IPL 2020: Bases that the teams need to cover in the auction

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is not scheduled to take place before April 2020, but the league is now becoming like the premier league. When the matches are not taking place, the talk of transfers and auction takes over. November 15th 2019, marked the deadline for player extension contracts. A total of 127 players were retained by franchises.

Post-deadline, Kings XI Punjab are left with the biggest purse of 42.70 Crores and Royal Challengers Bangalore with the most number of player slots (12). The pre-season auction, which takes place every year where teams look to fill the gaps in their squads, is set to take place on December 19th in Kolkata. Let’s take a look at how teams stack up after transfers and what bases do they need to cover heading into the auction this year.

Players to look out for in the auction: Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Chris Morris, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Starc, Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill, Colin Munro

Mumbai Indians

The defending champions have now acquired the services of Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, and Sherfane Rutherford through the trade window. Boult and Kulkarni will further strengthen their pace bowling attack, which already has Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga at the helm. Heading into the auction they will look to acquire a backup opening batsman. Someone like a Martin Guptill, Shimron Hetmyer or Colin Munro would be a good pick.

Current Squad: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Quinton de Kock, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Trent Boult (T), Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni (T), Aditya Tare, Sherfane Rutherford (T), Jayant Yadav

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings have decided to stick to their core and look the most settled squad heading into the mini auction. Dhoni’s yellow army looks balanced, but death bowling is an area that needs some attention. Dwayne Bravo managed to bag just 11 wickets last season in the 12 matches that he played. Deepak Chahar is a useful bowler in the fag end of the innings, but a specialist like Nathan Coulter Nile or Mitchell Starc could do wonders for them.

Current Squad: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, M Vijay, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Monu Kumar, N Jagadeesan, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif.