IPL AUCTION IPL 2020 auction - What the teams need Kaushik Rangarajan Deepu Narayanan Share Tweet

A total of 332 players will go under the hammer in the auction for the 2020 edition of the IPL ©BCCI

On Thursday (December 19) afternoon, the IPL auction for the 2020 season will take place in Kolkata. A total of 332 players will go under the hammer as the eight franchises scramble to tweak their playing combination.

In the three-year cyclical IPL timeline, this is, for all practical purposes, a mini-auction before next year's big reboot. But, in the final year of the cycle, the auction assumes extra importance for teams looking for missing pieces in the grand jigsaw (Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad) and those that as yet don't possess players worthy of being retained ahead of the next cycle (Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings).

Cricbuzz presents a lowdown on each team ahead of the event, breaking down their existing combinations, and charts their potential auction strategy.

Having retained only two overseas players, RCB have plenty to do in the auction ©BCCI

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Purse:INR 27.9 cr|| Slots Left:12|| Overseas Slots:6

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Parthiv Patel (wk)

Finishers: Gurkeerat Singh Mann

All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi

Fast Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj

What's happened since the last season:

Another season of underachievement for RCB led to a management overhaul. Gary Kirsten, Ashish Nehra & Co. have paved the way for a more elaborate backroom setup which now includes former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson as the Director of Cricket and Simon Katich as the Head Coach.

The first order of business for this group included stripping the team down to its bones once more, so much so that RCB have only two foreign players (AB, Moeen) in their squad.

Issues:

Bowling. At the top and at the death. RCB took the second fewest wickets (14) and had the second worst economy (8.45) in the PowerPlays. At the death, RCB have comfortably exceeded the tournament average of economy in the last two seasons.

Requirements:

An experienced, overseas seamer capable of bowling at the death

RCB have looked at Nathan Coulter-Nile and Tim Southee to do that job. While one barely showed up, the other succumbed to the scourge of the Chinnaswamy.

Potential Picks: Pat Cummins, Sheldon Cottrell, Mustafizur Rahman, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson

An overseas finisher

Shimron Hetmyer and Colin de Grandhomme have been released and will need to be replaced, preferably by a player who can ease the responsibility on de Villiers and Kohli at the top. An all-rounder here could be invaluable and Katich could line up a couple of Australians for the role.

Potential Picks: Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Eoin Morgan, David Miller

Like RCB, Delhi Capitals will also be competing heavily for the foreign imports ©BCCI

Delhi Capitals

Purse:INR 27.85 cr|| Slots Left:11|| Overseas Slots:5

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer

Finishers: Rishabh Pant (wk)

All-rounders: Axar Patel, Harshal Patel

Spinners: R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane

Fast Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Keemo Paul, Avesh Khan

What's happened since the last season:

After a run to the playoffs in IPL 2019 - easily one of the finest seasons in recent years for the Delhi team - Ricky Ponting and the Capitals team management overindulged in the trade window.

They beefed up an already strong Indian contingent by bringing in R. Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, while letting go of squad spinners Jagadeesh Suchith and Rahul Tewatia. There was even a curious case of trading in Mayank Markande from Mumbai Indians only to trade him out in the same window to Rajasthan Royals. Curiously along the way, Capitals also traded out Trent Boult and Sherfane Rutherford to Mumbai Indians. They, like RCB, will also be competing heavily for the foreign imports.

Issues:

Reliable finishing. Delhi Capitals lost the most wickets in death overs during IPL 2019 - 50. Some of the good work done by the top order was offset by a glut of wickets falling at the death - the Super Over game against KKR after Prithvi Shaw's 99 being a case in point.

Requirements:

An overseas specialist batsman, preferably a finisher

A stockpiling of Indian top-order batsmen has left the team short on a finisher. Glenn Maxwell (INR 9 cr) who played for the side in IPL 2018 could be targeted for a lower price, although several other teams could be in for the dashing batsman, now back after a break.

Potential Picks: Glenn Maxwell, Shimron Hetmyer, Colin de Grandhomme, Eoin Morgan, David Miller

Seam-bowling all-rounder

Chris Morris, formerly retained for INR 11 cr, could end up becoming a value buy this time around for Delhi. They will not be overly desperate considering Harshal Patel's upswing as an allrounder at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament where he finished as Haryana's leading run getter (374 runs at 165 SR) and wicket-taker (19 wickets at ER of 7.04).

Other Potential Picks: Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Carlos Brathwaite, James Neesham, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Dan Christian

A back-up for Rabada

Rabada will have bowled a lot of overs over the long home series against England, which begins with four Tests. The South Africa fast bowler, easily the stand-out for Delhi last season, has been prone to fatigue-enforced under-performance as seen recently at the World Cup. Delhi also need a bit of variety with left-armer Boult moving to Mumbai and could go in for a left-arm seamer to round off their team.

Potential Picks: Sheldon Cottrell, Mustafizur Rahman, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Anrich Nortje, Dale Steyn, Keserick Williams

A back-up keeper

Rishabh Pant is the only designated keeper in the squad. Delhi will need a back-up in the eventuality of an injury to their star gloveman, even if it is an uncapped player.

Potential Picks: Vishnu Vinod, Ankush Bains, Naman Ojha, Kusal Perera, Heinrich Klaasen, Mushfiqur Rahim

Finishing options - with both bat and ball - to complement Stokes and Archer will be on RR's radar ©BCCI

Rajasthan Royals

Purse:INR 28.9 cr|| Slots Left:11|| Overseas Slots:4

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Jos Buttler (wk), Steve Smith, Sanju Samson (wk), Manan Vohra

Finishers: Riyan Parag

All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror, Shashank Singh

Spinners: Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mayank Markande

Fast bowlers: Jofra Archer, Ankit Rajpoot, Varun Aaron

What's happened since the last season:

There's a new sheriff in town in Jaipur after Andrew McDonald took over as head coach. Steve Smith will be the undisputed captain of the side at IPL 2020 with Ajinkya Rahane - sacked as skipper midway through the last edition- traded to Delhi Capitals. The Royals have also traded out offie K. Gowtham and have got in Ankit Rajpoot and spinners Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia, who'll join Shreyas Gopal in a legspin troika. Interestingly, two-time big-money earner Jaydev Unadkat has been released back to the auction pool once more.

Issues:

Finishing, with both bat and ball. The Royals' scoring rate in the death of 9.29 was the lowest among all teams in IPL 2019. They also possessed the worst death-overs economy rate (11.34) last season despite Jofra Archer's presence.

Requirements:

A finishing partner for Stokes

All he touches is not gold. As outstanding as Stokes has been over the last 12 months, he's still not mastered the finishing role at Rajasthan Royals. The franchise has previously used Jos Buttler there but the Englishman has been exemplary since moving to the top. That has turned Rajasthan into a grossly top-heavy side.

The worry for the Royals is that they are short of domestic talent, one that is not easily replenished in a mini-auction. They cannot blindly pickup one of the many outstanding middle-order options available given that their four foreign players - Stokes, Smith, Buttler and Archer - are all A-list, first XI material. Tamil Nadu's Shahrukh Khan could be a shrewd addition to the middle order apart from the host of foreign options available.

Potential Picks: Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Manoj Tiwary, Stuart Binny, Alex Carey, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell

A finger spinner and an Indian death bowler

The loss of K Gowtham has not only deprived Royals of one lower-order biffer, it's also left the side with three leg spinners + Riyan Parag. Royals will keep an eye on finger spinners even as they look to get a value add in that Jaydev Unadkat seam-bowler position, one that has constantly nagged at them over the last two seasons.

Potential Picks: R. Sai Kishore, Pavan Deshpande, Mohit Sharma, Ishan Porel, Lukman Meriwala, Roosh Kalaria, Fabian Allen

CSK might be looking at a 140k-plus bowler and an overseas top-order batsman who can also handle spin ©BCCI

Chennai Super Kings

Purse:INR 14.6 cr|| Slots Left:5|| Overseas Slots:2

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, N Jagadeesan, M Vijay, Rituraj Gaikwad

Finishers: MS Dhoni (wk)

All-rounders: Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh

Spinners: Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma

Fast bowlers: Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif

What's happened since last season:

It's mostly been quiet in Chennai as one has come to expect with CSK, more so after another routine run to the final. They didn't participate in any trades and only let go of five squad players before the auction.

Issues:

On evidence of results, CSK would appear to have no real issues. But there could be a storm brewing over the horizon for the team ahead of the next big auction with MS Dhoni ever so slightly moving towards the retirement arch. That and the rapidly dwindling fortunes of Suresh Raina could leave this ageing squad with only Deepak Chahar as a viable player for retention next year.

IPL 2019 was witness to the predicted depreciation especially at the top of the order - usually CSK's strength - where they averaged 22.65 for the first wicket (lowest in the league), scored at 6.44 in the Powerplay (lowest in the league) and lost most wickets in the Powerplay (30).

Shane Watson hasn't played a T20 since IPL 2019. His only appearance post IPL 2019 came in the T10 league. He's scheduled to play in both BPL and the PSL and could come into the IPL fatigued. IPL star Suresh Raina had a mediocre 2019 season, averaging under 24 and striking under 122. He hasn't played any competitive game after the IPL having undergone a knee surgery.

Requirements:

A 140+ fast bowler, especially for the away games

Lungi Ngidi, while great for the team in their title win in 2018, continues to be under an injury cloud, with a hamstring injury pushing him to the sidelines once more. He could be short of game time and bowling rhythm coming into the tournament. CSK will also need a back-up for the injury prone Bravo, whose once envious death bowling record has taken a hit over the last few seasons.

Potential Picks: Pat Cummins, Sheldon Cottrell, Anrich Nortje, Matt Henry, Alzzari Joseph, Mark Wood

An overseas top-order batsman

A potential long-term replacement for Watson, capable of leading the transition into the next generation of CSK sides. Chris Lynn, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, D'Arcy Short and Tom Banton may not be ideal considering the Chepauk track and their inferior record against spin.

Potential Picks: Aaron Finch, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kusal Perera

Mumbai Indians might look at a pace option that serves as a long-time replacement for Lasith Malinga ©BCCI

Mumbai Indians

Purse:INR 13.05 cr|| Slots Left:7|| Overseas Slots:2

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (wk), Aditya Tare (wk), Anmolpreet Singh

Finishers: Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sherfane Rutherford

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya

Spinners: Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy

Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan

What's happened since the last season:

If anything, the four-time and defending champions have been further strengthened even before the auction thanks to some smart moves in the draft window. Trent Boult has arrived from Delhi to bring in more left-arm variety. As has Sherfane Rutherford, a potential long-term replacement for Pollard.

Issues:

There are no glaring issues for the champions although they developed a tendency to lose wickets in clusters through overs 11 and 15 last season (25 wickets - most for any team). There is a case for Rohit to bat in the middle order as he has done previously, but he will be unlikely to do so given next year's T20 World Cup.

Requirements:

A backup seamer or a long-term replacement for Malinga

Mumbai will have two of their starters - Bumrah and Hardik Pandya - coming off big injuries and will be eyeing a backup that slots in somewhere between the two. This seamer could even serve as a long-term replacement for Lasith Malinga.

Potential Picks: Pat Cummins, Matt Henry, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Southee - all of whom have previously played for the franchise

An attacking spinner

Mumbai have used their spinners differently to some of the other teams. Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar bowl predominantly through the middle overs and are effective at choking runs (second-best economy in middle-overs) but they are only fifth-best among strike rates. An attacking spinner could leave them even more potent.

Potential Picks: Hayden Walsh Jr., Piyush Chawla, Zahir Khan Pakhtun, Qais Ahmed, Varun CV

Will KL Rahul be KXIP's next choice as captain or will the team hunt for one during the auction? ©BCCI

Kings XI Punjab

Purse:INR 42.7 cr|| Slots Left:9|| Overseas Slots:4

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh

Finishers: Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan

Spinners: Murugan Ashwin, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, K. Gowtham, J. Suchith, Harpreet Brar

Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande

What's happened since the last season

An available purse of 42.7 crore is reflective of both the radical changes as well as KXIP's barren trophy cabinet. Anil Kumble has joined as the team's director of cricket operations as well as head coach. The legendary spinner, though, will not be reinforcing his strong working relationship with R. Ashwin with the KXIP captain from the last two years moving on to Delhi Capitals. KXIP also traded out Ankit Rajpoot and welcomed two Karnataka spinners - K Gowtham and J Suchith into the setup.

Issues:

Punjab need a new captain now that Ashwin is gone. Whether Kumble entrusts KL Rahul with that responsibility or goes looking for options in the auction will be interesting to watch.

KXIP have gaps to plug throughout their line-up, none more obvious than in the bowling department and in the finisher's role, where after years of persisting with David Miller, they appear to be looking elsewhere.

Requirements:

Overseas seamers - bowlers to strike upfront + death over specialists

Punjab took the fewest wickets (12) in the Powerplay last year. They didn't fare any better at the death either with Shami (ER 9.80), Viljoen (12.41), Arshdeep (11.50) and Mujeeb (13.14) proving expensive at the death. While several other teams are in the lookout for thse characthericts, KXIP could have their way thanks to their financial muscle.

Potential Picks: Pat Cummins, Sheldon Cottrell, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran

Indian batsman as finisher

Sarfaraz Khan has not had a consistent season as yet since underscoring his big potential in IPL 2015. KXIP have retained him but will need a reliable finisher

Potential Picks: Shahrukh Khan, Rohan Kadam, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda

Overseas all-rounder

If KXIP can land a quality overseas seamer to partner Mohammed Shami, they'll want to see if they can land an upgrade on Sam Curran for the all-rounder's role. The Englishman's price tag of INR 7.2 cr was not justified by his returns - 10 wickets at 9.79 ER. If not they could get Curran back at a lower price.

Potential Picks: James Neesham, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Marcus Stoinis

Gayle backup

Chris Gayle is now 40 and while that hasn't greatly diminished his hitting powers as yet, there are fitness concerns that are always lurking. KXIP could do well to line-up a back-up, potentially someone like Eoin Morgan, who could fill that leadership void too.

Potential Picks: Evin Lewis, Aaron Finch, Eoin Morgan, Chris Lynn

Having let go of Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Chris Lynn, KKR will be seeking similar replacements ©BCCI

Kolkata Knight Riders

Purse:INR 35.65 cr|| Slots Left:11|| Overseas Slots:4

Existing squad breakdown:

Top-order batsmen: Shubman Gill, Siddesh Lad

Finishers: Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rinku Singh

All-rounders: Nitish Rana

Spinners: Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav

Fast bowlers: Harry Gurney, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier

What's happened since the last season:

The failure to progress to the playoffs drew an understandable reaction from the management of the two-time champions. Jacques Kallis was replaced by another former Knight Rider, Brendon McCullum, as the team's head coach. Simon Katich, too, was let go.

The team left no room for sentiments releasing the once indispensable members Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Chris Lynn - although in the case of the latter, there was a price point issue (INR 9.6 cr)

Issues:

Similar to KXIP, KKR struggled with the ball in IPL 2019, claiming only 56 wickets in all - the fewest tally over the course of a season. Kolkata, with the second-worst economy at the death last season, have also struggled in their PowerPlay for two straight seasons now, taking 13 and 12 wickets in 2018 and 19 respectively.

Requirements:

A leader of the pace attack

McCullum will hope compatriot Lockie Ferguson can kick on from the impressive 2019 he had on the international circuit with the white ball. The retained Harry Gurney has also had a good year on the T20 circuit with 53 wickets at 7.84 ER. Even someone in the mould of Dale Steyn could unlock the bowling unit as a whole.

Potential Picks: Pat Cummins, Sheldon Cottrell, Dale Steyn, Mustafizur Rahman, Chris Jordan

An opening partner for Gill

2020 is likely to be the year that Shubman Gill takes up his preferred spot as an opener for KKR. Even if the team management is willing to persist longer with Narine as an opener despite his short-ball shortcomings, they will need to get Lynn back for a cheaper rate or pick up another opener.

Potential Picks: Chris Lynn, Jason Roy, Aaron Finch, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Kusal Perera (back-up keeper), Colin Munro (TKR connect), Yashasvi Jaiswal,

An Indian middle-order bat to replace Uthappa

More so, if Gill is going to move up the order. KKR could fill this spot with a budget pick from the domestic circuit or from the U-19 batch

Potential Picks: Manoj Tiwary, Priyam Garg, Rohan Kadam, Virat Singh, Deepak Hooda

A back-up for Russell

Andre Russell is never too far from an injury and will need to be allowed games off in the middle of the season to rest and recuperate. KKR bought Carlos Brathwaite last year for INR 5 crore. They'll ideally want a cheaper pick this time given the necessities elsewhere.

Potential Picks: Chris Morris, Dan Christian, James Neesham, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Cutting

SRH will be hoping to get hold of a reliable Indian batting option to support the big overseas names in the team ©BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Purse:INR 17 cr|| Slots Left:7|| Overseas Slots:2

Existing squad breakup:

Top-order batsmen: David Warner, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

Finishers: Vijay Shankar

All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma

Spinners: Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem

Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, T. Natarajan, Billy Stanlake

What's happened since the last season:

SRH opted for a coaching shake-up of their own, letting go of Tom Moody who led them to five playoffs appearances and a league title in 2016. They replaced him with another serial winner in Trevor Bayliss, who won the World Cup with England this year and has a couple of IPL titles to boot with KKR. Allowing Bayliss a year to take over before the big auction will give him the leeway to give a new direction to this otherwise consistent franchise.

Issues:

SRH will miss the services of an A-lister in Shakib Al Hasan who is serving a ban for not reporting a fixing approach. Although not a regular in the first team, Shakib's absence affects them as they look to complement their strong top-order with some lower-order heft to address their death-overs scoring rate that has plagued them over the last four seasons.

Requirements:

A finisher

To back up an already imposing axis of Warner-Bairstow-Williamson.

Potential Picks: Glenn Maxwell, Eoin Morgan, Colin de Grandhomme, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Morris

A reliable Indian middle-order bat

With Manish Pandey experiencing good success at No.3 last season, SRH will want to make up for his move up the order by signing in a backup Indian batsman.

Potential Picks: Robin Uthappa, Hanuma Vihari, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tripathi, Vishnu Vinod

Injury back-up for Bhuvneshwar

Despite their bowling riches, SRH will be worried by Bhuvneshwar's injury history over the last 15 months. They'll not shun away from adding an overseas death bowler if one becomes available for a good price.

Potential Picks: Dale Steyn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye

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