On 18 February, in Chennai, representatives of 8 IPL franchises will come together under one roof as they look to fill up the vacant slots on their roster in the mini-auction. As always, some franchises will have more areas of concerns to address than the others.
A total of 292 cricketers, pruned from the initial list of 1,114 players, have been picked to go under the hammer. A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players and three players from ICC associate member nations will be up for grabs in the auction.
All teams can have a maximum of 25 players on their roster with 8 overseas players and their team value cannot exceed INR 85 Cr.
Here’s a look at where the various franchises stand and what they are likely to do in Chennai on Thursday.
Chennai Super Kings
Players Retained: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R. Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi.
Players Released: Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson (Retired)
Players Traded In: Robin Uthappa
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 19.9 Cr
Auction Strategy
Having finished seventh last time, CSK will look to ensure their squad is in a better place. What will help CSK is the return of Suresh Raina will bolster their batting and their confidence going into the season.
With no Shane Watson in the mix, CSK have one slot for the overseas player open and will also look to replace Harbhajan Singh.
CSK are likely to look at an overseas option for the big-hitting batsman to help take some of the pressure of MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. Among the top names in the mix for that will be Glenn Maxwell and Moeen Ali, the latter showing off some of his abilities in the second Test with a quickfire 42.
In terms of replacing Harbhajan, CSK are likely to look for an Indian recruit.
Mumbai Indians
Retained players: Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Aditya Tare (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy
Released players: Lasith Malinga, Mitch McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 15.35 Cr
Auction Strategy
The five-time champions hardly ever made changes to their line-up in IPL 2020 and from the looks of it have their preferred XI even before they sit at the auction table.
Among the broader issues they will look to sort out though will be the spin department. Krunal Pandya did not have the best season last time and Rahul Chahar’s inexperience will also be looked at.
Backing up the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult will not be easy, especially given that they released a fair few overseas pacers in the off-season.
The defending champions have 7 slots open and can add 4 overseas players. One expects the Rohit Sharma led side to bid aggressively for the likes of Chris Morris, Kyle Jamieson or Mark Wood.
Mumbai will no doubt look to add to their pace battery to support the main bowlers and could consider bringing back Harbhajan Singh to bolster the spin department.
The most decorated IPL side is definitely in the auction to pick up a few quality bowlers to add to their roster.
Delhi Capitals
Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams, Pravin Dubey, Chris Woakes
Released Players: Alex Carey (WK), Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Harshal Patel, Jason Roy
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 12.8 Cr
Auction Strategy
The Shreyas Iyer led side had a fantastic season last year and have, as expected, retained their core group and aren’t likely to tinker too much with their combinations. With 8 slots to fill and the second lowest purse available, Delhi will have to be very careful about the way they go about things.
Bringing in quality players to back up their main XI will be of prime importance, especially given that their lead pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje might miss the first phase of the tournament due to their series against Pakistan. The likes of Dan Sams, Tushar Deshpande and Harshal Patel failed to make an impact last season and that will worry the think tank.
Other than that, DC will need a solid back up for Rishabh Pant and one who will take up the responsibility of finishing the innings emphatically if Marcus Stoinis moves up the order.
It is unlikely they will be in the auction for the big names but bowlers like Nathan Coulter Nile or Umesh Yadav are more likely to be on their radar.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Retained Players: David Warner (c), Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh
Released Players: Sanjay Yadav, B Sandeep, Billy Stanlake, Fabian Allen, Yarra Prithviraj
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 10.75 Cr
Auction Strategy
Sunrisers Hyderabad go into the auction with very little to do in terms of finding replacements and have only 3 vacancies on their roster, one of which is for an overseas player. They retained 22 players from last season and are likely to play the wait and watch game on Thursday.
SRH’s biggest concern has been scoring quickly in the death overs and will be looking to solve that before they go into the season.
Will they go and get the Bangladesh ace Shakib Al Hasan back in their side or will it be someone along the lines of a Mitch Marsh, who has had a good run in the BBL.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Retained Players: Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert.
Released Players: Tom Banton, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Siddharth M and Siddhesh Lad
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 10.75 Cr
Auction Strategy
The two-time champions have changed captains mid-season and have also now added an analyst to help them plan better as they look for a third title. KKR’s last title was in 2014 and in 2021, they will try to change that.
KKR’s biggest concern will be how good a season Andre Russell has and whether Sunil Narine can hold his own as well. Finding quality back-ups for the pair will be off utmost priority while adding variety to the bowling attack is also something they will look at.
Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson will need more support in the pace bowling department and even though Varun Chakaravarthy did well in IPL 2020, the poor form of Kuldeep Yadav will be of concern as well. That apart a back-up wicket-keeper batsman is also essential for KKR.
With 8 slots to fill off which 2 are for overseas players, KKR, with the smallest purse available will have their task cut out.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Retained Players: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed and Pavan Deshpande.
Released Players: Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube and Umesh Yadav.
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 35.40 Cr
Auction Strategy
As always, RCB’s strategy will revolve around reducing the pressure on Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers and the team has opted for quite a shake-up.
While Devdutt Paddikal’s breakthrough season last year was good news for them, the over dependence on the talismanic batting duo means they will look to further strengthen the middle order.
RCB have 11 slots remaining and are likely to target big names, especially for the 3 overseas vacancies. Mike Hesson and co will definitely be looking at players like Glenn Maxwell, Dawid Malan and Shakib Al Hasan.
Getting the batting order right starts with the Auction for RCB, and depending on their success in Chennai, the season could see a very different challenge from them.
Kings XI Punjab
Retained Players: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel
Released Players: Glenn Maxwell, Karun Nair, Hardus Viljoen, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, Jimmy Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Tajinder Singh
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 53.20 Cr
Auction Strategy
The Anil Kumble coached side have the biggest purse going into the auction and can also boast off a very strong Indian contingent in the side. Their form tapered off after a good start in 2020 and having retained most of the core side, they will look to bring in some quality overseas players.
With the top order more or less picking themselves, KXIP’s biggest areas of concerns will be the pacers and the Glenn Maxwell role – the enforcer.
KXIP will no doubt be looking to bring in all-rounders to support the likes of Rahul, Gayle and Shami and it would not be a surprise if they bullied teams of the table just on the basis of their available purse.
Shakib, Moeen Ali, Kyle Jamieson are surely some of the names Kumble and co will look at as players who will have a solid impact. Will the reunite with Maxwell again?
Rajasthan Royals
Retained Players: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa.
Released Players: Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.
IPL 2021 Auction Budget: INR 37.85 Cr
Auction Strategy
The Royals will be led for the first time by Sanju Samson and helping plan his way into the season will be Kumar Sangakkara. The Royals last made the knockouts in 2018 and will be desperate to change that.
Among the things they will look to cover in the auction are a supporting cast for the very effective Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and a top order batsman who can make the Powerplay count. One expects the England players to play quite an important role this year.
With a big purse at their disposal, the Royals will look to make important buys at the auction and should not be bullied off the table either.
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