There is a different air to IPL mini-auction. After the teams pressed the rest button at the 2022 mega-auction, the upcoming mini-auction gives them the chance to course correct after the recent outings and the beauty lies in the fact that most, even with a quick glance on the squad sheets, can predict who wants what. The auction dynamics have historically come into play on the mini-auction table and often franchises are found beefing the bid because they know what the others want.
It’s no surprise that some of the most expensive bids in history of the tournament have taken place in the mini-auction. May it be Chris Morris going to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 16.25 crore in 2021 or Rising Pune Supergiants acquiring Ben Stokes’ services for Rs 14.50 crore in 2017.
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This year will be no different. A shortlist of 405 players is available to the ten franchises for a maximum of 87 slots, including 30 overseas players. Plenty of star players have signed up for the upcoming edition but the franchises would certainly be looking at players who bring more than one dimension to the table. Lot of money will go the all-rounders’ way and one name on many wishlists is England all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy. Stokes brings a lot to the mix and his recent exploits in the international arena make him a hot property. Who wouldn’t want Stokes in the line-up? Every team. But can most afford? Or does their existing mix allow them to make most of his services or even accommodate him in the XI?
Rajasthan Royals, the team Stokes last played for in the IPL, wouldn’t mind his return but their remaining purse of Rs 13.2 crore won’t allow them to go hard for their former star player. Delhi Capitals have a purse of Rs 19.45 crore but it will be a problem of plenty as they already have the likes of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman, Rovman Powell to choose from for the four overseas slots. CSK, who are likely to save the bucks for Sam Curran, could a face similar issue and RCB, KKR don’t have enough in the bank.
This leaves us with Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans, LSG, SRH and Punjab Kings. MI have their task cut out for this auction as they need smart buys. An aggressive approach for Stokes could leave them with very little for shopping and more than Stokes, they desperately need a quality spinner in the ranks. This leaves us with LSG, SRH, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.
Defending champions Gujarat, with a purse of Rs 19.25 crore, have the money but coach Ashish Nehra made his intentions of looking for a fast bowler clear. They already have David Miller, Matthew Wade & Rashid Khan as the three overseas players and with Lockie Ferguson traded to KKR, an overseas fast bowler makes more sense for them at this stage. Alzarri Joseph is the only quick overseas option available in the squad at the moment.
Punjab Kings, with a purse of Rs 32.2 crore, have some work to do on the table and could well bid for Stokes to fix their unpredictable middle-order, and add effective seam bowling option in the mix to support Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh. Stokes’ bidding war is expected to be a quality contest between want and need, and two teams swaying the need way are Lucknow Supergiants and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Why LSG?
The group which owns the franchise owned the now-defunct Rising Pune Super Giants and they went after Stokes in 2017 and paid Rs 14.50 crore. LSG squad wears a settled look but the franchise’s decision to release Manish Pandey, Evin Lewis and Jason Holder allows them to address the middle-order problem and fill in the all-rounder spot left vacant by Holder.
Stokes brings the needed impact in the middle-order and also adds plenty of brand power. The RPSG Group of Sanjiv Goenka’s bid for the LSG franchise was Rs 7090 crore, nearly 250% more than BCCI’s base price of Rs 2,000 crore. Big money was spent to get a team and Stokes brand power is something the franchise would welcome with arms wide open.
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With Stokes in the ranks, this how the LSG line-up could look like: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Ben Stokes, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya… Left-right and a lot of might! And three out of your top five have the ability to bowl their quota of overs.
Goenka’s love for Stokes is no secret and a purse balance of Rs 23.35 crore allows the franchise to go all-out for the all-rounder. Team mentor Gautam Gambhir is not a big fan of jumbo squads and with the Playing XI more or less sorted for them, they can opt for some cheap domestic talent to make up the numbers.
Why SRH?
Why not SRH should be the question. A purse of Rs 42.25 crore and search of a new captain after the franchise decided to part ways with Kane Williamson. With just 12 players retained, the 2016 champs have well and truly pressed the rest button after poor outings in last two editions. And who better than Stokes to build their squad around.
Money is not a problem and a Stokes in the XI opens up a lot of options for them to play around. It gives the middle-order a very threatening look for one as they already have the likes of Aiden Markram and Glenn Phillips. And then you have the bowling skills.
More than batting and bowling, it’s the captaincy piece which comes together for the team which finished eighth (in the eight-team tournament) in 2021 and eighth again (ten-team competition this time around) in the 2022 edition. The performances of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Markram were the few bright spots in their campaigns which saw captain Kane’s diminishing returns. Even if they spend big, like really big, say for instance something like Rs 20 crore on Stokes, they would still have enough to put together a champion squad.
More than two teams have the money, have the space, have the need for Ben Stokes but it remains to be seen how events unfold when the paddles go up on December 23. Plenty will go up but SRH’s could well be the last to go down.
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