The IPL Auction 2022 came to an end in Bengaluru on Sunday evening with most of the franchises walking away with smiles, but at least a couple would be wondering if they had spent their considerable purses well.
Mumbai Indians went to town adding some big bombs to their line-up, while Chennai Super Kings reiterated their faith in the tried and tested till towards the end of the auction, when they picked up a slew of youngsters. Among those left scratching their heads would be Gujarat Titans and SunRisers Hyderabad. The Ahmedabad franchise’s purchases left a lot of holes to fill while SunRisers Hyderabad bought practically everyone they had let go of, which makes one wonder what the plan was.
Also smiling would be some members of the Under-19 team that recently won the World Cup, as several of them were picked up rapidly.
Related Content: Mumbai break the bank for Ishan Kishan
A lot of frantic buying was seen towards the fag end of the IPL 2022 Auction saw several players, not purchased in the initial bidding, getting decent deals.
Mumbai Indians went all out to pick up Tim David of Singapore (Rs. 8.25 crore), Jofra Archer (8 crore), as well as left-arm seamers Daniel Sams and Tymal Mills.
Englishman Liam Livingstone was one big buy for Punjab Kings (Rs. 11.50 crore) and also new West Indian sensation Odean Smith (6 crore).
SunRisers Hyderabad, a little out of sorts in the way they have approached this whole thing, finally did add some meat to their side, picking up Romario Shepherd of West Indies (7.75 crore), South African Marco Jansen (4.20 lakh), his compatriot Aiden Markram (2.60 crore) and Australian fast bowler Sean Abbott (2.40 crore).
Chennai Super Kings, while imposing faith on the tried and tested, went for English all-rounder Chris Jordan (Rs. 3.60 crore) and New Zealanders Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne (Rs. 1.90 crore each).
Gujarat Titans, once looking like being left without a wicketkeeper, bought two in a swoop, picking up Australian Matthew Wade (Rs. 2.40 crore) and Wriddhiman Saha (Rs, 1.90 crore).
Royal Challengers Bangalore may be short of an Indian middle-order batter, but picked up young wicket-keeper Anuj Rawat (Rs. 3.40 crore) and all-rounder Shahbaz Ahamad (Rs. 2.40 crore).
Rajasthan Royals, who were doing quite well on Day 1, seemed to lose their way a little on Sunday. Riyan Parag got Rs. 3.80 crore while they also bought Navdeep Saini (Rs. 2.60 crore) Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 2 crore), Jimmy Neesham (Rs. 1.50 crore) and Karun Nair (Rs. 1.40 crore).
Lucknow Super Giants would be happy with their purchases and they added Ewin Lewis (Rs. 2 crore) and lot of young Indian uncapped players.
Kolkata Knight Riders went for Alex Hales and Tim Southee (Rs. 1.50 crore each) in the late rush to fill up the numbers.
Delhi Capitals invested on Syed Khaleel Ahmed (Rs. 5.25 crore) and Chetan Sakariya (Rs. 4.20 crore).
While most teams met their targets in terms of players bought, what ultimately matters is how it all pans out on the field. But one thing for certain – the competition should be stiffer this time since, with the advent of two additional franchises, the resources were divided a lot more equitably, making for some great competition.
