As a start of the article series, I shared with you some overview of the IPL, this year's MEGA auction; IPL Mega Auction: Team Review 01: Gujarat Titans. Out of final 577 players, and retained players 10 teams were created at the auction.
I am presenting how each team did in this year's auction and their team combination. So, after the Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challenges Bengaluru, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, & Sunrises Hydrabdh, let me discuss the last two teams.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
This is just a three-year-old franchise and they came to playoffs in the first two seasons under the captaincy of KL Rahul. But the last season was not so good, and they let KL, Stoinis, and a bunch of others go, and rebuild a new team. They did retain a few good players, but I feel they missed some tricks in the auction.
| Squad | 24 Total, 06 overseas |
|---|---|
| Retained Players (INR) | Nicholas Pooran (21 Cr), Ravi Bishnoi (11 Cr), Mayank Yadav (11 Cr), Mohsin Khan (4 Cr), Ayush Badoni (4 Cr) |
| Players bought(INR) | Rishabh Pant (27 Cr), David Miller (7.5 Cr), Aiden Markram (2 Cr), Mitchell Marsh (3.4 Cr), Avesh Khan (9.75 Cr), Abdul Samad (4.2 Cr), Aryan Juyal (30L), Akash Deep (8 Cr), Himmat Singh (30L), M Siddharth (75L), Digvesh Singh (30L), Shahbaz Ahmed (1.9 Cr), Akash Singh (30L), Shamar Joseph (75L), Prince Yadav (30L), Yuvraj Chaudhary (30L), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (30L), Arshin Kulkarni (30L), Matthew Breetzke (75L) |
| Probable XI | Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(c & wk), Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav |
The team made the headline in the first few hours of the auction buying Rishabh Pant for 27cr as the most expensive buy ever. That is reasonable, and he will be the captain of the team. Then they added some explosive and quality players, Miller, Markram, Marsh, etc. Their batting unit looks very strong, especially the middle order. But the squad has no proven opening pair, which may be a problem.
And also, when comes to balling it looks very thin. Indian pacers are good, but a bit inexperienced, and there are no overseas ballers. As they spent much on day 01, they just had a purse of INR 14.85 crore and 13 slots to fill, which resulted in getting many uncapped players. So, there will be a big challenge to the team.
My Rating - 6.5/10
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
The champions of the inaugural edition in 2008 were looking for another laugh for the last 17 seasons. They had a great team last season and played well in the first half. But that went away in the latter being the third. Well, letting off their best players Butler, Boult, and Chahal, and retaining 06 players for big bucks seems to hurt them.
| Squad | 20 Total, 06 overseas |
|---|---|
| Retained Players (INR) | Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 Cr), Sanju Samson (18 Cr), Dhruv Jurel (14 Cr), Riyan Parag (14 Cr), Shimron Hetmyer (11 Cr), Sandeep Sharma (4 Cr) |
| Players bought(INR) | Jofra Archer (12.5 Cr), Tushar Deshpande (6.50 Cr), Wanindu Hasaranga (5.25 Cr), Maheesh Theekshana (4.40 Cr), Nitish Rana (4.20 Crore), Fazalhaq Farooqi (2 Cr) Kwena Maphaka (1.50 Cr), Akash Madhwal (1.20 Cr), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (1.1 Cr), Shubham Dubey (80L), Yudhvir Singh Charak (35L), Kumar Kartikeya (30L), Kunal Singh Rathore (30L), Ashok Sharma (30L) |
| Probable XI | Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Dubey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma |
Their retained core is strong, especially focusing on the batting department. So, they didn't spend much to fill that, but seems low on many backup options. They added Joffra Archer to their balling unit, which was a good pick, and then Wanindu and Maheesh Theekshana from Sri Lanka as the spinning core. Well, these three are excellent, but Archer and Wanindu face injuries quick, and the two spinners are a bit inconsistent in IPL.
And to back the ballers, there are no any Indian spinners, or many overseas options as well.
My Rating - 7/10
So, that's it with this series.
| Team | My Rating | The post |
|---|---|---|
| Gujarat Titans | 9.5 | link |
| Mumbai Indians | 9 | link |
| Punjab Kings | 9 | link |
| Delhi Capitals | 9 | link |
| Royal Challenges Bengaluru | 8.5 | link |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | link |
| Sunrises Hydrabadh | 8 | link |
| Chennai Super Kings | 7.5 | link |
| Rajasthan Royals | 7 | This post |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 6.5 | This post |
Until the next time!
Best Regards!