions for the upcoming season took place on December 19 from 3:30 PM IST in Kolkata as the eight teams geared themselves up for the 13th season of the tournament.
Whilst there were certainly some surprises, rather glaring ones during the event; eventually, most of the teams look well-stacked enough to compete in the league that will commence from late March onward.
There were plenty of bidding wars, some absolute steals coupled with a flurry of surprises considering how willing were the sides to flex their muscles to attain their target players here.
We will review all eight teams and elaborate on the signings that they have made and how they gel with the current dynamics of the sides:
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore:
With the arrival of Mike Hesson in the think-tank, the overall approach with which the RCB go into the auctions was supposed to change this time around. However, what we saw is them going behind quite a few players but being unsuccessful in landing them and in the end having to make do with a few who do not really showcase the potential to completely overturn the fortunes of this side.
Their search for a death bowler ended on Kane Richardson, who himself has been delivering substandard performances for the national team over the years. Dale Steyn was later on added to the squad when they missed out on Pat Cummins initially.
Neither Steyn nor Richardson is the ideal T20 bowlers that one would require in the final stages of the game and hence once again the RCB have seemed to strangle them in a puzzle here.
Aaron Finch has been roped in and whilst the opener is a brilliant T20I player; he hasn’t exactly set the stage on fire in the IPL ever and hence despite the pitch dynamics aiding a player of his kind, one would still be concerned about what Finch can offer in totality at the end of the season.
Finally, RCB spent 10 crores on Chris Morris, who clearly has lost some yards of pace in the last few years. If given a chance to bat higher up the order though, Morris could turn out to be a really potent threat but consistency has deserted him over the years and so has been the case with Virat Kohli’s side. One would still hope that Morris makes this opportunity count at the Chinnaswamy.
Joshua Phillipe is a wicket-keeper batsman roped in by the side from Bengaluru.
RCB Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Virat Kohli, 2) Moeen Ali, 3) Aaron Finch, 4) AB de Villiers, 5) Parthiv Patel, 6) Yuzvendra Chahal, 7) Navdeep Saini, 8) Isuru Udana, 9) Dale Steyn, 10) Pawan Negi, 11) Washington Sundar, 12) Devdutt Padikkal, 13) Shivam Dube, 14) Umesh Yadav, 15) Mohammed Siraj, 16) Chris Morris, 17) Shahbaz Ahamed, 18) Josh Philippe, 19) Gurkeerat Mann, 20) Pavan Deshpande, 21) Kane Richardson.
2. Rajasthan Royals:
The Royals weren’t really compelled to strengthen their batting but they drafted in Robin Uthappa whose experience could turn out to be vital in the middle order or higher up for the side.
David Miller is yet another batsman whom the Royals bought merely for 75 lacs.
Despite the hullaballoo that encapsulates his name, Miller has delivered bang average performances over the years for KXIP and it was about time they released him. Royals would be hoping to extract the mere few positives that one could hope for from the southpaw.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is a worthy enough long-term investment for them whereas Tom Curran was brought in for a crore to add a further backup in the death for Jofra Archer.
Jaydev Unadkat was yet again bought by RR, despite the pacer hardly impressing them in his previous two-year-long stint, but this time they acquired him for only three crores.
RR Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Steve Smith, 2) Ben Stokes, 3) Sanju Samson, 4) Andrew Tye, 5) Jofra Archer, 6) David Miller, 7) Jos Buttler, 8) Kartik Tyagi, 9) Ankit Rajpoot, 10) Shreyas Gopal, 11) Rahul Tewatia, 12) Jaydev Unadkat, 13) Mayank Markande, 14) Mahipal Lomror, 15) Oshane Thomas, 16) Riyan Parag, 17) Yashasvi Jaiswal, 18) Anuj Rawat, 19) Akash Singh, 20) Manan Vohra, 21) Shashank Singh, 22) Varun Aaron, 23) Tom Curran, 24) Robin Uthappa, 25) Aniruddha Joshi
3. Kings XI Punjab:
The Kings XI Punjab came into the auction with the biggest purse amongst all and justified it with some excellent signings that could definitely take the fortunes of the club a notch ahead.
Firstly, they added a lot of spine to their middle order with the additions of the likes of Glenn Maxwell and James Neesham.
Both of them add big-hitting abilities, but also the capability to maneuver the field, play according to the demand of the situation at times but most often take the game away from the stronghold of the opposition. T20 cricket thrives on game-changers; that is, players who can be put in the deep end straight away and still manage to showcase their skills to such effect that it overturns the persistent pattern of the game.
Similarly, Sheldon Cottrell was always going to be a well sought-after pacer in the league as his left-arm variation, the angle that he provides, the stock deliveries that he can release and various other aspects including a gun Yorker mean that Cottrell could spearhead Punjab’s attack in the upcoming season.
Moreover, he has Chris Jordan for his support too who is an extremely underrated and yet brilliantly effective pacer in this format of the game.
Deepak Hooda has been brought in to add more Indian firepower in the middle order but Maxwell and Neesham would continue to be the two best picks made by the franchise in quite a long time now.
KXIP Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) KL Rahul, 2) Chris Gayle, 3) Glenn Maxwell, 4) Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 5) Sarfaraz Khan, 6) Sheldon Cottrell, 7) Mayank Agarwal, 8) Mohammed Shami, 9) James Neesham, 10) Harpreet Brar, 11) Mandeep Singh, 12) Chris Jordan, 13) Karun Nair, 14) Deepak Hooda, 15) Ravi Bishnoi, 16) Tajinder Singh, 17) Arshdeep Singh, 18) DarshanNalkande, 19) Nicholas Pooran, 20) M. Ashwin, 21) J. Suchith, 22) K. Gowtham, 23) Hardus Viljoen, 24) Simran Singh, 25) Ishan Porel
4. Kolkata Knight Riders:
After a disappointing season last time around, the KKR has added more quality to the squad; players who can take responsibility head-on and have a sizable chunk of experience of this format of the game.
Eoin Morgan is naturally a leader, and the re-laid track at the Eden Gardens would ensure that the ball would come nicely onto the bat and hence an attacking batsman like Morgan could make merry in the middle overs or whenever his turn comes to bat.
Tom Banton is another young player who has risen through the ranks in recent times and to sign him up for merely one crore is one of the mysteries of this auction. Banton’s name was being talked about on a widespread basis ahead of the event as he was expected to earn big bucks.
However, KKR should consider them fortunate for having roped in this flamboyant right-handed batsman.
Pat Cummins is the major buy for KKR, as they spent a massive 15.5 crores on the Australian pacer. Kolkata weren’t even in the contention to buy him but entered the bidding process very late and yet managed to sneak Cummins to their side, much to the dissatisfaction of the RCB.
Chris Green has impressed one and all with his T20 heroics in different leagues whilst Varun Chakravarthy definitely has the backing of the Tamil Nadu-based skipper, Dinesh Karthik.
Rahul Tripathi and Pravin Tambe are the other signings made by the KKR but overall they have added an immense amount of firepower, dynamism and sheer, natural talent and quality to their roster this time.
KKR Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Dinesh Karthik, 2) Andre Russell, 3) Nitish Rana, 4) Shubman Gill, 5) Harry Gurney, 6) Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 7)Kuldeep Yadav, 8) Lockie Ferguson, 9) Sunil Narine, 10) Eoin Morgan, 11) Pat Cummins,12) Prasidh Krishna, 13) Rinku Singh, 14) Sandeep Warrier, 15) Shivam Mavi, 16) Siddhesh Lad, 17) Rahul Tripathi, 18) Varun Chakravarthy, 19) M. Siddharth, 20) Chris Green, 21) Tom Banton, 22) Pravin Tambe, 23) Nikhil Naik
5. Mumbai Indians:
The Mumbai Indians could have actually skipped the auctions altogether and still have had a squad worthy enough to compete for the title when the season arrives.
However, what they did was, they got into the action straight away with a brilliant buy of Chris Lynn right at his base price.
Lynn is someone who likes the ball to come onto the bat and can make hay at the seamless track of offer coupled with the comparatively shorter boundaries that will be present in the Wankhede.
For two crores, the Australian is an excellent cover or an option for Quinton de Kock, in case Mumbai have the desire to play Ishan Kishan as the wicket-keeper at some point in the tournament.
Nathan Coulter-Nile though was a rather expensive purchase for them given that the pacer was bought for eight crores and would actually be the fourth-choice bowler behind the likes of JaspritBumrah, Lasith Malinga and Trent Boult.
Then, they made some mandatory, or insignificant purchases of Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh, and Balwant Rai Singh; all of them who aren’t expected to feature at any point in the season. Lynn, though, is a quality player to have in the roster and someone who can get off to quick starts in favorable pitches.
MI Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Rohit Sharma, 2) Quinton de Kock, 3) Jasprit Bumrah, 4) Nathan Coulter-Nile, 5) Trent Boult, 6) Suryakumar Yadav, 7) Krunal Pandya, 8) Kieron Pollard, 9) Lasith Malinga, 10) Rahul Chahar, 11) Chris Lynn, 12) Hardik Pandya, 14) Sherfane Rutherford, 15) Anmolpreet Singh, 16) Aditya Tare, 17) Saurabh Tiwary, 18) Mohsin Khan, 19) Mitchell 20) McClenaghan, 21) Prince Balwant Rai, 22) Anukul Roy, 23) Ishan Kishan, 24) Digvijay Deshmukh, 25) Dhawal Kulkarni, 26) Jayant Yadav
6. Chennai Super Kings:
Never does the CSK heads into an auction to make heads turn.
And yet, somehow they always manage to do it without having intended it in the first place. One thing that an individual can always associate with this franchise is absolute clarity of what and who they want in the auctions. They seemed to be rather disinterested eventually but as soon as Sam Curran’s name came up, Stephen Fleming did not look any further and went all out to land the desired target.
Piyush Chawla was bought for a hefty sum, and Josh Hazlewood was roped in at his base price. Curran could be an option in the middle-order along with Bravo and the southpaw could thrive given the comfort and ideal surroundings that he would be provided with in the franchise.
As Kashi Vishwanath, CSK’s CEO further emphasized, Piyush Chawla was MS Dhoni’s choice and the team did not waste bide any time to acquire the services of the leg-spinner.
Sai Kishore, the star from Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was also bought and accordingly, this showcases that CSK have racked up their squad with plenty of spinners and that indicates the pitches that could be on offer at the M Chidambaram Stadium in the upcoming season.
CSK did not make any fancy buys, and their squad looks good at best at the first sight; but with them, the performances on the field always better the first opinions and hence one can expect a credibly successful campaign in the coming year too.
CSK Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) M.S. Dhoni, 2) Faf du Plessis, 3) Shane Watson, 4)Ambati Rayudu, 5) Imran Tahir, 6) Lungi Ngidi, 7)Ravindra Jadeja, 8)Suresh Raina, 9)Harbhajan Singh, 10)Dwayne Bravo, 11) Mitchell Santner, 12) Kedar Jadhav, 13)Deepak Chahar, 14) Shardul Thakur, 15)Murali Vijay,16) Piyush Chawla, 17) N. Jagadeesan, 18) K.M. Asir, 19) R. Sai Kishore, 20) Monu Kumar, 21) Josh Hazlewood, 22) Sam Curran, 23) Karn Sharma 24)Ruturaj Gaikwad
7. Delhi Capitals:
Delhi Capitals embarked on resurgence last season after the JSW takeover and finished third in the points table. However, what we are seeing now is a team vying to build up from their last year’s performance and in my opinion, they have somewhat stumbled amidst the bundles of choices and the plethora of cash that is at their will. Despite having three quality Indian openers in AjinkyaRahane, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan; Delhi decided to go for Jason Roy.
Already having Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant with them, they spent 7.75 crores on Shimron Hetmyer and 2.4 crores on Alex Carey. They wanted a reliable death bowler but ended up with Chris Woakes who most necessarily doesn’t specialize in that aspect of the game.
When you look at their squad on paper, they can possibly field in two quality teams but with the abundance of choices that they have filled in here, it is absolutely a task to think of how are they going to form their desired playing XI with a relatively new captain, Shreyas Iyer.
The Capitals need to ensure that they have some plan ahead, through which they can segregate so many prominent players and use them effectively at some point in the season otherwise it could very well harm the dynamics of the side for all that one knows.
DC Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Shreyas Iyer, 2) Kagiso Rabada, 3) Marcus Stoinis, 4) Sandeep Lamichhane, 5) Ishant Sharma, 6) Ajinkya Rahane, 7) Chris Woakes, 8) Ravichandran Ashwin, 9) Shikhar Dhawan, 10) Shimron Hetmyer, 11) Alex Carey, 12) Jason Roy, 13) Mohit Sharma, 14) Prithvi Shaw, 15) Lalit Yadav, 16) Avesh Khan, 17) Axar Patel, 18) Tushar Deshpande, 19) Rishabh Pant, 20) Harshal Patel, 21) Keemo Paul, 22) Amit Mishra
8. Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Sunrisers Hyderabad had a very peculiar approach to this auction as firstly, they had somehow crawled their way to the playoffs last time around. So obviously, they needed some quality reinforcements. However, the fact is that their four overseas slots in the XI are sealed for the time being and the majority of the top Indian players are already in other squads.
Accordingly, they had no choice but to settle for the players from the younger lot, the U19 ones. But even there is a catch as with the mega-auction coming up next year, the Sunrisers would have to release quite a lot of these cricketers and accordingly, they would have very few chances of being retained next time around.
Hence, the side from Hyderabad saw them being stuck in a middle ground with nowhere to go and hence eventually made no purchases that would have a direct impact on their team. Mitchell Marsh was brought in for two crores whereas Fabian Allen was gotten hold for 50 lakhs.
Both these players are quite good options to have but Kane Williamson, Johnny Bairstow, David Warner, and Rashid Khan are anyways expected to be the four foreigners who will feature in the XI. Priyam Garg, India’s current U19 team captain is someone who will be looked forward to and it goes the same for Virat Singh who underwent an impressive white-ball domestic season.
To be honest, SRH needed some good bowlers as it looked over-dependent on Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan in the previous season. They failed to address that issue and I am afraid that SRH’s playing XI would be derived from their incumbent squad majorly as none of the players they bought yesterday would arguably walk into their starting lineup.
SRH Full Squad for IPL 2020:
1) Kane Williamson, 2) David Warner, 3) Rashid Khan, 4) Mohammad Nabi , 5) Wriddhiman Saha, 6) Khaleel Ahmed, 7) Sandeep Sharma, 8) Abdul Samad, 9) Mitchell Marsh, 10) Shreevats Goswami, 11) Sanjay Yadav, 12) Fabian Allen, 13) Abhishek Sharma, 14) Basil Thampi, 15) Billy Stanlake, 16) B. Sandeep, 17) Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 18) Virat Singh, 19) T. Natarajan, 20) Shahbaz Nadem, 21) Jonny Baristow, 22) Manish Pandey, 23) Vijay Shankar, 24) Siddharth Kaul, 25) Priyam Garg.
Related Reading:
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 Points Table and Match Results
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 All Teams & Full Squads
- IPL 2020 All Teams, Players, Full Squads, Complete Schedule, Past Winners
- Vitality T20 Blast 2020 Full Match Schedule & Past Winners
- CPL 2020 – Where to watch? (TV / Livestream Options)
- CPL 2020 Points Table, Match Schedule & Results, All Past Winners
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