You know what I shouldn’t laugh too much, I once had to wear a canary yellow tie at a restaurant I worked at when I was a kid. The really gross thing about it was that one of my primary roles was to dispense drinks for the restaurant i.e. to go to the bar, pour the drinks and then leave them for the waiting staff to take to the tables. By the end of the evening, my yellow tie had dipped into enough alcoholic beverages that if I gave it a good suck then I could get a bit tipsy! It was a simpler time ……..
So to the auction itself, rather than going through the whole thing which in all honesty would take about 20 posts and leave even an ardent cricket fan such as myself hoping for a swift end to it all, I will focus on the top 10 purchases of the day.
Shimron Hetmyer - RCB, 4.2 crore ($600k)
Having released or traded out several big foreign names during the close season it was always like that RCB would come in for some batting talent. Hetmyer had been identified as a player who would likely attract some action in the auction following his recent exploits for the West Indies in India and so it proved to be. DC and Kings XI began the bidding and when RR also stepped in the price quickly shot passed 1 crore. By the time the price had reached 2.4 crore RR and DC were both out of the running with it looking to be a 2 horse race between SRH and Kings XI. However, with the price up to 4.0 crore, RCB came in with an 11th-hour bid to seal the deal.
.
Beyond the fact that Hetmyer is a fairly raw and inexperienced player, the question still remains whether this was the type of player that RCB really required. I had suggested in my blog that they focus on getting a high calibre opening batsman and perhaps the fact that they have decided to invest such a large chunk of their funds into another middle order player is proof that they plan to push Kohli up to open the batting.
Carlos Brathwaite, KKR 5.0 crore ($700k)
This was a pretty big buy from KKR for a guy who had limited success for SRH last year and cost them just 2.0 crore. He did have a decent knock in the final of the tournament despite SRH's defeat and as England can attest to he enjoys the big occasion. However, there are still question marks over his ability to handle slow bowling and his right arm fast-medium while useful is not likely to win many matches. I had noted in my analysis of KKR that they did need another all-round option so in that sense, it does add up that KKR were going to bid on someone to fill that role. He will sit alongside fellow countrymen Sunil Narine and Andre Russell and lend some punch to an already heavyweight looking batting line-up. KKR are definitely going to be worthwhile watching in 2019!
Jonny Bairstow, SRH 2.2 crore ($300k)
The orange haired Englishman is off to the orange coloured franchise, that will make for an interesting fashion spectacle! I had stated in my blog that SRH would be in for a wicket-keeper and that Bairstow could well be on their hit list and so it has proved to be. The really interesting thing now is which foreign player will make way for him to get a spot in the team? Kane Williamson is surely set to retain the captaincy at SRH after his successful stint this year and it seems unlikely that either Rashid Khan or Shakib Al Hasan would miss out. That means that returning Aussie opener David Warner may not make the 11 on as regular a basis as he might have hoped. Given that he will not have played any meaningful cricket for the best part of a year going into the 2019 tournament perhaps the signing of Bairstow represents a shrewd move by SRH. One thing that we have definitely seen from Jonny is that he isn't afraid of a bit of competition for places and SRH have also invested in former India international keeper Saha.
Mohammed Shami to Kings XI, 4.8 crore ($650k)
Only this morning I was finishing off a post that stated that I felt KXI might be willing to part with some cash to secure the services of this gentleman and lo and behold they go and buy him. This guy is hands down one of my favourite red ball bowlers around at the moment and I've seen him do the business in 50 over cricket for India in the past too. While he is probably not ideally suited to the T20 game I still think that he has a lot to offer and he is just the sort of signing that Kings XI needed to make.
Colin Ingram to Delhi Capitals, 6.4 crore ($850k)
Here's an interesting fact that I saw Cricviz tweet today. Over the last 2 years, Ingram's S/R in the death overs of T20 is 2nd only to that of the great AB DeVilliers over the same period. With Delhi having such a strong core of Indian batsmen, Ingram could prove the perfect addition to add some late innings runs. With Delhi also signing India duo Hanuma Vihari and Axar Patel they have filled many of the positions that i'd identified as being areas that required strengthening and as such, I am looking forward to seeing what they can achieve in 2019.
Sam Curran to Kings XI Punjab, 7.2 crore ($1million)
I think it would be fair to say that young Sam has had a pretty good year. Test and ODI debuts for England, player of the series against India and now a million dollar contract to play in the IPL. After his exploits this summer, Sam Curran was tipped to be hot property in this year's auction and so it proved to be as a number of franchises came in with bids until Kings XI eventually got their man. The interesting thing to see will be how KXI now balance their team given the restrictions on overseas players. KXI also went in big for 18 year old talent Prabh Simran a player who has only made 4 list A appearances in his relatively short career. We know that Sam Curran has no problems with stepping out onto the big stage but let's see how the young wicket-keeper batsman does as KXI may need him to deliver runs if they are to make it into the playoffs this year.
Prayas Barman to RCB, 1.5 Crore ($200k)
However, if you thought that Curran and Simran where young then check out this purchase from Royal Challengers Bangalore who is just 16years of age! Will he have to ask special permission to have time off school to play in the competition? I can't really tell you much about the guy because until today, I had never heard of him! Suffice to say that Indian cricket culture has never let age be a barrier to success and many of their current and former greats have hit the big time while still in their teens. For Barman, not only has he just cashed in on a mega payday but he will also get to continue his cricketing education alongside Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers - watch and learn boy!
Lasith Malinga to Mumbai Indians, 2 Crore ($280k)
From the young to the old, Lasith Malinga was a coach at Mumbai last year but is now returning to the team as a player. At 35 years of age, the Sri Lankan brings a wealth of experience to the table and although it's likely he will be playing primarily as back-up/rotation player to Mitch McClenaghan, those yorkers and slower balls may yet surprise a few batsmen. However, even when he is not directly involved in the 11 you can be sure he will be sharing all those years of accumulated wisdom with a Mumbai side that will be very keen to make amends for last season's poor display. When it came to experience Mumbai weren't just satisfied with Malinga as they also made a late bid to sign Yuraj Singh for 1 Crore. Is there to be one last horrah for these 2 greats of the white ball era?
Varun Chakravarthy to Kings XI Punjab, 8.4 crore ($1.2 million)
At 27 years old, he may not be as a young as some the names mention above but this will be Chakravarthy's maiden season in the IPL. The story of his rise in the game is really quite fascinating as he went from pace bowling all-rounder to non-player and then returned to the game after qualifying as an architect only to find that he was a better spin bowler. Chakravarthy claims to be able to bowl pretty much every delivery that a finger or wrist spinner has to offer and will surely be a key asset in a Kings XI bowling line-up that looks to have far more depth and variation than it did last year, an area that I critiqued in my previous blog.
Oshane Thomas to Rajasthan Royals, 1.1 crore ($150k)
As predicted, Rajasthan did a lot of business today for fast bowlers with Varun Aaron being brought back in from the cold and Jaydev Unadkat also being re-signed by the franchise. Alongside them will be West Indian quick Oshane Thomas who will be hoping to get enough game time to make an impact on the big stage. Thomas is certainly a raw talent and one of those players who if picked at the right time might just go through something of a purple patch. With English trio Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer all likely to be called back early for World Cup duty Oshane's playing time will almost certainly increase as the tournament progresses.
CSK (the only team not to have been featured above) had a relatively quite day as was expected given that they retained the vast majority of their squad from 2018.
Now that the fun of the auction is over the waiting for cricket itself has to begin. By the time the daffodils are beginning to show in my garden, I will be sitting down to watch some of the biggest stars in the game slug it out in it's premier franchise league. Fortunately, there is plenty of cricket to be played around the world between now and then ........
Who do you think were the best signings in the auction?
Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below
Comments