It may not be a mega auction like the one in Bangalore earlier this year, but franchises do need to be aware of their priorities and be wise in who they pick when 405 players go under the hammer for the IPL 2023 auction in Kochi on Friday.
A maximum of 87 players, including 30 overseas cricketers, can be bought from the overall pool of 405.
The franchises must have done their homework on the players they plan to bid for, but what remains in their purse will also be having an important role to play. Particularly, for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Knights, who were led by Shreyas Iyer in the IPL’s previous edition, need a solid batter at the top of their order. Precisely, someone who can make optimum use of the Powerplay.
The Knights had experimented with Ajinkya Rahane in some matches during this year’s IPL, but it didn’t work. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer did well in a few games but wasn’t consistent enough. Makeshift openers won’t solve the problem, which the Knight Riders team management must have understood.
Besides a proper hard-hitting opener, they require an effective wicketkeeper-batsman as well. Sheldon Jackson has not been retained, while England’s Sam Billings has opted out of next year’s IPL to focus more on the longer format.
The Knights have promising Afghan keeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who’s also an opener having an impressive strike rate (152.46) and a decent average (26.15) as well in T20s. But will he be able to earn the trust of the team management and make the cut for the four overseas slots in the XI? That’s one tricky question.
England’s Phil Salt is someone the Knight Riders can look at, or even Australia’s seamer all-rounder Cameron Green, who was quite explosive at the top during the T20Is versus India back in September. At the same time though, the Knights have only Rs. 7.05 crore left in their purse and they have to fill in the gaps within the limits of that amount.
With Chandrakant Pandit — the ‘Sir Alex Ferguson of Ranji Trophy’ — as their head coach, one can certainly feel that domestic players may get a little bit of extra attention when the Knights bid. Pandit is also set to be physically present at the auction table.
With not much left in their budget, the Knights also have the option of picking the talented Tamil Nadu opener-keeper Narayan Jagadeesan and some of the Bengal cricketers like quicks Mukesh Kumar and Ishan Porel, keeper-batter Abishek Porel and left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik. They may not have to shell out much for these players, especially for the likes of Abishek and Pramanik.
“Our main goal will be to ensure there’s proper balance in our squad as that’s the key,”a KKR official told The Telegraph on Thursday.
Big catches
Sam Curran, Man of the Match in the recent T20 World Cup final — Man of the Series as well — will certainly be one of the big catches and could well command a high price in this auction. Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad — the team with the biggest budget (Rs. 42.25 crore) —Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants may all go for intense bidding in order to rope in the England all-rounder.
England’s Test captain BenStokes, too, should be getting a good price. So should leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who was one of the chief contributors behind England’s T20 Cup success in Australia. It is also to be seen if former England captain Joe Root gets picked or not. It will be his first-ever IPLif Root gets a team.
⚫ Auction starts: 2.30pm. Auctioneer: Hugh Edmeades.Live on Star Sports Network
