One blunder made by each franchise in the IPL 2020 auction

Auctions are one of the most integral parts in team strategy and planning. Champions teams know which exact players they want in their ranks. The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the year 2020 was conducted on 19th December, 2019. 140.30 Crores were spent by the franchises in pursuit of some of the best players in the world. There was an intense bid on Pat Cummins, before he was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping INR 15.5 crore, the most ever for a foreign player in the history of the league. Although every team tried their best to cover their weaknesses, some of the buys didn’t exactly help their cause. Franchises might end up regretting the decisions going forward. In the article, let’s look at the blunders made by each IPL team in the last auction: – 1. Royal Challengers Bangalore- Dale Steyn Dale Steyn. (Photo: IANS) We definitely cannot disregard the fact that age catches up with a fast bowler. Dale Steyn had match-winning performances in the two games he played last season, but he pulled out of the rest of the tournament due to injuries. Another concern with getting Steyn back in the auction is that he has only played three T20is since the IPL, and not a single ODI. He already has retied from Test cricket. Steyn is most likely not going to start for the Challengers. Instead of going for him, RCB could have looked to use their purse in investing in a good middle-order batsman to fill up the void they have in that aspect. 2. Chennai Super Kings- Sam Curran Sam Curran. (Photo Source: Twitter) Sam Curran is a talented youngster, who has started well in the shortest format of the game. However, he has no experience of playing in the UAE. Being a swing-bowler, it might be difficult for him to adjust in the spin-friendly tracks of UAE. Curran has often proven to be expensive in the death overs, as seen in the games against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) last year, where he conceded over 50 runs in four overs both times. The Surrey cricketer also needs to work on his consistency. Curran will win his team one match out of 10, but will may strain to perform consistently in the other games. 3. Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mitchell Marsh Mitchell Marsh. (Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images) Mitchell Marsh has been out of the scheme of things for a long time now. He last played an IPL match in 2016. That might be a crucial factor that would constantly play on his mind. Marsh hasn’t been extraordinary for the Australian side as well. While he has been average in the ODIs, he has only played 4 T20Is post the 2018 World Cup in England and Wales. Another issue is who does Marsh act as a replacement for in the squad? However, he has had some decrnt outings in the recent ODI and T20I series against Eoin Morgan’s England. 4. Kolkata Knight Riders: Tom Banton Tom Banton. (Photo Source: Twitter) Tom Banton has lit up the format with his antics across the globe, especially in the last 12 months. The Somerset cricketer is a force to reckon with, but he might not be as effective on slow tracks due to lack of experience. The youngster has been dismissed by a leg-spinner in six out of 13 matches, at an average of close to 17 and a strike rate of 156 in T20 cricket, numbers which aren’t as promising. . These numbers demonstrate that while Banton is not afraid to take the leggies on, he tends to be a little more cautious compared to other bowlers. 5. Delhi Capitals- Alex Carey Alex Carey of the Strikers bats. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images) Alex Carey is uncapped in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Having shown his prowess as a finisher in the World Cup last year, teams were excited for him while bidding in the auction. Sadly, he has been out of form in both ODIs and T20Is post the ODI WC. Very recently, Carey could not take Australia home after an unprecedented collapse during a fairly easy run-chase against England. Carey is not an explosive batsman, The left-hander prefers to take his time and settle down. In case Delhi need 60 from the last five overs, one may not bank on him for a quick-fire finish. 6. Rajasthan Royals- Robin Uthappa Robin Uthappa. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) One of the few IPL veterans in this list, Robin Uthappa was not a particularly wise pick by the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Far from the Uthappa of old, he has been in relatively poor form in the last couple of seasons. He has scored 623 runs in the previous two seasons at a strike rate of little more than 124. Even in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2019, he was unable to stand out. His performances there were extremely mediocre. Rajasthan should have invested in a solid Indian finisher, instead of an old, out-of-favour Uthappa for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich IPL. 7. Mumbai Indians- Nathan Coulter-Nile Nathan Coulter-Nile dismissed Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter) Buying Nathan Coulter-Nile for a high price was not a tactical move on the part of the defending champions. He has not played a single game in the previous two seasons of the league. Besides that, the tall and lanky fast bowler hasn’t played a T20 International since February 2019, and has been out of favour from Australia’s ODI team as well. MI were short on good spinners. Instead of going for a foreign pacer, they could have used their resources to buy a good spin attack leader. Coulter-Nile being a ‘hit-the-deck’ bowler might not be as effective on the slow wickets of UAE. 8. Kings XI Punjab- Sheldon Cottrell Sheldon Cottrell. (Photo by Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images) This might come as a surprise pick in the list, but Sheldon Cottrell probably does not fit well in the scheme of things for the Kings. Cjris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Chris Jordan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will most likely start in the playing XI. A logical reason why Jordan might start over Cottrell is his increased effectiveness in the death overs. Cottrell hasn’t exactly had the kind of season he would have expected in the CPL. Another thing that is yet to be seen is how Cottrell adapts to the slow tracks of UAE. He does not have much experience playing on such wickets, and his adaptability shall be tested majorly. ~Written by Shayan Khan

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One blunder made by each franchise in the IPL 2020 auction

Franchises might end up regretting the decisions going forward.

6. Rajasthan Royals- Robin Uthappa

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