Indian Premier League (IPL)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
History
Established in 2008
The Times of India, April 8, 2016
Twenty20 cricket became phenomenally popular after India won the inaugural World Twenty20 title in 2007 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The victory not only rejuvenated the Indians fans, who were reeling under the disappointment of the 2007 ODI World Cup, but it also gave way to the conceptualization of the Indian Premier League that has since then not only cashed on the craze but has also changed the way cricket is played in India.
Brain child of the then BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, the IPL was launched in 2008 with much fanfare as a competitive response to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that was not recognized by the BCCI. Since then the IPL has not only come out as the clear victor but has given birth to various T20 leagues around the world and is the most-attended cricket league in the world. The ICL, with controversies of non-payment and fixing, folded up in 2009.
Following the same format as that of English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), the IPL works on a franchise system that were put for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own the team, representing each city.
2008: the beginnings
K ShriniwasRao, Apr 05 2017: The Times of India
A Decade After It Set The Benchmark For T20 Leagues, Is The IPL Still Blazing The Trail When It Comes To Innovation?
Ten years ago, on a pleasant afternoon in 2008, when a five-star hotel in the south of Mumbai played host to an Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction, the first of its kind in any sport across the world, Sotheby's London auction house was yet to make a killing from a fascinating bronze sculpture -a Swiss masterpiece -waiting to go under the hammer. The winning bid for Walking Man I didn't quite proverbially match up to the cheque written (and the noise made) for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the scale of contemporary European art notwithstanding.
Much later, Richard Madley , the competent London-based auctioneer at IPL for a decade now, would admit -a bit in disbelief and a lot in awe -that sport, much defined like art as an expression of human creative skill, had taken a multi-dimensional leap of faith that astonishing afternoon. Cricket, until then a sport that had been looking to readdress itself in ways that could reassure coming generations of its viability, was given a new life by administrators with twisted hearts and professionals with incredible designs.
This was 2008. India hadn't yet woken up to the idea of leagues until then. By that time, NFL the celebrated American football league was already 88 years old and the NBA the premier men's basketball tournament 62. It was pure innovation at play for IPL, working at multiple levels that helped redraft cricketing philosophies in ways that made the world sit up and take note. Never before had an investor in sport become a bigger talking point than the investment itself.
The results of the finals
2008-16: See graphic.
Impact on cricket in India
The Times of India, April 8, 2016
The first IPL auction took place on January 24, 2008 and the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction went on to fetch $723.59 million.
The Mumbai franchise (Mumbai Indians) owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was the most expensive franchise - fetching $111.9 million closely followed by Vijay Mallya's United Breweries which paid $111.6 million for the Bangalore franchise (Royal Challengers Bangalore). Media house Deccan Chronicle won the Hyderabad franchise (Deccan Chargers) for $107 million, while India Cements' Chennai franchise (Chennai Super Kings) cost $91 million.
Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla's Red Chillies Entertainment bought the Kolkata franchise (Kolkata Knight Riders) for $75.09, while Preity Zinta and her then beau Ness Wadia bought the Mohali team (Kings XI Punjab) for $76 million. Infrastructure development group GMR bagged the ownership of the Delhi team (Delhi Daredevils) for $84 million and the Emerging Media, consisting of its CEO Fraser Castellino, Manoj Badale and Lachlan Murdoch and other investors won the rights for the Jaipur franchise (Rajasthan Royals) for $67 million.
The maiden edition of IPL had eight teams comprising a minimum of 16 players each. The tournament lasted for 44 days and involved 59 matches. And since then the league has had its share of controversies and seen many ups and down.
Two new leagues - Pune Warriors India (bought by the Sahara group for $370 million) and Kochi Tuskers Kerala (purchased by Rendezvous Sports World for $333.3 million) - were brought in before the fourth season of the league in 2011. But the Kochi Tuskers were soon terminated for breaching the BCCI's terms and conditions.
2009 champions Deccan Chargers were suspended in 2012 and then renamed Sunrisers Hyderabad under new owners Sun TV Network. But the biggest shock came in 2013 when the IPL was rocked by the fixing and betting scandal and many big names got embroiled in the controversy and it resulted in not only a few heads being rolled but entire teams were suspended. After two years of trials and tribulations, two-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two seasons.
Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi police in Mumbai on charges of spot-fixing during IPL 6. Sreesanth and Chavan were subsequently banned for life by the BCCI's disciplinary committee.
Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants replaced Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two seasons. Dhoni and his longtime Chennai Super Kings teammate Suresh Raina were picked to play for opposing teams in the first-ever player draft of the IPL that was held in Mumbai on December 15, 2015.
Rising Pune Supergiants, the Pune franchise bought by Kolkata-based businessman Sanjiv Goenka, expectedly picked Dhoni as the first player for Rs 12.5 crore and Intex Technologies owner Keshav Bansal, who invested in Gujarat Lions, picked Raina as the first choice followed by Ravindra Jadeja - the local Saurashtra boy who has grown up playing in Rajkot.
The two new franchises paid Rs 12.5 crore to the first player they picked at the draft, Rs 9.5 crore to the second, Rs 7.5 crore to the third, Rs 5.5 crore to the fourth and Rs 4 crore to the fifth. The two franchises had a limited purse of Rs 66 crore to form their squads for the season and a minimum spending of Rs 40 crore was mandatory between the draft and the auction in February. Australian all-rounder Shane Watson emerged as the biggest draw going for a whopping Rs 9.50 crore bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore but it was Pawan Negi who turned heads with a mind-boggling deal of Rs 8.50 crore by Delhi Daredevils to be the costliest Indian buy in the 2016 IPL players' auction.
With corporate megabucks, Bollywood glamour and the frequent sound of wood thumping leather, the IPL has revolutionized the sport in the way it was played and cricketainment has been the new word to describe the evolution of a new chapter in history of cricket. The Indian Premier League has proved that cricket will never be the same again.
Records
2008-16, some 2017: See graphic.
2008-18/ Captains, stars who dropped themselves from the team
April 3, 2018: The Times of India
April 26, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
In 2008, Mumbai Indians had to choose Shaun Pollock as their third captain of the season after stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh was suspended
In 2012, Ricky Ponting stepped aside handing over the reigns to Rohit Sharma, who lead Mumbai Indian to the title
In 2015, Steve Smith announced at the toss that he has replaced Shane Watson as captain of Rajasthan Royals
VVS DROPS HIMSELF FOR GILLY (2008)
Originally named as the Icon Player for Deccan Chargers before the first season of IPL, VVS Laxman gave up the status in a bid to allow his team spend more at the auctions. However, the genial Hyderabadi dropped himself from the team halfway through the season after the team’s poor run.
It allowed Adam Gilchrist to take over as the captain. ‘Gilly’ led the side in the next two seasons as well, and DC won the title under him in 2009.
DHAWAN MAKES WAY FOR SAMMY (2014)
In 2014, the Sunrisers Hyderabad announced that they’d ‘relieved’ Shikhar Dhawan of the burden of captaincy and appointed West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy as the new captain for the rest of the IPL season, hoping that the move will help Dhawan bat more freely. Sammy was included in the side and straight away thrusted into the captaincy role. Dhawan had managed only 215 runs in his first 10 outings as captain.
SANGA DROPS HIMSELF (2012)
While leading the Deccan Chargers in the 2012 IPL, Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara was enduring an ordinary run. He not only gave up the captaincy mid-stream but even dropped himself from the playing XI, making way for Australian big-hitter Cameron White to accommodate four overseas players in the XI. However, the move did not yield the desired results as Deccan Chargers could never get going in the tournament.
PONTING MAKES WAY FOR ROHIT (2013)
In 2013, Mumbai Indians began on shaky note when they lost three out of their first six matches. Skipper Ricky Ponting wasn’t in the best of form. The batting great decided to step down and handed over the reins to Rohit Sharma against Kolkata Knight Riders. MI eventually went on to clinch the title under Rohit, even as Ponting kept cheering the team from the sidelines.
VIJAY REPLACES MILLER (2016)
Struggling at the bottom of the points table in 2016, Kings XI Punjab made a bold move by removing David Miller, who had struggled with both the bat and leadership, as the team’s captain with Murali Vijay, even as they had 10 league matches remaining.
“David Miller continues to be an integral part of the team and is a very strong player of the squad,” KXIP said in a statement. Till that stage, Kings XI had won just one match out of six. Till that point, Miller had only managed to score 76 runs while Vijay had amassed 143.
An overview, 2008-19
Partha Bhaduri, April 18, 2020: The Times of India
There was a moment inside the sweltering cauldron of the Chinnaswamy Stadium all those years ago, on April 18, 2008 to be precise, when the still-nebulous Indian Premier League (IPL) acquired a wonderfully original and totally preposterous life of its own. Like most epoch-defining moments, it wasn’t exactly part of the script.
It was just two overs into the Royal Challengers Bangalore chase, but the hosts already seemed in disarray at 9/1. They had begun the innings looking bereft of hope, having been numbed into submission by Brendon McCullum’s unexpected and, at that time, unbelievable assault on their bowlers. The young, pacy Ashok Dinda steamed in to bowl for the Kolkata Knight Riders, and promptly got Virat Kohli to chop a short, wide one on to his stumps. The Chinnaswamy exploded.
The dismissal should have been greeted with stunned silence. Instead, up in the aisles, a prancing KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan discovered to his amazement that the whole stadium was dancing along with him, roaring its approval. Dinda was fist pumping at the crowd, which would continue its carnival merriment for the rest of the game.
That night, Bengaluru didn’t seem to care that their own home team, packed to the gills with Test stalwarts, had unravelled before their eyes.
A trend was set. This wasn’t about team loyalties anymore. It wasn’t about fan favourites either, but something totally alien to sporting leagues, a kind of collective joie de vivre that would propel the IPL to unprecedented heights and reshape the game’s dynamics, both within the field and beyond it. In that first season, crowds across the country’s giant stadiums revelled as the sheer audacity of it all hit home. Indian cricket was shedding its garb of tradition in full public glare, demolishing national-team boundaries and embracing an insatiable appetite for change.
This was cricket’s version of hip-hop, a deep cultural revolution, not some transient, silly hit-and-giggle gimmick. The IPL wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan thing but a stable entity which would usher in democratic norms in a hierarchical cricketing order. It would redraw the bounds of the financially possible.
Players would be auctioned off, permanently altering their non-monetary valuations in the eyes of coaches. Cricketing mercenaries would be born. And like most revolutions, the IPL would acquire a dark side.
That first match was a dream launch. McCullum’s extraordinary 73-ball 158, then the highest T20 score, contained 13 sixes and 10 fours, including, at one point, a scoop over fine leg for six off Zaheer Khan. That innings was an early pointer to the format’s fundamental redrawing of balance between bat and ball.
What was remarkable was that this wasn’t just a plonk-your-front-foot-andhit-through-the-line type of pitch. RCB’s batting order, comprising Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Kohli and Jacques Kallis, were used to ‘proper’ cricket and ‘proper’ responses to given situations. They lost by 140 runs.
That first IPL evening was also the first time the IPL made conventional batting seem uncool. In fact, the first IPL edition included all the pointers of things to come. Shane Warne used strong backroom support, tactical nous, swagger and positivity to scythe through opponents, laying the marker for modern T20’s constant craving for data analysis. Old warhorses like Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya showed that their withering frames were still suitable for belting boundaries. Since then, the IPL has been a league of veterans as much as youngsters, in spite of heightened fitness levels and fielders hunting in packs while flirting with boundary ropes.
Innovative shots, broadened bats and quick fixes by hapless bowlers, the first IPL had it all. It also had something that wouldn’t be seen again: the presence of Pakistani cricketers. Virender Sehwag became the first to declare that IPL performances should count towards national selection. Brett Lee said, “If we look back in 10 years’ time, this tournament is going to be a massive landmark.”
By 2014, the IPL was ranked sixth in terms of eyeballs among global sporting leagues. By 2015, each IPL edition was contributing around $160 million to the GDP. By 2017, Star India would be buying the broadcast rights for $2.55 billion. By 2018, 1,112 players would register for the auction and the franchises would spend Rs 600 crore to build their teams. Just before the coronavirus pandemic struck, Duff and Phelps calculated that the IPL brand valuation had soared 13.5% to Rs 47,500 cr.
It seemed nothing, not even the 2013 match-fixing scandal which led to the banning of two teams, could make a dent in the IPL’s soaring graph. Nothing, that is, until the coronavirus. While it’s a given that sporting leagues are not immune to global economic shocks, sporting activity has been hit hardest by the social-distancing norms this pandemic necessitates.
How long will it be till we can flock without fear to stadiums like we used to? Will future IPL games be live streamed from empty stadiums, neutering the league of its emotive appeal? What will the IPL look like in 2022, when the sponsorship rights may be up for grabs again?
Worryingly, is the age of the megabuck sporting league over? According to some estimates, the IPL and its peripheral industries could see a hit of Rs 10,000 crore. There has been no pandemic insurance by either broadcaster or board. The revenue model involves selling properties, to broadcasters, sponsors, franchises... what happens when that model is rendered obsolete? What happens when there are no gate receipts, no corporate boxes?
The IPL has always been shaped by significant external events, like India’s 2007 World T20 win which made the concept viable. Now, too, it’s time to look towards other global sporting leagues, and see how they cope. To survive in a post-pandemic world, the IPL must innovate again.
Evolution: 2008-2020
Oct 5, 2021: The Times of India
As this season of the IPL draws to a close, it’s time for a familiar rush among teams to make the playoffs and potentially lift the trophy. However, the data shows that over the years, the gap between the teams has reduced. This might be the reason why the last league matches of the tournament have become nail biters.
The gap between playoff qualifiers
Data of teams performance over the years shows that the gap between the team finishing first in the league and the team finishing last has reduced in the past few years. What used to be a gap of 15 points in the first season is now down to just six in the last three seasons - or just a difference of 3 matches.
Data also shows that the gap between the team finishing first and fourth in the league isn’t as wide as it used to be when the tournament started.
From a seven-point gap between the first and fourth qualifier for the playoffs in the first edition of the IPL, it has steadily fallen over the years. In some years the gap has come down to just two points. There’s little to separate the two teams that finish third and fourth to qualify for the playoffs in at least five editions of the tournament. However, there’s also an odd year like 2019, where three teams finished first at 18 points with a gap of six points with the team that finished fourth.
Making the cut
The number of points a team needs to qualify for the playoffs has largely stayed the same over the years.
A team needs to ensure at least seven wins out of 14 games to ensure they have a chance to make the playoffs. Barring 2013, when more matches were played in a season, the number of points a team needs to be assured of a position in the playoffs has been around 15 points.
However a team finishing fourth in the league table has only ever won once - Deccan Chargers in South Africa in 2009. Topping the table The number of wins teams are registering to top the IPL league table has been falling after 2014 which shows one team isn’t able to establish a dominance in the league stages any more.
In the first edition of the IPL, the Rajasthan Royals not only topped the table with 22 points but went on to win the tournament. That point tally was emulated by Delhi Daredevils in 2012 and Kings XI Punjab in 2014, but both teams never went on to win. The Chennai Super Kings hit the same points tally in 2013, but in that edition each team played 16 matches as compared to 14 in all other editions. However, post 2014, the table topper has won 9 to 10 matches to end with 18 to 20 points.
In Mumbai Indians’ last three triumphs, the team was also the table topper.
Success story
A look at which are the teams that make it to the playoffs reveals which teams have been the strongest over the past 13 editions of the tournament.
Chennai is the top team when it comes to making the playoffs, followed by Mumbai and Hyderabad. Barring one edition of the 11 editions they’ve played, the Chennai Super Kings have never failed to make the playoffs. Kings XI has the worst record so far.
The greatest players, 2008-19
IPL’s Greatest XI, April 18, 2020: The Times of India
IPL 2020 has been postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus. But what is the greatest XI from the 12 seasons played so far? TOI pores over the statistics and rummages through the memories to come up with the team to beat every other team…
Shane Watson (RR, CSK): IPL’s Duracel man. Two-time MVP (2008, 2013). Biggame hunter (MoM, 2018 final). Pips David Warner, 3-time Orange Capper.
M 134, R 3575, SR 139.53, 6s 177, W 92, Ave 29.15, ER 7.93
Chris Gayle (RCB, KXIP): Punisher. Pleasure-provider. Unstoppable sixmachine (326). Nobody comes close.
M 125, R 4484, Ave 41.13, SR 151.02, 6s 326
Virat Kohli (RCB): IPL’s all-time highest scorer (5,412). Master of risk-free, highpressing cricket. Has smashed 191 sixes nonetheless. M 177, R 5412, Ave 37.84, SR 131.61, 6s 190
AB de Villiers (DD, RCB): Virtuoso crowd-pleaser who demonstrates the outer limits of innovation in T20. When he’s in the mood, even a yorker travels beyond the ropes.
M 154, R 4395, Ave 39.95, SR 151.23, 6s 212
MS Dhoni (CSK, RPS): Captain of the team. Ice cool as leader, and at the death. Barring Chacha Chowdhary, nobody calculates a target as precisely as him.
M 190, R 4432, Ave 42.20, SR 137.85, 6s 209, Ct 94, St 38
Andre Russell (DD, KKR): The enforcer. Possesses several gears; partial to the fifth. IPL’s highest strike rate: 186. Hustler with the ball. Two time MVP.
M 64, R 1400, SR 186.42, 6s 120, W 55, Ave 27.96, ER 8.88
Dwayne Bravo (CSK): Master of deception, especially at death. Flies like a bird, prowls like a panther. Can win games with bat too.
M 134, R 1483, SR 128.28, 6s 61, W 147, Ave 24.61, ER 8.39
Sunil Narine (KKR): Inscrutable offbreak bowler. Among the meanest and most consistent. Also has the second highest batting strike rate in IPL history (168). Two-time MVP too.
M 110, W 122, Ave 23.31, ER 6.67
Rashid Khan (SRH): IPL’s stingiest (ER 6.55). Match-winning leg-break bowler. Loves a challenge. Generally wins it.
M 46, W 55, Ave 21.69, ER 6.55
Lasith Malinga (MI): That slinging action. That mop of hair. That sound of stumps crashing. IPL’s highest wicket-taker ever. Key figure in MI .
M 122, W 170, Ave 19.80, ER 7.14
Jasprit Bumrah (MI): New master of unplayable yorkers. Player of the Match in 2019 final. His best is yet to come.
M 77, W 82, Ave 26.60, ER 7.55
12th man: Pollard (MI): All-purpose star
Coach: Stephen Fleming (CSK): With MS Dhoni as captain, he built the IPL’s most consistent team .
The most memorable matches, 2008-19
—Compiled by Hindol Basu, April 18, 2020: The Times of India
RAJASTHAN’S INCREDIBLE RUN
Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals, not the most fancied bunch at the beginning of the tournament, scripted a fairytale win to stretch the bounds of the possible in the very first IPL in 2008. Of course, the tone had been set in the very first game on April 18, with KKR’s Brendon McCullum smashing an incredible ton.
SLAP AND TEARS
That image from 2008 of temperamental fast bowler Sreesanth crying after being slapped by Harbhajan Singh, while his Kings XI Punjab teammate VRV Singh consoled him, will stay etched in our minds. Harbhajan was suspended for the season. Sreesanth confessed later he had been heckling his senior India teammate.
FOREIGN SHORES
The second season coincided with the general elections and the government refused to commit security personnel. Showcasing its financial might, the IPL was moved out of India, to South Africa, by then commissioner Lalit Modi.
THE MONGOOSE BAT
Australia’s Matthew Hayden unveiled his ‘Mongoose Bat’ in 2010, clobbering bowlers with what looked like a cross between a club and a baseball bat. The Mongoose had two distinguishing features: the handle was as long as the blade and the splice, which normal bats have in the blade, was built into the handle to guarantee a clean hitting surface. Needless to say, it was a hit.
GAYLESTORM
‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle upped the ante in Bangalore against Pune Warriors on April 23, 2013, scoring an unbelievable 175 off just 66 balls, the highest T20 individual score. Gayle hit 13 boundaries and an incredible 17 maximums.
THE DARK UNDERBELLY
A spot-fixing scandal rocked the league in 2013 when the Delhi police arrested three Rajasthan Royals cricketers, including Sreesanth. Soon after, Mumbai Police arrested film actor Vindu Dara Singh and CSK’s former team principal Gurunath Meiyappan for alleged betting, cheating and links with bookies. RR team co-owner Raj Kundra too was found to have placed bets on his team. The Supreme Court appointed a committee to probe the affair. Eventually, CSK and RR were banned for two years. The order, which came in 2015, meant the two teams missed the 2016 and 2017 IPL editions.
MUMBAI’S COMEBACK
In 2015, Mumbai Indians lost five out of their first six games, but the team never stopped believing in its abilities. In a dream comeback, they went on to win nine of their remaining 10 matches to lift the title for the second time.
VIRAT, ABD RUN RIOT
The 2016 IPL season will always be known for the amazing batsmanship by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. RCB needed to win four matches in a row to qualify for the playoffs. Kohli and De Villiers recorded a partnership of 229 runs (best in the IPL) against Gujarat Lions to set the ball rolling. Kohli smacked 109 off 55 balls, while De Villiers scored a unbeaten 129 off 52 balls. This was the first time two batsmen scored centuries in an IPL innings.
KOHLI’S FINE FORM
Kohli almost single-handedly guided his team to the title clash in 2016. With 973 runs in 16 games at 81.08, he was the highest scorer. No other batsman has been able to score as many runs in a single season.
‘MANKADING’ CONTROVERSY
In 2019, Ravichandran Ashwin, captaining Kings XI Punjab, ran out Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler at the non-striker’s end without giving him any prior warning. That ‘Mankading’, as the dismissal is known, cleaved the cricketing world in two and sparked off heated debate on the spirit of the game. Though this is a legally permissible dismissal, the issue is yet to be satisfactorily resolved.
‘CAPTAIN COOL’ LOSES HIS COOL
The usually unflappable MS Dhoni lost his composure in a match against RR last year, walking out on to the pitch after just having been dismissed, and lashing out at the umpires over a no-ball confusion. It just wasn’t cricket from one of the game’s great role models.
BLOODIED BUT NOT OUT bb
Shane Watson’s knock for CSK in the 2019 IPL final against Mumbai Indians was one for the ages. He batted through the pain barrier and a bloodied left knee. His 59-ball 80 nearly saw CSK pull off a 150-run chase against MI. Watson needed six stitches after the game.
Indian Premier League: The economics of
Advertising revenues
Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought on board a total of eight sponsors for the sixth edition of the Twenty20 tournament, which would help it rake in Rs 200 crore more over last year, after lowering its ad rates by 10-15%. Three more sponsors are expected to join over the next two weeks.
The presenting sponsors — PepsiCo and Vodafone — have shelled out around Rs 40-60 crore each while the associate sponsors, which include Tata Photon, Karbonn tablets, Godrej, Samsung Mobiles, Panasonic and Usha Appliances, have paid around Rs 25-30 crore each for being seen on the channel during the tournament.
MSM is looking to earn Rs 950 crore as advertising revenue from IPL-6, up 27% from Rs 750 crore it garnered last year, a senior executive from the company told TOI.
This will be the first time that the IPL will have three feeds — the regular one on SET max, while Sony Six will broadcast a Hindi feed along with an HD one.
Some of the other sponsors likely to be signed on soon for the tournament, which starts on April 3, are Cadbury and Havells — both have had a long-term association with the IPL. This year, MSM has two presenting sponsors and is expected to close nine associate sponsors, up from only five which it managed last year. The channel has also struck large deals with Coca-Cola, Parle Agro, Marico, Berger Paints and Airtel, besides others, filling 70% of its inventory.
“Last year, we had increased the ad rates but could not sell the entire inventory. Our strategy to reduce rates has worked very well and we have seen the interest levels go up. Advertisers from all sectors are on board this year, signaling a revival in sentiments,” said Rohit Gupta, president, MSM.
During 2012, a 10-second ad spot during the IPL had a price tag of Rs 4.5-5.5 lakh, making it a highly premium property. However, reduction in rates has made it far more affordable, said media planners who buy TV airtime for advertisers. “If TV ratings had to fall, it had to fall last year. Now they have stabilized. It is definitely value for money at this rate and with lesser risk,” said Ajit Varghese, MD (South Asia), Maxus, which has bought airtime for telecom major Vodafone.
The IPL reached 170 million eyeballs and clocked an average rating of around 3.27 last year, according to TAM Media Research. MSM’s Gupta said he is expecting the reach to further grow this season. “If there is a big product launch or a new ad campaign, this is a large platform which is a must for any brand. It is a property which is targeted at male audiences, so it works well for brands which directly communicate with this audience group,” said Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO of Platinum Media, a division of media buying group Madison. This year, soft drink giants PepsiCo is the new title sponsor of the IPL, having paid Rs 396 crore for the next five seasons.
Coaches in IPL
As in Nov
Asheem Mukerji, Nov 29, 2019: The Times of India
COACHES IN IPL
Rajasthan Royals I Indian coaches: 1 (Batting coach: Amol Muzumdar); Foreign coaches: 2 (Head coach: Andrew McDonald-Aus, Fast bowling coach: Steffan Jones-Eng)
Kings XI Punjab I Indian coaches: 1 (Head coach: Anil Kumble); Foreign coaches: 2 (Fast bowling coach: Courtney Walsh-WI, Batting coach: Geaorge Bailey-Aus)
Delhi Capitals I Indian coaches: 0; Foreign coaches: 3 (Head Coach: Ricky Ponting-Aus, Fast bowling coach: James Hopes-Aus, Spin coach: Samuel Badree-WI)
Kolkata Knight Riders I Indian coaches: 0 Foreign coaches: 3 (Head coach: Brendon McCullum-NZ, Chief mentor: David Hussey-Aus, Bowling coach: Kyle Mills-NZ)
Mumbai Indians I Indian Coaches: 1 (Robin Singh); Foreign coaches: 2 (Head coach: Mahela Jayawardene-SL, Bowling coach: Shane Bond-NZ)
Chennai Super Kings I Indian coaches: 0 Foreign coaches: 3 (Head coach: Stephen Fleming-NZ, Batting coach: Mike Hussey-Aus, Bowling Consultant: Eric Simmons-SA)
Sunrisers Hyderabad I Indian coaches: 0; Foreign coaches: 1 (Head coach: Trevor Bayliss-Eng) Royal Challengers Bangalore I Indian coaches: 0; Foreign coaches: 2 (Head coach: Simon Katich-Aus, Bowling coach: Adam Griffith-Aus)
Controversies: 2008-16
The Times of India, December 3, 2016
1. 2016: Maharashtra asked to shift IPL matches
Bombay High Court asks IPL to shift 13 matches out of Maharashtra due to severe drought in the state.
2. 2015: CSK and RR suspended
Supreme Court suspends CSK and RR for two years. Two new teams, Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions, are introduced. Rajasthan Royals’ leggie Pravin Tambe alleges that his Mumbai teammate Hiken Shah had approached him to fix a few games.
3. 2014: IPL 7 conducted under Gavaskar’s supervision
The first half of IPL-7 is moved out of India to the UAE due to polls, and by SC orders the event is conducted under ex-captain Sunil Gavaskar. The shifting of the final from Mumbai to Bangalore too causes a furore.
4. 2013: Betting allegations hit CSK & RR
Delhi Police arrest three Rajasthan Royals players — S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — on charges of spot-fixing. The scandal overwhelms the IPL when Mumbai police haul up BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings’ team principal Gurunath Meiyappan on charges of alleged betting. The Rajasthan Royals face further trouble when Delhi Police level same charges against co-owner and Raj Kundra. Following intervention by the Supreme Court, Srinivasan is eventually eased out after a long-drawn battle.
5. 2012: Shah Rukh Khan banned from Wankhede Stadium premises
A sting operation exposes cricketers willing to bowl no-balls or indulge in under-hand dealings with franchises, leading the BCCI to ban Mohnish Mishra, Shalabh Srivastava, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali. I t leads to an uproar in Parliament to stop IPL. A heated on-field argument between opposition players Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir also makes for ugly viewing. Then, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is banned from the Wankhede Stadium premises after a scuffle with a Mumbai Cricket Association official. To top it all, RCB cricketer Luke Pomersbach is arrested on charges of molesting an American and assaulting her boyfriend.
6. 2010: Sunanda Pushkar’s ‘sweat equity’ in Kochi
Just before IPL 3, the governing council brings in two new teams, Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers, only for Modi to tweet about shady shareholding patterns and reveal Sunanda Pushkar’s ‘sweat equity’ in the Kochi set-up. The controversy forces Pushkar’s husband, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, to resign. Modi too is forced out.
7. 2009: IPL 2 shifted to South Africa
Then home minister P Chidambaram refuses to provide security for IPL 2 because of general elections, leading then-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi to shift the entire tournament to South Africa.
8. 2008: Harbhajan slaps Sreesanth.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh slaps India teammate S Sreesanth in Mohali and is banned, creating a furore.
Spot fixing case: 2013
See the graphics
Players involved in IPL-spot fixing
and
A timeline: Spot-fixing in IPL, May 2013-July 2015
Dhoni on the suspension of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals
In July 2015, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the cash-rich league for two years for betting activities by their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.
While Dhoni agreed that then BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Meiyappan was part of the team setup, he said, in what capacity, is open to debate.
“Initially, when Guru’s name came up, (we knew) he was part of the team, all said and done. But in what capacity, that is debatable. Was he the owner, the team principal, the motivator... what exactly was he?
“I don’t know if anyone from the franchise introduced Guru to us as the owner... we all knew him as the son-in-law.”
What mistake did the players make, asked Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opening up on a phase of life made “most difficult and depressing” by the 2013 IPL fixing scandal. Dhoni broke his silence in a docudrama aptly titled Roar of the Lion, which focuses on the scandal that rocked Indian cricket and the ensuing fairy tale comeback by Chennai Super Kings following a two-year suspension for its management’s role in spot-fixing.
Dhoni, who led the CSK to three IPL titles, said they knew a “harsh punishment” was on the cards.
“We did deserve the punishment but the only thing is the quantum of the punishment. Finally we got to know that CSK will be banned for two years. There was a mixed feeling that time. Because you take a lot of things personally and, as a captain, question what did the team do wrong,” Dhoni stated.
“Yes there was mistake from our side (the franchise) but were the players involved in this? What mistake did we, as players, do to go through all of that?”
Recalling the torrid time when insinuations and allegations flew thick and fast, Dhoni said fixing a match requires the involvement of the majority of players.
“They started showcasing in the media or social media as if the team was involved. Is it possible (in cricket)? Yes it is possible, anyone can do spot-fixing. Umpires can do that, batsmen can, bowlers can... but match-fixing needs the involvement of the majority of the players.”
The IPL numbers
IPL's rank in the world
As in 2021
K Shriniwas Rao, February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: K Shriniwas Rao, February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: K Shriniwas Rao, February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: K Shriniwas Rao, February 10, 2022: The Times of India
IPL has changed the way cricket is played in many ways. What it has also done is pumped in big money in the sport. Take a look at the figures.
Duff & Phelps (now rebranded as Kroll), a New York-based financial consultancy, values the league at somewhere around $7 billion-plus.
Comparing IPL to other T20 leagues around the world is not to show how IPL stands vis-à-vis the rest. It is to underline why the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will do everything in its capacity to protect and nurture the apple of cricket’s eye and fight tooth and nail to ensure IPL gets its window, prominence and participation privileges from a global pool of players every year.
Dwarfing others
There’s an interesting, albeit underlying anecdote in the Big Bash League (BBL). It’s often been said, in hushed tones of course, how Cricket Australia (CA) decided against the idea of selling franchises when it first established the tournament in 2011, three years after BCCI introduced the IPL.
It was a call taken after much research that had they sold franchises, all the teams would’ve been picked up by Indian owners. It would merely become an extension of the Indian Premier League.
So, what did CA do? It decided to hand over the franchises to the eight states – initially six — to run and manage the teams. The BBL earns an approximate $80m through broadcast rights over five years, fast food giant KFC pays an approximate $8m per year and additional sponsors make for another $500,000 — taking the total kitty to around $125 million — roughly Rs 940 crore.
Just to give you a comparison, the present salary purse of all 10 IPL franchises stands at Rs 900 crore. For those interested in knowing what the IPL earns through broadcast and sponsorship, here’s a reckoner.
Star India (Disney) bought the IPL rights in 2018 for a consolidated price of Rs 17,346 crore. The combined central sponsorship revenues for five years are an additional Rs 3,000 crore.
Cheque-book cricket
Not just the league but the money splashed on individual players is eye-popping. Let’s talk about David Warner, 35 going on 36. He is in the list of 49 cricketers who’ve agreed to list their base price at Rs 2 crore, roughly $267,000.
That’s the price at which bidding will begin. Compare it to the platinum (highest) category of players in the PSL that stands at $170,000, which boils down to around Rs 1.2 crore. To think that Warner could go beyond Rs 15 crore (approximately $2 million – which is the amount being spoken about for the top IPL players in the upcoming mega auction) underlines the difference between the IPL and every other T20 league anywhere in the world.
The total player-purse a franchise is allowed in the PSL stands at $950,000 (roughly Rs 7.12 crore). It’s 50% of what IPL franchises have paid to retain just one single player during retention.
Where Big Bash stands a step ahead of IPL is the way they have optimised their gate revenues, apropos of the pandemic. A great infrastructure to bank on, with huge seating capacities, Big Bash franchises – that sell tickets at A$20 each, earn close to $20 million per year through ticket sales alone – this is based on the 2020 figures when Big Bash had sold a million tickets for the season.
That’s around Rs 130 crore. The IPL still doesn’t collectively earn more than Rs 250 crore from ticket sales of all franchises put together and while it’s relatively a bigger amount, it’s also a stark reminder of two essential elements: a) It speaks highly of the quality of cricket that Big Bash indulges in; b) It once again underlines the importance of good infrastructure and hospitality that draws in capacity crowds.
An ecosystem in place
Just before Vijay Mallya stepped down as chairman of United Spirits in 2016, subsequently losing control of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise, he gave this well-circulated interview to the media in which he said: “I bought the CPL [Caribbean Premier League] franchise for a mere Rs 100” (yes you read that correct).
What Mallya meant by it was, buying a franchise in the CPL wasn’t a big deal, but running it annually was – an exercise that would cost $2 million. Mallya was right, and CPL franchises were on invitation, not sold to the highest bidder.
Anyone buying a CPL franchise can own it for 25 years after which it comes up for renewal and likewise for 10 years in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Where these models work differently from the IPL is that in the case of the latter, the cheapest franchise (in IPL) was sold for $67 million in 2008 to the owners of Rajasthan Royals at a dollar value of Rs 40 – roughly Rs 268 crore back then. Adjusted to current inflation, the figure would be around Rs 500 crore-plus.
Here’s a comparison at where things stand today – a good 14 years since the sale of Royals, the IPL recently sold two franchises for a collective Rs 12,500 crore, that’s a little less than $two billion dollars.
The fact that the BCCI sold IPL franchises for perpetuity, while allowing owners to pay the franchise fee over a period of 10 years, made those buying the teams feel invested. As the popularity of the tournament grew, and strong policies such as salary caps, minimum spending and revenue distribution model continued to be in play, companies and individuals who bought the franchises realised very early that the only way to sustain and grow their investment would be by building a sound ecosystem around it.
Billionaires and beyond
That franchises in the IPL are already the unicorns they became before the turn of the decade, and Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings now rank in global lists of top sporting clubs in terms of value are indicators of how far the IPL has come.
The upcoming media rights of the IPL is likely to fetch the BCCI nothing less than Rs 35,000 crore going by general industry numbers that are being crunched at this moment. That’s around $5 billion.
At the recently concluded U19 Cricket World Cup, the young Dewald Brevis had set the tournament on fire. Anointed player of the tournament he’s already been compared to AB de Villiers. ‘Bring this AB Baby to the IPL’ screamed the headlines while Brevis was at work.
The future of a Dewald Brevis, therefore, potentially lies in South Mumbai, Central Chennai or the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Postscript: IPL still has a long way to go. An immediate comparison, in this very space would be the NFL where online retail giant Amazon pays a mind-boggling $10 billion – by way of a 10-year rights deal – only for Thursday Night Football. But that’s for another day.
IPL broadcast rights
In 2008, the consortium of India's Sony Television network and the Singaporebased World Sports Group (WSG) had secured the rights of the IPL for ten years at a cost of more than $1 billion.As part of the deal, the consortium would pay the BCCI $908 million for the telecast rights and $108 million for the promotion of the tournament. However, in a reworked deal next year, BCCI signed a new deal with MSMPL (Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd) and World Sport Group (WSG) for Rs 8,200 crore with 80% of the amount to come from MSMPL. Later WSG exited the deal after a one-time payoff.
IPL title rights
DLF had bought the title rights of the IPL for five years in 2008 for Rs 200 crore.In 2013, Pepsi bid for the rights for the next five years and won it at Rs 396 crore.
2017-22: Vivo pays Rs 2,199 crore
See graphic, 'Title Rights, Indian Premier League'
Cricket administration may be going through turbulent times in India, but the game's fortunes continue to prosper in a manner that defies imagination .
Chinese mobile-maker Vivo retained the Indian Premier League (IPL) title rights for the next five years at Rs 2,199 crore, a 455% increase over the previous contract. Vivo had taken over the rights from PepsiCo from the 2015 season onwards after the latter expressed its inability to continue with its Rs 396 crore deal for five years. Pepsi had bought the title rights from the 2013 season onwards after IPL's first-ever title rights deal worth Rs 200 crore for five years signed in 2008 with real estate company DLF ended post the 2012 season.
Breaking it down on a per year basis, the value of IPL's title rights has soared from Rs 40 crore annually (Rs 200 crore from 2008-2012) to Rs 79.2 crore (Rs 396 crore for 2013-2017) to Rs 439.8 crore (Rs 2199 crore for 2018-2022). Or, to put it another way, the value doubled after the first five years of IPL and shot up another five times in the following five years.Vivo's competitor and another major Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Oppo, bid Rs 1430 crore Rs 769 crore less than what Vivo brought to the table. Oppo had beaten Vivo in March this year when it went on to grab the jersey rights of the Indian cricket team men, women, seniors and juniors for Rs 1,079 crore, a four-fold increase over the previous deal with Star India. Interestingly, Vivo and Oppo are owned by the same Chinese company -BBK Electronics -which also owns the OnePlus mobile brand.
“We received an overwhelming response for the title sponsorship rights and we are glad to have Vivo back on board. It is a renewal of a fruitful relationship with the brand that will extend for the next five years,“ BCCI's acti n g s e c re t a r y A m i t ab h Choudhary said.
Chinese mobile companies, which dominate the phone industry across the world outside of giants Apple and Samsung's considerable clout, have clearly found cricket to be the ideal platform to showcase their wares. Market sources credit the `invasion' to the incomparable popularity of cricket in the country, one that can be equated with football in Europe and baseball in the Americas merely for the eyeballs it manages to generate.
Music at the IPL
Singers demand unpaid royalty, ban
The Times of India, Apr 10 2016
HC bans film songs in IPL
The Delhi High Court has restrained IPL organisers from playing Hindi film songs during the ongoing T20 league. The order came on a plea moved by the Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) which has sought an injunction against the IPL teams, excluding Delhi Daredevils, by asserting that playing of songs without the nod of members of the body amounts to infringement of “performer's rights“.
The court asked event management firm -DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd -to refrain from playing the songs till April 19.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of ISRA, whose members include LataMangeshkar, AlkaYagnik, Asha Bhosle and Kailash Kher, alleged that till date, neither IPL teams nor the event management firm has paid royalty for the previous years and not obtained permission from it for playing of songs of its members in this year's IPL matches.
Trends
2021; 2013-21
More all-rounders and bowlers in the fray, in 2021
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
T20 might be a batsman’s game, but at IPL you need to excel in other departments too. Over the past few years, all-rounders have been the most in demand at IPL auctions. South Africa’s Chris Morris was signed for $2.23 million in 2021, while New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson was snapped up for $2.06 million by Royal Challengers Bangalore. This year, close to 40% of the players up for auction are all-rounders.
Nationalities and average price of players, 2013-21
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
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From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
A Cricket Bet India report says that English players command an average price of $490,892. Since 2013, there have been 39 English players auctioned with 21 players being signed up for a total of $19.1 million. Among foreign players, a higher number of Australian players have been bought by teams. But, the players who command the highest average reserve price are the English and Afghan players.
The most expensive players in IPL history, 2015-21
From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
See graphic:
The expensive players in IPL history, 2017- 21
Best Bowler 2021
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
In 2021, Harshal Patel set a record by taking 32 wickets in the IPL, overtaking Jasprit Bumrah's record of 29 wickets in 2020. Here is a list of some of the top wicket takers.
Best batsman 2021
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
Given their consistency through the tournament, the two openers of Chennai Super Kings topped the list.
Bang for buck: Batsmen 2021
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
Here’s a list of the top run getters in the last edition of the IPL and how much they cost their franchises. This is not a conclusive list, given that a tail-ender or all-rounder finishing off a game could have higher value than a top-order batsman. Also, marquee players earn much more than their auction values, from their team managements and through endorsements. Here’s how much teams paid for the player at auction for every run they scored.
Bang for buck: Bowlers 2021
February 10, 2022: The Times of India
From: February 10, 2022: The Times of India
As teams gear up for this season, they will be looking at not just wickets, but bowlers’ economy rates. Delhi Capital’s fast bowler Avesh Khan impressed with toe-crushing yorkers last season and he was among the top 5 bowlers with the most wickets. But where he stood out was that his economy rate was on par with more experienced bowlers like Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.
Performance of players
The highest paid players’ performance: 2011-15
Mukesh Thapliyal, February 8, 2022: The Times of India
5 MOST EXPENSIVE PRICE TAGS FOR INDIAN PLAYERS SO FAR
1. Yuvraj Singh - Rs 16 crore - Bought by Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) - (2015)
The Delhi franchise shelled out a massive Rs 16 crore to secure the services of Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh at the 2015 IPL auctions. Delhi were locked in a bidding war with Yuvraj's former franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) before sealing the deal. RCB had bought Yuvraj for 14 crore the season before that, but then released him before the next auction.
Yuvraj, who broke his own record set in the 2014 auction, thus became the most expensive buy for the second successive year in the history of the IPL auction.
Yuvraj was not in the reckoning for the Indian team at that time but Delhi still kept faith in him. However, it turned out to be a below-par season for the southpaw as he averaged just 19.07 with just two fifties, scoring 248 runs in 13 innings. He took only one wicket in the nine overs he bowled in the entire tournament. Yuvraj was released by the franchise before the next season.
2. Yuvraj Singh - Rs 14 crore - Bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (2014)
RCB broke the bank for the star all-rounder Yuvraj as he was bought for a whopping Rs 14 crore in 2014. The Punjab lad hit the jackpot despite not being in the best of form then. RCB battled with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who entered the bidding war late in the auction, but the Bangalore-based franchise finally clinched the deal. Yuvraj finished that season as the second-highest run-getter for RCB with 376 runs from 14 matches at an average of 34.18. The left-arm spinner took 5 wickets in 22.4 overs he bowled at an average of 37.40 and an economy rate of 8.25. He was later released by the franchise before the next season. 3. Dinesh Karthik - Rs 12.50 crore - Bought by Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) - (2014)
Karthik, who started his IPL career with Delhi and represented them in the first three seasons, was bought again by the franchise for a whooping sum of Rs 12.5 crore in the 2014 IPL auction. The Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman had a good season for Mumbai Indians in 2013 but the franchise neither retained him nor used the Right To Match card for him in the 2014 auction. However, Karthik had a mediocre season with Delhi in 2014, as he averaged just 23.21 with just three fifties scoring 325 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 125.96.
4. Jaydev Unadkat - 11.50 crore - Bought by Rajasthan Royals (2018)
The most shocking buy of the season in 2018. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) started the fierce bidding war and it went till Rs 11 crore before Rajasthan made their way into the bidding war and stole the deal at Rs 11.5 crore making Unadkat the most expensive buy of that auction. The left-arm pacer took a hat-trick and was impressive with his death bowling for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017. Rajasthan broke the bank to snatch the Saurashtra pacer, at nearly seven times his base price. Unadkat, however, had a poor season as he picked up just 11 wickets at an average of 44.18 and conceded runs at 9.65 per over in 15 matches.
5. Gautam Gambhir — Rs 11.04 crore - Bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (2011)
Gambhir was bought for a mind-boggling 11.04 crore by the Kolkata franchise which was 12 times his base price at the 2011 auction, making him the most expensive player in the IPL at that time. Gambhir had a decent outing as he scored 378 runs from 15 innings at an average of 34.36. Gambhir, who led Delhi before, was later made the captain of the franchise and then he went on to lead KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.
5 MOST EXPENSIVE PRICE TAGS FOR FOREIGN PLAYERS SO FAR
1. Chris Morris - Rs 16.25 crore - Rajasthan Royals (2021)
Rajasthan broke all the records set at the IPL auction till date as they bid a phenomenal Rs 16.25 crore for Chris Morris in the last player auction in 2021, making him the most expensive player to be sold in the IPL auction ever, going past the 16 Crore mark for Yuvraj Singh in 2015. The moment Morris’ name came up for the auction, it triggered a huge bidding war among four franchises. Mumbai, Bangalore, Punjab and Rajasthan. All four franchises were desperate to buy the South African all-rounder. Rajasthan and Punjab were the last two teams standing in the bidding war, before the former sealed the deal. Morris, however, had a mixed season for Rajasthan. He came up with a few good performances, but overall he averaged just 13.40 with the bat. He was decent with the ball as he picked up 15 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 25.06 and economy rate of 9.17.
2. Pat Cummins - Rs 15.50 crore - Bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (2020)
Cummins became the most expensive foreign buy of all time till then, at the 2020 IPL auction when Kolkata bought the Australian paceman for a whopping sum of Rs 15.50 crore. Morris dethroned him in the following season when he was bought for Rs 16.25 crore by Rajasthan. It was not an easy pick for Kolkata as they had to fight a lot to get hold of Cummins. It started with a bidding war between Bangalore and Delhi but eventually KKR snatched him. Cummins did not have the best of seasons with the team however. In the 14 matches he played in that season, he took 12 wickets in total at an average of 34.08 and an economy rate of 7.86. The Kolkata franchise chose to retain Cummins for the 2021 season as well where he picked up 9 wickets from 7 matches at an average 26.33 and an economy rate of 8.83 before he was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
3. Kyle Jamieson - Rs 15 crore - Bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (2021)
Bangalore came out all guns blazing for the New Zealand pacer as they bought him for Rs 15 crore at the 2021 auction. Bangalore and Delhi were locked in a bidding war for Jamieson before Punjab joined the battle. Eventually after a fierce bidding war between Bangalore and Punjab, the gavel came down at Rs 15 crore sealing the deal in favour of RCB. Jamieson had a below par season, taking 9 wickets in nine matches at an average of 29.88, giving away runs at an economy rate of 9.60. He wasn't retained ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
4. Ben Stokes - Rs 14.50 crore - Bought by Rising Pune Supergiant (2017)
Holder of the record of being the highest-paid foreigner in the IPL, before being dethroned by Cummins in 2020, Stokes was bought by the now-defunct franchise, Rising Pune Supergiant - who broke the bank and bid Rs 14.50 crore at the 2017 IPL auction for the English all-rounder.
There were five franchises who were locked in a fierce bidding war to buy Stokes — Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune, before Pune eventually clinched the deal.
Stokes had a good season as he scored 316 runs in 12 matches at an average of 31.60. He also scored a century. With the ball, he picked up 12 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 26.33 and an economy rate of 7.18.
5. Glenn Maxwell - Rs 14.25 crore - Bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (2021)
Bangalore spent a whopping sum of Rs 14.25 crore for Maxwell at the 2021 IPL auction. The decision came as a big shocker for many as he had gone through one of the worst years in the season before that, scoring just 108 runs in 11 innings (13 matches) at a strike rate of 101.88. He was then released by Punjab Kings after a disastrous 2020 season.
Kolkata and Rajasthan started off the bidding battle before Bangalore and Chennai joined in. An intense bidding war between Bangalore and Chennai followed, before RCB snatched the Aussie all-rounder.
Maxwell justified the faith shown in him by the Bangalore team management, finishing as their highest run-getter of the season with 513 runs at an average of 42.75 and a strike rate of 144.10. He hit six fifties during the IPL 2021 season and was rightfully retained by the Bangalore franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Costliest players and chances of winning, 2013-22
Dec 26, 2022: The Times of India
From: Dec 26, 2022: The Times of India
Team with costliest buy has won IPL just once
Every year, IPL franchises break the bank to bag the most sought-after players who they believe will make a difference to their fortunes. But teams who get the most expensive player of the auction might want to pause before uncorking the bubbly.
With the sole exception of 2013, when Mumbai Indians got Glenn Maxwell for $1 million, the team that bought the most expensive player in an auction has never won the IPL title the same year.
But first, a caveat. We have not looked at ‘icon players’ or retained players, only the players who came up for auction each year.
Valuation of the IPL
2014-19
_and_its_franchises_(2019).jpg)
From: K. Shriniwas Rao, March 4, 2020: The Times of India
See graphic:
The valuation of the IPL (2014-19) and its franchises (2019)
IPL jinxed for team owners?
The Times of India, Jul 17 2015
K ShriniwasRao
A leading Mumbai businessman, once interested in buying an Indian Premier League franchise today wants nothing to do with the glamorous cricket league. He believes IPL is bringing bad luck to team owners. Dramatic as it may sound, a quick look at where the owners have landed up post their IPL buys tends to lend credence to this expression of superstition. The businessman was insistent: “Vijay Mallya, Subrata Roy , Venkattram Reddy , the Maran brothers, even Lalit Modi -just look where they are.Isn't it eerie?“ As facts go, the businessman isn't off the mark. Subrata Roy is in jail, Reddy was ar rested, Mallya is in trouble with the authorities, Maranowned Sun TV is having prob lems with the home ministry over security clearances, Lalit Modi is wanted by ED, and Sunanda Pushkar is dead. Even love has gone missing from Ness Wadia and Pre ity Zinta's lives. And N Srinivasan has lost his prized BCCI president's chair.
Wait, not just Srinivasan.His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, a mere cricket enthusiast according to his father-inlaw, has been pulled up by the Supreme Court for talking to bookmakers and banned for life from cricket. Ditto with another part owner, Raj Kundra of Rajasthan Royals.
Those who have bucked the trend are movie star Shah Rukh Khan, India's biggest businessman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita, and the Delhi franchisee GMR.
Heck, the league itself is now in massive trouble. The judgment delivered by the SC-appointed Justice Lodha committee has reduced the IPL to just six teams of which, again, some are in serious financial trouble.
T Venkattram Reddy, the strapping boss of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, from Hyderabad, lost his team Deccan Chargers after cases of financial fraud with several banks began surfacing post 2011.
And the owners who replaced the team in Hyderabad Maran Brothers of Sun TV are also struggling. Once the eyes and ears of former DMK chief M Karunanidhi, the Chennai media barons are no longer politically protected.Apart from the cloud over their TV channels, they have had to sell their airline SpiceJet back to the original promoter.
Is this the reason why Parth Jindal of Bangalore-based JSW Group doesn't want to get into the IPL?
YEAR-WISE HISTORY
2008
The auction
February 14, 2023: The Times of India
From: February 14, 2023: The Times of India
From: February 14, 2023: The Times of India
As the dust settles on the very first auction of the Women's Premier League, it is also in many ways deja vu for all those who have been tracking IPL auctions over the years.
There was similar excitement and anticipation for the very first IPL auction.
Do you remember that? The player auction was held on February 20, 2008. All figures - team purses and player bids and final prices were in US dollars.
MS Dhoni emerged as the highest paid player at the very first IPL auction, with the Chennai Super Kings acquiring the services of the man who had led an unfancied Indian team to the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup title in South Africa in 2007.
Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds was the second most expensive buy after being picked up by the now defunct Deccan Chargers franchise.
As the big gainers of the very first Women's Premier League auction continue to make headlines, TimesofIndia.com here takes a walk down memory lane to take a look at the Top 10 highest buys of the very first IPL auction, 15 years ago:
Inaugural Men's IPL auction 2008: (as per US dollar to rupee exchange rate at that time)
US dollar was 40.12 against the INR on the auction date of February 20, 2008
Minimum purse to spend per team: $3.3 million or Rs 13, 23, 96000
Maximum purse per team: $5 million or Rs 20, 0600, 000
Inaugural Women's Premier League Auction 2023:
Maximum purse per team: Rs 12 Crore
2013-14
See graphics
IPL: 2013
IPL: 2014-2015
2015- 20
From: Saibal Bose, Dec 20, 2019 Times of India
See graphic:
Most expensive buys in IPL auction history, 2015- 2020
2016
See graphics
The IPL auction of Feb 2016: The main buys
IPL, 2016, some facts
2017
Players retained and offloaded
,_All-time_India_XI.jpg)
,_All-time_international_players_XI.jpg)
,_All-time_international_players_XI_2.jpg)
See graphics,
Players retained and released, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Players retained and released, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune supergiants
Players retained and released, Gujarat Lions and Kings Xi Punjab
Players retained and released, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians
The greatest IPL players of all time (till April 2017), All-time India XI
The greatest IPL players of all time (till April 2017), All-time international players XI
The 2017 auctions
Manuja Veerappa, Feb 21 2017: The Times of India
Stokes Sets League Record As Highest-Paid Foreign Player; Mills, Woakes Too Cash In
England's cricketers dominated proceedings and extracted the maximum from franchises as aspirants went under the hammer in the 10th edition of the IPL auction. Leading the pack was allrounder Ben Stokes, 25, who became the most expensive overseas IPL player when he was snapped up by Pune for Rs. 14.50 crore. Stokes' teammate Tymal Mills was the next big gainer at Rs 12 crore. Starting off at a base price of Rs 50 lakh, the left-arm pacer saw aggressive bidding from Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB, looking to fill the void left by Mitchell Starc, splurged on the 24-year-old, a T20 specialist who is expected to be available through the league.
Another English player to come at a hefty price was all-rounder Chris Woakes, who went to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 4.2 crore while his T20 skipper Eoin Morgan (Rs 2 crore) found a buyer in Punjab.
Although the teams had 354 players to choose from, only 160 came into the main auction. While the dominance of the England players was expected, the eye-popping figures was surprising since most of them would be available only during the league stage.
The other big foreign buys were Kagiso Rabada (SA, Delhi Daredevils, Rs 5 cr), Trent Boult (NZ, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rs 5 cr), Pat Cummins (Aus, Delhi Daredevils, Rs 4.5 cr) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Aus, KKR, Rs 3.5cr).
It was a windfall for domestic cricketers too, led by all-rounder Karn Sharma. The top pick in 2014 (Rs 3.8 crore) emerged the highest paid Indian this time with Mumbai Indians spending Rs 3.2 crore on him. He was followed by Tamil Nadu pacer T Natarajan (Rs 3 crore, Kings XI Punjab). Off the maximum 77 players, including 29 overseas who could be picked, 66 players found teams on the day, 27 of them being foreign cricketers. Pune looked like they had an expensive shopping list and spent Rs 17.2 crore off the Rs 17.5 crore in their kitty on buying nine cricketers.
In contrast, Gujarat Lions barely loosened their purse strings, spending a mere Rs 3.85 crore off the Rs 14.35 crore they had. But they still managed to take home 11 players with Jason Roy (England) at Rs 1 crore being their most expensive purchase.
In a first, two Afghans and one UAE player Chirag Suri will be handed their maiden IPL contracts. It is the only instance of Associate players being picked after Ryan ten Doeschate of Holland.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad welcomed the Afghans -Rashid Khan Arman and Mohammed Nabi. Arman, the 18-year-old leggie who made his international debut in 2015, went for a jaw-dropping Rs 4 crore (base price: 50 lakh) with the VVS Laxman-mentored SRH winning the bidding war with Mumbai Indians. All-rounder Nabi, on the other hand, had to settle for his base price of Rs 30 lakh. Suri, went to Gujarat for his base price of Rs 10 lakh.
Prior to Stokes going under the hammer, the proceedings at the auction resembled the lull before a storm. Even before auctioneer Richard Madley could finish announcing Stokes' name, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians raised the paddle.
While RCB pulled out at the Rs 4-crore mark, Delhi Daredevils jumped into the fray at Rs 4.20 crore and dropped out soon after. Mumbai, who came into the auction with a purse Rs. 11.555 crore, stretched themselves until Rs 10 crore.
The surprise omissions of Feb 2017
Feb 21 2017, The Times of India
NO TAKERS FOR TAHIR, ISHANT SHARMA
ISHANT SHARMA He is the highest-ranked bowler in ODIs and T20s, but South African spinner Imran Tahir failed to find buyers at Monday's auction. Tahir has 29 wickets in three IPL seasons since 2014 and had formed a lethal combination with Amit Mishra for Delhi Daredevils last season. Also missing the IPL bus were India pacer Ishant Sharma, Windies all-rounder
Jason Holder and Aussies Brad Haddin and Nathan Lyon.
LIST OF ESTABLISHED NAMES WHICH WERE IGNORED:
Ishant Sharma (2cr), Jason Holder (1.5cr), Brad Haddin (1.5cr), Nathan Lyon (1.5cr), Jonny Bairstow (1.5cr), Kyle Abbott (1.5cr), Alex Hales (1cr), Marlon Samuels (1cr), Ross Taylor (50L), Irfan Pathan (50L), Brad Hogg (50L), Mitchell Santner (50L), Imran Tahir (50L), Ish Sodhi (30L).In brackets: Base price
The surprise omissions of Feb 2017/ 2
The IPL auction of Feb 2017, The main buys
See graphics
The IPL auction of Feb 2017, The main buys (1 and 2)
How the teams stack up after the Feb 2017 auction
Unknown Indian players who made it big at the Feb 2017 auctions
2017/ IPL- 10
See graphic. The highlights of IPL- 10, 2017
Did high player salaries result in success?
Manuja Veerappa, May 23, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic
IPL-10: Some Investments Went Down The Drain Although A Few Teams Used Their Big Buys Well
If Tymal Mills' IPL performance is measured by his bid price, then each of the five wickets he claimed for Royal Challengers Bangalore came with a mindboggling tag of Rs 2.40 crore! The England pacer, who at Rs 12 crore was the second costliest player at IPL-10, did not do anything extraordinary in the five appearances he made for his franchise.
A T20 specialist, Mills was among the 21 players who hit pay dirt after being picked for a crore or more at the auction held in February . While Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant) was the costliest at Rs 14.5 crore, others like M Ashwin (Delhi Daredevils), Dan Christian (Rising Pune Supergiant) and Pawan Negi (RCB) earned Rs 1 crore each at the auction.While a few justified their price tags, some disappointed, while the others returned home after being benched through the season.
Stokes and Christian were Pune's main picks at the auction and wise ones at that.Stokes was at the heart of Pune's campaign in the 12 matches he played before joining the England team. Electric and quick as a fielder, the all-rounder claimed 12 wickets at an average of 26.33 and scored 316 runs including an unbeaten century (103 n.o.). His presence in the Pune dressing room turned out to be invaluable for the team. Likewise, Christian with 11 wickets from 13 matches didn't do badly either.
Apart from Pune, the teams for whom investment in crorepati players turned out to be profitable were Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The pace trio of Trent Boult (Rs 5cr), Chris Woakes (Rs 4.2cr) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 3.5cr) was Kolkata's top buys of the season.While Boult wasn't in peak form, Woakes turned out to be the bowling trump card for Kolkata, picking up 17 wickets in 13 matches.Coulter-Nile too fared well with 15 wickets from eight outings including his three-for in the Eliminator against Hyderabad.
Afghan spinner Rashid Khan and pacer M Siraj didn't disappoint Hyderabad. A Rs 2-crore investment in veteran Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson proved to be a game-changer for Mumbai, who were also rewarded for their faith in Karn Sharma (Rs 3.2cr), who saw them through to the final with his tidy bowling. In contrast, Karnataka's spin bowler K Gowtham, who created a buzz after attracting a Rs 2-crore bid, didn't get to play even a game for Mumbai.
2018
The auction
See graphics:
Some facts about the teams and players in IPL, January 2018 (Day 1 and day 2)
Top buys for IPL, January 2018 (Day 1 and day 2)
From: Manuja Veerappa, January 2018: The Times of India
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From: Manuja Veerappa, January 2018: The Times of India
The main deals/ 1
Manuja Veerappa, Stokes leads IPL crorepati club, January 28, 2018: The Times of India
From: Manuja Veerappa, Stokes leads IPL crorepati club, January 28, 2018: The Times of India
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Big names that went unsold, 2018
Englishman Rakes In Rs 12.5 Crore; Jackpot For Rahul & Pandey Too
Many Indian Premier League dreams took flight and a few were crushed as a virtual conveyor belt of 110 established stars and littleknown players went under the hammer on Saturday, the opening day of the two-day IPL mega auction.
Like last year, England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who went for Rs. 14.5 crore in 2017, hit paydirt as Rajasthan Royals snapped him up for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore, making him the most expensive buy of the day and most likely of the auction. A pending case against him made no difference to the Englishman’s market value as Chennai Super Kings made the first charge followed by Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders before Rajasthan Royals jumped into the bidding war at the Rs 12-crore mark.
Asked about the availability of Stokes, Ranjit Barthakur, chairman and CEO of Royals, said, “As far as we are concerned, the ECB has cleared him for auction; he’s legally available, therefore we’ve bid for him. He’s a very important part. We’re trying to build the team and an all-rounder is absolutely important.”
Stokes was followed by KL Rahul and Manish Pandey. The batting talents from Karnataka commanded a mind-boggling Rs 11 crore each which Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad paid with glee. Mitchell Starc (KKR, Rs 9.40cr), Rashid Khan (SRH; Rs 9cr) and R Ashwin (KXIP; Rs. 7.60cr) were the top bowlers to earn the mega bucks.
UNCAPPED PLAYERS CALL THE SHOTS
As many as 40 uncapped cricketers from India and abroad were paraded. Of them, 19 hit the jackpot, with the price soaring beyond the Rs 1-crore mark. Krunal Pandya (base price Rs 40 lakh) was the biggest gainer among them, taking home a cool Rs 8.8 cr from his home team Mumbai Indians who exercised the RTM privilege even as teams like Bangalore, Royals and Hyderabad engaged in a bidding war for the all-rounder. Even as RCB sealed the deal, Mumbai owners pulled out the RTM card.
Jofra Archer, the 22-year-old medium-pacer from West Indies was the other big gainer on the day as Royals snapped him up for Rs 7.20 crore. Another overseas uncapped crorepati was D’Arcy Short, the 27-year-old lefthanded batsman-spinner from Australia also going to Royals. Both players have had a golden run at the ongoing Australian Big Bash League.
U-19 stars Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Rs 3.2 crore), Shubman Gill (Rs. 1.8 cr), Prithvi Shaw (Rs. 1.2 cr) too joined the elite crorepati club.
SOME STARS GET COLD SHOULDER
Franchises went mostly on current form and youth rather than reputation and experience. The price tags of some of the old warhorses is a case in point. Yuvraj Singh, who was the highest-paid player of 2014 and 2015, went for his base price of Rs 2 cr to Kings XI Punjab, while Chennai, who went for tried and tested players, were the sole bidders for Harbhajan Singh (Rs 2 cr). The franchises were not overenthusiastic when Gautam Gambhir’s name was called out and Delhi Daredevils welcomed him back for Rs 2.80 crore (base price Rs 2 crore).
GAYLE GOES UNSOLD
Meanwhile, explosive West Indies batsman Chris Gayle found no takers. Even RCB didn’t look interested.
Highlights
January 28, 2018: The Times of India
From: January 28, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
10 things to know about IPL auction, 2018
Players sold/ 1
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From: January 28, 2018: The Times of India
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Players sold, day 1, (IPL auction, 2018)
The main deals/ 2
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From: January 29, 2018: The Times of India
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IPL auction (day 2, 2018), some brief facts
Most expensive uncapped players
January 28, 2018: The Times of India
MOST EXPENSIVE UNCAPPED PLAYERS
Krunal Pandya (Rs 8.8 cr, MI – RTM; Base price Rs 40 lakh), Jofra Archer (Rs 7.2 cr, RR; BP Rs 40 lakh), Ishan Kishan (Rs 6.2 cr, MI; BP: Rs 40 lakh), D’Arcy Short (Rs 4 cr, RR; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Deepak Hooda (Rs 3.6 cr, SRH – RTM; BP: Rs 40 lakh), Siddharth Kaul (Rs 3.8 cr, SRH; BP: Rs 30 lakh), Nitish Rana (Rs 3.4 cr, KKR; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 3.4 cr, RR; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Rs 3.2 cr, KKR; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Vijay Shankar (Rs 3.2 cr, DD; BP: Rs 40 lakh), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 3.2 cr, MI; BP: Rs 30 lakh), Ankit Rajpoot (Rs 3 cr, KXIP; BP:Rs 30 lakh), Navdeep Saini (Rs 3 cr, RCB; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Khaleel Ahmed (Rs 3 cr, SRH; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Rahul Tewatia (Rs 3 cr, DD; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Shubman Gill (Rs 1.8 cr, KKR; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Prithvi Shaw (Rs 1.2 cr, DD; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Manan Vohra (Rs 1.1 cr, RCB; BP: Rs 20 lakh), Mayank Agarwal (Rs 1 cr, KXIP; BP: Rs 20 lakh).
Lesser known players selected in 2018
Auction in IPL- team, players bought and amount spent
About an hour-and-a-half into the second day of the IPL auction, the money left with the franchises started to decrease with capped pacers commanding a good price. Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals — the teams with the biggest purse — had one pacer on their ‘mustbuy’ list and the latter had the last laugh.
It turned out to be a blockbuster Sunday for left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat as he went for a mind boggling ₹ 11.5 crore, making him the second most expensive player of this season behind IPL teammate Ben Stokes (₹12.5 crore).
Starting off at a base price of ₹ 1.5 crore, it was common knowledge that the 26-yearold will be among the hot picks given his T20 credentials which includes 24 wickets last season, Chennai Super Kings were the first to bid for him and Kings XI Punjab jumped in immediately. Rajasthan Royals, who were mute spectators until the bid crossed the ₹11-crore mark, upped the ante and made the winning bid for the Saurashtra bowler, who last season went to Rising Pune Supergiants for his base price of ₹30 lakh. As the auction drew to a close, 169 of the 581 players found a team with a total of ₹431.7 crore spent on them. This included 56 overseas players from across nine countries. Earlier, Kings XI Punjab fought it out with Chennai for Australian pacer Andrew Tye before bagging him for ₹7.2 crore. After an intense paddle war between Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, Karnataka spinner and a handy bat K Gowtham went to Royals for an impressive ₹6.2 crore.
AFGHANS HIT JACKPOT
Over the weekend, four players from Afghanistan generated a lot of buzz. After Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi returned to Sunrisers Hyderabad, 16-year-old Mujeeb Zadran and Zahir Khan went to Punjab and Rajasthan Royals respectively.
Mujeeb, who hails from Khost, a town 250km from Kabul, shot into the limelight last year when he picked up four wickets on debut against Ireland. The offie, often referred to as a mystery spinner, started with a base price of ₹50 lakh and Punjab and Delhi Daredevils immediately engaged in intense bidding. Delhi dropped out at ₹3.80 crore and Punjab sealed the deal at ₹4 crore. Mujeeb’s compatriot Zahir, went for ₹ 60 lakh from a base price of ₹20 lakh.
INVESTMENT IN FUTURE
With an eye on the future, the franchisees picked a total of seven India U-19 players, of whom four were bought on the second day. Speed gun Shivam Mavi went for ₹ 3 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders while big hitters Abhishek Sharma and Manjot Kalra were both snapped up by Delhi Daredevils for ₹55 lakh and ₹20 lakh respectively. Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy headed to the Mumbai Indians camp for ₹20 lakh.
A FIRST FOR NEPAL CRICKET
Nepal’s spin bowler Sandeep Lamichhane became the first player from Nepal to bag an IPL contract when Delhi got him on board for ₹20 lakh. The 17-year-old is highly rated by former Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who mentored him during a league in Hong Kong.
GAYLE GETS THIRD TIME LUCKY
West Indies big-hitter Chris Gayle, a marquee player who went unsold on the opening day and in the second session of the second day, emerged lucky the third time when Punjab successfully bid for him at his ₹ 2-crore base price. Likewise, Murali Vijay too was brought in the first round of the accelerated process by Chennai Super Kings at his base price (₹ 2 crore). Another current international Parthiv Patel (₹ 1.70 cr) headed to Royal Challengers Bangalore as did Mitchell Johnson (₹ 2 crore, KKR) and Tim Southee (₹1crore, RCB). Among the big names who failed to attract any bidders were Dale Steyn, Eoin Morgan, Martin Guptill, Joe Root, Nathan Lyon and Tymal Mills, who was the second most expensive player last season at ₹ 12 crore.
The youngest, the oldest, average age
Partha Bhaduri, April 6, 2018: The Times of India
From: Partha Bhaduri, April 6, 2018: The Times of India
From: Partha Bhaduri, April 6, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
IPL has also welcomed those simply hoping to revive sagging mid-career fortunes with a booster shot of cricketing glory
In 2016, the average age of the top-10 was 29.10. Three players were above 30, and one was below 25
Last season the average age of the top-10 grew again to 30.30, with seven batsmen above 30 in the list
Worried about age spots? An IPL treatment may be just what you need. We’re not talking about the intense pulsed light cosmetic procedure so common in the beauty industry, but the glowing cricketing equivalent, the Indian Premier League. Since its inception in the nascent days of T20 strategizing, the league has been a haven for those seeking to smoothen the wrinkles of a post-retirement life. IPL has also welcomed those simply hoping to revive sagging mid-career fortunes with a booster shot of cricketing glory. Even at the auctions, reputation has tended to precede both skills and promise in the expense stakes.
This time around, the trend seems to have been bucked at the auctions, either because of a large number of available cricketers in the twilight of their careers or a more deliberate move from franchises to bank on fresh legs.
Some like CSK, though, have remained firmly in favour of veterans. Their logic is a proven one: the T20 game is a short one, so those high on skill and experience but low on youthful energy won’t be caught out in a hurry. They can, instead, shave off the years when it comes to performance.
CSK seem to have done their homework on the batting front. For the past three IPL seasons, the average age of the top 10 batting performers has been rising slowly and steadily. In 2015, the average age of the top-10 was 28.50, with Chris Gayle being the oldest at 35 (at that time) and Ajinkya Rahane being the youngest then at 26, which means all 10 batsmen were above 25. Four were above 30.
In 2016, the average age of the top-10 grew to 29.10, although only three were above 30, and one was below 25 (Quinton de Kock, 23 at the time). This was because of a large concentration of cricketers in the 27-34 age group, when a batsmen is in his prime.
Last season the average age of the top-10 grew again to 30.30, with seven batsmen above 30 in the list. The oldest was Gautam Gambhir at 35, the youngest Rahul Tripathi at 26. This doesn’t mean, though, that seniority is a guarantee of success and the other franchises have erred in banking on youth. A similar peek into the top-10 bowlers reveals the average age has been shrinking, from 28.80 in 2015 to 26.60 in 2017.
Interestingly, the average age of the worst batting performers too has been rising steadily. The top-10 worst batting performers (taking into consideration batting positions No. 1 to 6 only, minimum 11 innings) had an average age of 30.4 last season, up from 28.7 in 2016. That means banking on senior players is often a gamble. So what’s an IPL team management to do when picking a side?
For one, picking younger bowlers is the way to go. The days of the Nehras, Hoggs and Tambes may be over. On the batting front, there is an important difference in the ‘best and ‘worst’ sets: the ‘worst of ’ batting lists tend to be thinner on performers of pedigree, meaning who have also excelled with the bat at international level in ODI or Test cricket over time.
The highest, fittest achievers are more adept at stretching peak performance well into their 30s. So if you’re picking seniors, picking the ones with the best international records may be the way to go.
This time at the auction, many franchises displayed a tendency to pick younger domestic performers, the likes of Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Tripathi and Ishan Kishan, to name just three. That means they have spent less on some proven but ageing players. This may have saved owners money, but until it translates into winning performances, their furrowed brows may not smoothen soon.
IPL business model
IPL runs on a Central and Local pool of sponsorships for revenues. Broadcasters, tournament sponsors, title rights holders and bid monies form the central pool. Gate money, in-stadia advertising, franchise sponsors and merchandising make for the Local Pool. The Central Pool revenue is shared by all eight franchises on a percentage basis. The franchise has to fend for itself where Local Pool is concerned.
Future
The players from Royals and CSK franchise cannot be bought by or absorbed in any other franchise. Each team has a limit of 26 players and a fixed purse. For CSK and RR players to participate in IPL, the BCCI will have to float a tender for two fresh teams. There is no restriction if CSK and RR want to sell their franchises ahead of the coming season, after BCCI clearance. A full-fledged auction of all players is now scheduled after the 2016 edition of IPL.Both Royals and CSK have 26 players each and so do most other franchises. CSK has one-year contracts with most of its cricketers, who can go back into the auction pool but other franchises will have to off-load players to be able to buy them. With Kochi Tuskers winning their arbitration with BCCI, they're free to participate in IPL. Some players can be included in the Kochi franchise if they agree to play the tournament. However, one new franchise will still have to be auctioned. If Kochi Tuskers are unwilling to play, BCCI will have to auction two new franchises. IPL broadcast rights are up for a resale in 2017.
The finals (graphic)
From: May 28, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
The results of the IPL finals, 2018: CSK beat SRH
CSK’s performance in the finals, 2008-2018
The best batsmen, bowlers IPL 2018
From: Gaurav Gupta, Veteran Aussie Pulverises SRH With Blazing Century As Chennai Canter To Title, May 28, 2018: The Times of India
“Teams win games, but finals are won by individuals,” MS Dhoni had quipped on the eve of the IPL final between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad. His words proved prophetic as Shane Watson smashed the highest-ever score in an IPL final to seal the 2018 crown for CSK.
Watson pulverized the Sunrisers bowlers during his breathtaking, unbeaten 117 (57b, 11x4, 8x6) to turn the summit clash into a ridiculously one-sided affair at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night.
The Aussie’s blazing century, his second of the tournament, completed a fairytale return to the IPL for CSK, who clinched their third title after being banned for two years.
When he took 10 balls to get off the mark, little did one realize that Wason would explode in such a fashion that CSK would gallop home with as many as nine balls and eight wickets still intact. Chasing 179, the 37-year-old chose to be cautious at the start as he played out Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first over for a maiden.
After taking his time to get his eye in, Watson tore into one of the best attacks of the tournament with his devastating blade.
Sandep Sharma won’t forget the mauling that he received in the 13th over from Watson in a hurry. Ball after ball, the young medium-pacer ran in, trying the slower, knuckle delivery outside off stump, which normally ties up a batsman in knots in T20 cricket. However, on Sunday night, those deliveries landed deep into the stands behind long on, thrice in succession.
Between this six-hitting spree, Watson carted the youngster, who was consoled by his captain Kane Williamson, for two fours too, in an over which cost the Sunrisers 27 runs, and reduced the remaining part of the chase to a canter. To add to the Sunrisers’ woes, pacer Siddharth Kaul endured a horrible night as well, going for 43 for three overs, even as the experienced Watson negated the Rashid threat too.
Watson found an able ally in Suresh Raina (32), as the pair added 117 in 57 balls for the second wicket, after Faf du Plessis was dismissed early.
Earlier, Sunrisers picked up pace in the second half of their innings to post a competitive 178 for six.
Put in by Dhoni, the Sunrisers were initially pegged back by good spells from seamers Lungi Ngidi and Deepak Chahar. Ngidi even bowled a maiden in his first spell.
SRH suffered an initial setback when ‘keeper-bat Shreevats Goswami, who replaced an injured Wriddhiman Saha, was run out by Karn Sharma while going for a needless second run.
That blow meant skipper Kane Williamson was in the middle by the second over. Together with Shikhar Dhawan (26, 25b, 2x4, 1x6), Williamson (47, 36b, 5x4, 2x6) stablized the innings. After Dhawan was castled by Ravindra Jadeja, middle-order batsmen Shakib Al Hasan (23, Yusuf Pathan (45 not out) and Carlos Brathwaite (21) all chipped in as SRH collected 105 from the last 10 overs.
The trio’s effort helped SRH get over the setback of losing Williamson, who was stumped while giving the charge to a Karn delivery which spun away far outside the off stump. Though he couldn’t complete what would’ve been his ninth fifty in the 2018 IPL, Williamson joined a rare club of batsmen who’ve completed 700 runs in a season.
The best performers/ first 30 games
-_The_best_performers_of_the_first_30_games.jpg)
From: Dhananjay Mahapatra, SC’s switch hit: Won’t force one-state, one-vote on BCCI, May 2, 2018: The Times of India
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IPL 11 (2018)- The best performers of the first 30 games
November: Extension, retention and dropping of players
From: Saibal Bose, Unadkat dropped over ‘high auction-price pressure’, November 16, 2018: The Times of India
Rajasthan Royals continue to surprise. After having snapped up medium-pacer Jaydev Unadkat for Rs 11.3 crore, the highest for an Indian in the IPL auctions held early this year, the Jaipur-based franchise dropped another bombshell by releasing him. The reason for the decision was apparently the player’s high auction price.
“When reviewing Jaydev’s contributions to the team, we felt there was too much pressure on him to deliver vis-a-vis his auction price and hence we thought it would be better to release him,” Royals head of cricket Zubin Bharucha told TOI.
Unadkat had failed to deliver to expectations in the last edition of the IPL, having taken just 11 wickets in 15 matches, with the economy rate was a shade below 10. Royals owner Manoj Badale had told TOI after the auctions that the idea was to plan their strategy around an Indian strike bowler and Unadkat fitted the bill.
“We want to go into the next auction with a free mind,” a Royals official told TOI. Jaipur is scheduled to host the auctions in the third week of December. Royals also released another much talked-about player, South Africa’s big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen. Australian batsman D’Arcy Short and veteran medium-pacer Ben Laughlin were also released.
DAREDEVILS RELEASE GAMBHIR
Delhi Daredevils expectedly released Gautam Gambhir, who stepped down as the team’s in the middle of the 2018 season after a poor run of form. Apart from Gambhir, Delhi also released Jason Roy, Junior Dala, Liam Plunkett, Mohammed Shami, Sayan Ghosh, Daniel Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Naman Ojha. The retained Delhi players include captain Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Amit Mishra and teen sensation Prithvi Shaw.
SUNRISERS RETAIN WARNER, LET GO OF BRATHWAITE, SAHA
Sunrisers Hyderabad retained David Warner — who missed the 2018 season following the ball-tampering scandal — while releasing nine players, including West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite.
SRH retained 17 players. England’s Alex Hales and all-rounder Chris Jordan too were dumped by franchise. Among Indians, the notable player to be released was Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Earlier, Sunrisers had traded opener Shikhar Dhawan for Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nazeem and Vijay Shankar with Daredevils.
KINGS RELEASE AXAR, YUVI, FINCH
India’s 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, left-arm spinner Axar Patel and Australia’s current limitedovers skipper Aaron Finch were among 11 players released by Kings XI Punjab. A pale shadow of his once explosive self, the 36-year-old Yuvraj managed just 65 runs at an abysmal average of 10.83 in eight games. With 134 runs in 10 games@16.75, the usually consistent Finch too didn’t find runs. Others who have been released are Ben Dwarshuis, former India pacers Mohit Sharma and Barinder Sran, batsman Manoj Tiwary, Kashmir’s Manzoor Dar, Akshdeep Nath and Mayank Dagar. Kings XI finished seventh out of eight teams last year.
MUMBAI DROP CUMMINS, MUSTAFIZUR AND DUMINY
The Mumbai Indians on Thursday released South African batsman Jean-Paul Duminy, seamers Pat Cummins (Australia) and Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) and Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya, while retaining 18 players. Cummins was bought by MI for Rs 5.4 crore, but was ruled out before the start of the last IPL due to injury. There were reports that Cricket Australia (CA) pulled him out due to fear of a burnout or injury during the tournament.
Mustafizur Rahman was purchased for Rs 2.2 crore, but played only seven matches last season, taking as many wickets. The left-arm paceman was with Sunrisers Hyderabad previously. Duminy was bought for Rs 1 crore, but played just six matches, in which he managed only 36 runs. MI have also released six domestic players — Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Sharad Lumba, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, UP pacer Mohsin Khan and Kerala’s MD Nidheesh.
The Mumbai franchise’s list of 10 released players includes one capped, five uncapped and four international players.
2019
The main deals at the auction
Saibal Bose, December 19, 2018: The Times of India
From: Saibal Bose, December 19, 2018: The Times of India
RR Keep Medium-Pacer At Lower Price, Kings XI Add Mystery To Their Attack
Rajasthan Royals continue to surprise. After releasing Jaydev Unadkat for being high priced, they bought him right back for Rs 8.40 crores, making him the joint costliest player at Tuesday’s auctions. Given that they had snapped up the left-arm medium-pacer for Rs 11.5 crores in February, Unadkat might be feeling robbed of Rs 3.1 crores.
There would be no mixed feelings for Varun Chakravarthy, the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu, who matched Unadkat in money splurged on him. He hit the jackpot with Kings XI Punjab pocketing the 27-year old, who can bowl both leg-spin and offspin. It is said about Chakravarthy that he gets through his four overs before the rivals can unravel him. Staring at a base price of Rs 20 lakh, Chakravarthy went for 42 times that amount.
England’s Sam Curran was called in rather late, but some of the franchises seemed to have held back their purse for him. The all-rounder, whose reputation has soared since his performance against India, caused a bidding war among Kings Xi Punjab, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Punjab added him to their roster for Rs 7.20 crore, making him the costliest overseas player on Tuesday.
Even though bowlers were mainly in focus, South African batsman Colin Ingram was laughing his way to the bank with Delhi Capitals buying him for Rs 6.4 crore.
Mumbai youngster Shivam Dube quite expectedly generated interest after smashing five sixes in one over recently. Royal Challengers Bangalore added him to the kitty for Rs 5 crore, the same price that Mohit Sharma (CSK), Axar Patel (DC) and Carlos Braithwaite earned. The Bengaluru side’s management, in fact, spoke of Dube’s sixes while justifying his high price.
Kings XI threw up another stunner in outbidding Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians for 18-year-old wicketkeeper batsman Prabhsimran Singh (Rs 4.80 crore).
Among the players currently playing for Team India, Mohammad Shami was the top pick at Rs 4.80 crore. Kings XI Punjab, on a rebuilding spree, will most likely use him as their strike bowler.
Golden oldies like Brendon McCullum got the royal ignore while Yuvraj Singh had to be brought back, Mumbai Indians buying him at base price of Rs 1 crore. In fact, all the highestrated spinners were left unsold. Clearly, the franchises were looking for surprise elements like Chakravarthy. “He is unknown and that is an advantage,” KXIP CEO Satish Menon explained. “It’s also the World Cup year and we don’t know whom we might lose. Varun is more of a backup to Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Zadran.”
Teams in the final
From: May 11, 2019: The Times of India
See graphic, 'CSK vs. MI reached the final of IPL, 2019'
MI win the title
JAC Gladson, May 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: JAC Gladson, May 13, 2019: The Times of India
From: May 13, 2019: The Times of India
See graphics:
The IPL final, 2019- Scoreboard
MI beat CSK in the final of IPL, 2019
A proven track record does no good if you’re not good on the day. Having made his point beautifully on the eve of the IPL 2019 final against Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma and Co. were expected to not just merely turn up, but put in an impressive performance. And by converting their words into deeds, Mumbai Indians not only won their fourth title but their one-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday was the second such finish – they had defeated Pune Warriors by the same margin in 2017.
In Chennai, Mumbai had an opposition that’s weathered many a storm, but in not refusing to give up or give in, Mumbai are now in a league of their own with the skipper making it a penta – four titles with Mumbai and one with Deccan Chargers.
As is their wont, Chennai turned the contest into a gripping finale and Rahul Chahar nearly cost them the game when he reprieved Shane Watson with the opener going great guns on 55. The Aussie smashed two overs for 20 runs each off Lasith Malinga (16th) and Krunal Pandya (18th) to negate all the good work Rahul Chahar had done by restricting Chennai to 72 for two at the halfway stage — they eventually had to rest content with 148/7.
When Watson finally fell with two deliveries to go for 80 (59b, 8x4, 6x4), Chennai still needed four. His 51-run partnership with Dwayne Bravo was not enough to see CSK cross the line with Lasith Malinga sounding the death knell by denying two runs off the last ball.
The start was just as exciting as the finish after the Mumbai skipper had no hesitation to bat first. But if Mumbai’s 149 for eight was a start-stop affair, Chennai had not reckoned with Mumbai’s bowling arsenal that slowly tilted the scales in their favour by choking runs in the middle.
Faf du Plessis was the initial aggressor, while Shane Watson took his time, but with Suresh Raina running out of luck, Ambati Rayudu coming a cropper and skipper MS Dhoni run-out going for a second on an overthrow, Mumbai cleverly wrested the initiative through Chahar’s excellent returns of one for 14, which included 13 dot balls and just one boundary.
2020
From: Saibal Bose, Dec 19, 2019 Times of India
See graphic:
Where the respective teams stood on 18 Dec 2019, before the mini- auction
The most expensive buys for 2020
From: Dec 20, 2019 Times of India
See graphic:
Most expensive buys at IPL 2020 auction
The eight teams’ players
NEW DELHI: Thrilling bidding wars unfolded in Kolkata on Thursday, before the gavel came down for the final time at the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) players' auction. It saw a whopping Rs 140.30 crore being spent, as the squads of eight franchises took final shape. Here is how those line-ups stack up for the 13th season of the lucrative IPL.
Chennai Super Kings
Purse: 14.60 crore
Spent: 14.45 crore
Bought (4): Sam Curran (5.5 crore), Piyush Chawla (6.75 crore), Josh Hazlewood (2 crore), R Sai Kishore (20 lakh)
Retained: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Rituraj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Monu Singh
Squad strength: 24
Indians: 16
Overseas: 8
Delhi Capitals
Purse: 27.85 crore
Spent: 18.85 crore
Bought (8): Jason Roy (1.5 crore), Chris Woakes (1.5 crore), Alex Carey (2.4 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (7.75 crore), Mohit Sharma (50 lakh), Tushar Deshpande (20 lakh), Marcus Stoinis (4.8 crore), Lalit Yadav (20 lakh),
Retained: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane
Traded In: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane
Squad strength: 22
Indians: 14
Overseas: 8
Kings XI Punjab
Purse: 42.70 crore
Spent: 26.20 crore
Bought (9): Glenn Maxwell (10.75 crore), Sheldon Cottrell (8.5 crore), Deepak Hooda (50 lakh), Ishan Porel (20 lakh), Ravi Bishnoi (2 crore), James Neesham (50 lakh), Chris Jordan (3 crore), Tajinder Dhillon (20 lakh), Prabhsimran Singh (55 lakh)
Retained: KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin
Traded In: K Gowtham, J Suchith
Squad strength: 25
Indians: 17
Overseas: 8
Kolkata Knight Riders
Purse: 35.65 crore
Spent: 27.15 crore
Bought (9): Eoin Morgan (5.25 crore), Pat Cummins (15.5 crore), Rahul Tripathi (60 lakh), Varun Chakaravarthy (4 crore), M Siddharth (20 lakh), Chris Green (20 lakh), Tom Banton (1 crore), Pravin Tambe (20 lakh), Nikhil Naik (20 lakh)
Retained: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi
Traded In: Siddhesh Lad
Squad strength: 23
Indians: 15
Overseas: 8
Mumbai Indians
Purse: 13.05 crore
Spent: 11.10 crore
Bought (6): Chris Lynn (2 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (8 crore), Saurabh Tiwary (50 lakh), Mohsin Khan (20 lakh), Digvijay Deshmukh (20 lakh), Balwant Rai Singh (20 lakh)
Retained: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Anmolpreet Singh, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan
Traded In: Sherfane Rutherford, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni
Squad strength: 24
Indians: 16
Overseas: 8
Rajasthan Royals
Purse: 28.90 crore
Spent: 14.15 crore
Bought (11): Robin Uthappa (3 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (3 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (2.4 crore), Anuj Rawat (80 lakh), Akash Singh (20 lakh), Kartik Tyagi (1.3 crore), David Miller (75 lakh), Oshane Thomas (50 lakh), Anirudha Joshi (20 lakh), Andrew Tye (1 crore), Tom Curran (1 crore)
Retained: Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mahipal Lomror, Varun Aaron, Manan Vohra
Traded In: Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia
Squad strength: 25
Indians: 17
Overseas: 8
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Purse: 27.90 crore
Spent: 21.50 crore
Bought (8): Aaron Finch (4.4 crore), Chris Morris (10 crore), Joshua Philippe (20 lakh), Kane Richardson(4 crore), Pavan Deshpande (20 lakh), Dale Steyn (2 crore), Shahbaz Ahamad (20 lakh), Isuru Udana (50 lakh)
Retained: Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini
Squad strength: 21
Indians: 13
Overseas: 8
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Purse: 17 crore
Spent: 6.90 crore
Bought (7): Virat Singh (1.9 crore), Priyam Garg (1.9 crore), Mitchell Marsh (2 crore), Sandeep Bavanaka (20 lakh), Fabian Allen (50 lakh), Abdul Samad (20 lakh), Sanjay Yadav (20 lakh)
Retained: Kane Williamson, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem, Billy Stanlake, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan
Squad strength: 25
Indians: 17
Overseas: 8
The worth of the players per ball
From: Dec 22, 2019 Times of India
See graphic:
The worth of IPL 2020’s players per ball
Mumbai Indians win fifth title
Gaurav Gupta, November 11, 2020: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, November 11, 2020: The Times of India
From: Gaurav Gupta, November 11, 2020: The Times of India
Is he really injured? If this final was something of a ‘fitness test’ for Rohit Sharma, the star opener passed it with flying colours. Rested from the Indian team’s white-ball leg for the impending tour to Australia due to a rather mysterious hamstring injury which has caused big controversy, the Mumbaikar churned out a captain’s knock, cracking 68 (51b, 5x4, 4x6) to lead the Mumbai Indians to their fifth Indian Premier League title, as they downed the Delhi Capitals by five wickets in a onesided final in Dubai.
Unleashing his trademark front-foot pulls off the fast bowlers and smashing the spinners down the ground with characteristic ease, Rohit seemed intent on making a simple point he made when he returned from his injury to play for MI: ‘I’m fit and fine.’ He perished to a superb diving catch by substitute fielder Lalit Yadav at deep midwicket while trying to hook Anrich Nortje, but the job was done by then.
Towards the end, MI suffered a couple of more hiccups when Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya went out cheaply but Ishan Kishan (33 not out, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) continued his fabulous form to take MI home.
It was title No. 5 for ‘Captain Rohit,’ and his sixth as a player in the IPL. A decade back, MI had, for the only time, lost an IPL final while chasing against CSK, but this time, chasing just 157, they didn’t falter again, managing to defend the title successfully. It’s the first time that MI have won a crown in an even year. In what has been a magnificent campaign for them, MI came up with another dominant display in the final, beating the Capitals for the fourth time this season.
Earlier, skipper Shreyas Iyer (65 not out, 50b, 6x4, 2x6) and Rishabh Pant (56 not out, 38b, 4x4, 2x6) struck form, digging the Capitals out from a deep hole when they had slipped to 22 for three by just the fourth over, but MI still managed to restrict them to 156 for seven.
Showing commendable fightback, Iyer and Pant dug in to add 96 in 69 balls for the fourth wicket to bail their team out of crisis and breathe some life into the summit clash. However, pulling things back brilliantly, MI conceded merely 38 in the final five overs to gain the upper hand.
For the eight time in this IPL, Man of the Match Trent Boult provided a breakthrough in the first over for MI when he had Marcus Stoinis caught behind off the very first ball of the match, the first such instance in an IPL final. Boult struck again when Ajinkya Rahane was caught down the legside for just two in the third over.
The Capitals suffered their biggest blow when talismanic batsman Shikhar Dhawan (15) missed a slog sweep off off-spinner Jayant Yadav to be castled for just 15. It’s not often that you see Dhawan mess up that stroke, but then whatever MI have touched this time has turned into gold.
2021
The entire list
February 19, 2021: The Times of India
IPL 2021: Full squad, players list of all eight teams
NEW DELHI: Every year, the IPL Player Auction brings with it a lot of excitement and thrill. Franchisees splurge large sums of money to seal a deal, while some players fail to find a bidder.
In the IPL 2021 Player Auction, South African all-rounder Chris Morris made headlines by becoming IPL's most expensive buy of all time. Morris was fetched by Rajasthan Royals for a mammoth Rs. 16.25 crore. Meanwhile Krishnappa Gowtham became the highest uncapped Indian buy of all time. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs. 9.25 crore.
Here's the full squad list of all eight IPL teams after the squads for the 2021 edition were finalised:
DELHI CAPITALS
Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings
MUMBAI INDIANS
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, R. Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, KM Asif, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K. Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishanth
PUNJAB KINGS
KL Rahul (c&wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen , Saurabh Kumar
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Sanju Samson (c&wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat
The auction
Prasad.RS, February 19, 2021: The Times of India
From: Prasad.RS, February 19, 2021: The Times of India
From: February 19, 2021: The Times of India
PAY DAY FOR ALLROUNDERS
RR Break Bank For Morris; Maxwell And Jamieson Fetch Big Money Too
Chennai:
With millions flying around the room, you wouldn’t expect social media to go into overdrive over a Rs 50 lakh or a Rs 20 lakh buy. But then, while Cheteshwar Pujara is an emotional favourite of many after his heroics in Test cricket, Arjun Tendulkar’s inclusion in the IPL auction list had become a point of debate. So, when Pujara finally got an IPL team — Chennai Super Kings — after seven years, the entire auction room applauded the gesture. “It was a mark of respect for all that Pujara has done for India,” a CSK official told TOI.
Arjun, on the other hand, was the last pick of the day as Zaheer Khan quietly raised the baton to have team mentor Sachin Tendulkar’s son in the set-up after two T20 game for Mumbai.
But before that, a few familiar stories played out. South African allrounder Chris Morris, with 34 runs and 11 wickets from nine games in IPL-13 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, broke all records to become the highest-paid player of the IPL. Rajasthan Royals, looking to rebuild again, paid 16.25 cr, edging out Punjab Kings in a bidding war. Morris’ price tag went past the Rs 16 cr record that was paid by RCB for Yuvraj Singh in 2015.
“We spoke to Morris before the auction and did a medical review to see if he can last the season. He’s in a bubble now in South Africa and about to play the domestic competition. He will play an important role for us in all phases of the game. He can win us the game with the bat as well and the ball,” said Jake Lush McCrum, RR’s COO. But then, that’s the reason RCB paid Rs 10 cr last time for the 33-year-old, but without much reward.
The auction lived up its tag of being allrounders’ ticket to big money. New Zealand’s Kylie Jamieson was bought for Rs 15 crore by RCB. He had scored a couple of 40s against India in Test matches in 2020 and gave Virat Kohli & Co a difficult time with his pace and bounce. Kohli must have taken a note of that and with Kiwi Mike Hesson as the coach, the decision was made to bring him in.
There was another usual suspect — Glenn Maxwell — who went for Rs 14.25 crore without hitting a single six in the last edition of the IPL in UAE for Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab). But on paper, he is one who can contribute handsomely both with the bat and ball, and that’s what led to a bidding war between CSK and RCB. CSK, quite uncharacteristically went till Rs 14 cr mark for the player, but then gave up as Kohli’s franchise looked for “impact players”.
CSK, desperate for spin-bowling allrounders, made two smart buys in the form of Moeen Ali (Rs 7 cr) and K Gowtham (Rs 9.25 cr). Gowtham became the highest-paid Indian at the auction. “Moeen can be an opener option too while Gowtham will fill two vacant spots — Kedar Jadhav and Harbhajan Singh,” a source said.
Another big-money buy was Australian pacer Jhye Richardson by Punjab Kings for Rs 14 cr. They needed a pace-bowling partner for Mohammad Shami after releasing Sheldon Cortrell following a hammering by Rahul Tewatia in one of the games last season. “We knew there would be competition for Richardson but we have the team we required,” team owner Preity Zinta, who also acquired England opener Dawid Mallan for Rs 1.5 cr, said. Punjab also got Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan (Rs 5.4 cr), who was extremely impressive in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The KKR table, which attracted eyeballs due to the presence of SRK’s son Aryan and Juhi Chawla’s daughter Jhanvi, brought Bangladesh’s Shakib al Hasan back in the team for Rs 3.25 cr along with veteran offie Harbhajan Singh for his base price of Rs 2 cr. MI, on the other hand, had Nathan Coulter Nile and Jimmy Neeham back as their medium-pace back-up for Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. SRH picked up Kedar Jadhav for Rs 2 cr late in the day to add some experience to their middle-order.
Delhi Capitals, too, quietly brought Steve Smith into their line-up for a mere Rs 2.2 crore.
‘Pujara a back-up for Raina’
Pujara’s return to the IPL fold was celebrated by most but there were voices who felt the Test specialist would have been better off playing County instead of sitting on the reserve-bench of CSK for two months. But it’s understood that CSK had a plan in place to get Pujara in and it was not just about respect for the stalwart. “He is a back-up for Suresh Raina, who hasn’t played cricket in a while,” a source said.
The fact that Dhoni wants players who are used to taking pressure is another reason behind Pujara’s inclusion in the squad.
Bids submitted/ Oct 2021
K ShriniwasRao, Oct 26, 2021: The Times of India
From: K ShriniwasRao, Oct 26, 2021: The Times of India
In 2008, when the Indian Premier League was a fledgling venture and investing in it was something of a leap of faith, eight victorious bidders collectively pumped in around Rs 3,000 crore to bag eight franchises. Thirteen years on, with the IPL firmly enthroned as one of the premier sports properties in the world, one company, RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) Group, bid Rs 7,090 crore — more than double the collective figure raised in 2008 — to walk away with the Lucknow franchise.
Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners was the other winner, bagging Ahmedabad for Rs 5,625 crore.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) began the bid process at 12.30pm IST in Dubai (11am local time) and spent the first six hours technically evaluating all bids to see if they met the eligibility criteria. It’s only from 6.30pm IST onwards that the board began to look at the financial bids.
Adani Sportsline, considered a frontrunner for the Ahmedabad franchise, submitted a bid of Rs 5,100 crore for Ahmedabad as well as Lucknow. CVC bid Rs 5,625 crore for Ahmedabad and Rs 5,166 crore for Lucknow.
RPSG Group bid the same amount (Rs 7,090) for both Ahmedabad and Lucknow. BCCI gave RPSG the choice of picking a city first, by virtue of being the top bidder, and the group settled for Lucknow. The Ahmedabad franchise thus automatically went to CVC.
As one of the world’s largest private equity players, CVC comes with a deep knowledge of sports franchises and businesses. The PE player has been a very successful partner and business-builder for global sports platforms such as La Liga, Formula One, the rugby league and Moto-GP. A world leader in private equity and credit with $117.8 billion of assets under management, CVC Capital will not just put the IPL under a global spotlight but is also expected to add serious value to the T20 league.
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES
RPSG Group Had Earlier Owned Pune Franchise Of IPL; New Teams To Play From The 2022 Season
We had promised that IPL will be bigger and better from the 15th season and with Lucknow and Ahmedabad, we will take the league to different parts of India. The IPL has established gold standards for leagues across the world. My best wishes to the two new teams,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying, in a statement released by the board.
“CVC’s entry is huge for the BCCI, IPL and the game of cricket because this will take IPL’s appeal and overall valuation to the next level. This is the first time a global player has set foot in IPL. The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group too has dipped its foot in the IPL in the past when they owned the franchise in Pune for two years. They also have a very good experience of running sports franchises,” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told TOI.
In 2016, when the Supreme Court had banned Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings from the IPL for two years, BCCI – under its then chief operating officer Sundar Raman – had conducted a unique reverse-bidding process for two franchises to operate in the IPL during the interim period.
RPSG Group had, back then too, worked on the numbers better than any other bidder, to grab the Pune franchise for the 2016 and 2017 editions.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel congratulated the two winning bidders. “The ITT process included two interested bidders from outside of India, which strongly emphasises the global appeal of the IPL as a sports property,” Ganguly said in the BCCI statement.
The other bidders who participated in the IL bidding process were Amrit Lila Enterprises Pvt Ltd (Kotak), Avashya Corporation Cargo Pvt Ltd (All Cargo Logistics), financial company Capri Global, Championship Cricket LLC (Avaram Glazer), Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HT Media) and Torrent Sports Ventures Pvt Ltd.
All the bidders submitted bids for Ahmedabad and Lucknow while RPSG Group was the only company to submit a Rs 4,790 crore-bid for Indore.
Chennai Super Kings Win 4th IPL Title
Dwaipayan Datta, Oct 16, 2021: The Times of India
From: Dwaipayan Datta, Oct 16, 2021: The Times of India
Were those tears that we saw in MS Dhoni’s eyes? Probably. An adoring Chennai Super Kings fan brigade cheered him on from all corners of the world, his family waved from the stands, as Captain Cool did it one more time. Maybe, for the last time!
When CSK returned from a twoyear exile in 2017, Dhoni decided that he would build a Dad’s Army because he believed there’s no alternative for experience on the IPL stage.
The ‘daddies’ justified the captain’s theory time and again over the next four years and Dubai on Friday, became their platform to sign off with a bang. Probably playing together for the last time together before a new auction next season, the super seniors of CSK played a match straight out of the dreams to beat Kolkata Knight Riders and give the skipper his fourth IPL title.
The 37-year-old South Africa reject Faf du Plessis, a 35-year-old semi-retired Robin Uthappa and a 34-year-old RCB reject Moeen Ali showed what it means to have experience as CSK ran away with a score of 192-3 against a decent KKR attack. Even when KKR were batting, with Venkatesh Iyer and Subhman Gill having given them a rollicking start, it was 38-year-old Dwayne Bravo who with his two overs gave away only eight runs and stemmed the flow. Then it was over to the likes of midlevel seniors Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur who have done it time and time again to use the slowness of the wicket and run away with the 27-run victory.
Before that, it was the game-sense of Faf that set CSK on course after KKR captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and put them in. It was expected that the spin troika of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Shakib Al Hasan would make a difference before the dew set in.
But Faf, aided by a missed stumping by Dinesh Karthik off Shakib when on two, had other ideas. He looked to initially play with a sense of caution as Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 off 27 balls) took the early initiative to unsettle Shakib. The beauty of the Faf ’s 86 off 59 balls was that there was absolutely no sense of rush. He decided to take on the pacers Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson while the heavy lifting against spinners was left to Uthappa and Moeen.
2021: The new IPL retention list
K ShriniwasRao, Dec 1, 2021: The Times of India
THE NEW IPL RETENTION LIST
CSK: Ravindra Jadeja (16 crore), MS Dhoni (12 cr), Moeen Ali (8 cr), Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 cr) I
Kitty for auction: 48 cr
SRH: Kane Williamson (14 cr), Abdul Samad (4 cr), Umran Malik (4 cr)
Kitty for auction: 68 cr
KKR: Andre Russell (12 cr, 16 cr to be deducted from purse), Varun Chakravarthy (8 cr, 12 cr to be deducted from purse), Venkatesh Iyer (8 cr), Sunil Narine (6 cr) I
Kitty for auction: 48 cr
MI: Rohit Sharma (16 cr), Jasprit Bumrah (12 cr), Suryakumar Yadav (8 cr), Kieron Pollard (6 cr) I
Kitty for auction: 48 cr
RCB: Virat Kohli (15 cr), Glenn Maxwell (11 cr), Mohammed Siraj (7 cr)
Kitty for auction: 57 cr
DC: Rishabh Pant (16 cr), Axar Patel (9 cr, 12 cr to be deducted from purse), Prithvi Shaw (7.5 cr, 8 cr to be deducted from purse), Anrich Nortje (6.5 cr)
Kitty for auction: 47.5 cr
RR: Sanju Samson (14 cr), Jos Buttler (10 cr), Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 cr)
Kitty for auction: 62 cr
PBKS: Mayank Agarwal (12 cr, 14 cr to be deducted from purse), Arshdeep Singh (4 cr) I
Kitty for auction: 72 cr
If four capped players are retained, Rs 42 cr gets deducted. For three, Rs 33 cr, for two Rs 24 cr and Rs 14 cr for one. This is to encourage franchises to release players and enable a robust auction pool.
Now, Mumbai Indians have retained four capped players at Rs 16 cr (Rohit), Rs 12 cr (Bumrah), Rs 8 cr (Surya) and Rs 6 cr (Pollard) respectively and Rs 42 cr will be deducted from the purse.
However, in the case of Delhi Capitals, Rishabh Pant has been paid Rs 16 cr, Axar Patel has been paid Rs 9 cr (but Rs 12 cr will be deducted from purse), Prithvi Shaw gets Rs 7.5 cr (Rs 8 cr will be deducted) and Anrich Nortje will get Rs 6.5 cr (Rs 6 cr will be deducted).
This is the result of an agreement between the franchise and the player. Even if a franchise finds more money blocked from spending at the auction than what they’re paying the players, they will end up saving at the backend. However they can’t spend this saved money at the auction table.
2022
The players
From: Feb 13, 2022: The Times of India
See graphic:
Most expensive buys at IPL, 2022
India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan became the most expensive player to be bought on Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction as Mumbai Indians (MI) bought him for ₹15.25 crore. Kishan is now the second most expensive Indian player to be ever snapped up at the auctions after Yuvraj Singh (₹16 crore in 2015).
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) broke the bank for Shreyas Iyer, who became the most expensive marquee player, going to the Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise for ₹12.25 crore.
England's Liam Livingstone became the msot expensive buy of day two when Punjab Kings picked him up for ₹11.50 crore.
Deepak Chahar (₹14 crore, Chennai Super Kings) is the most expensive bowler, thus far, while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has managed to hire the services of the joint costliest all-rounders in Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga (₹10.75 crore).
Avesh Khan became the most expensive uncapped player when the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) picked him for ₹10 crore.
Below is the full list of sold and unsold players after Day 1 and 2:
Batters
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) | SELLING PRICE (₹) | TEAM |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 2 CR | 8.25 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Shreyas Iyer | 2 CR | 12.25 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Faf du Plessis | 2 CR | 7 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| David Warner | 2 CR | 6.25 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Manish Pandey | 1 CR | 4.6 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Shimron Hetmyer | 1.5 CR | 8.5 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Robin Uthappa | 2 CR | 2 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Jason Roy | 2 CR | 2 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 2 CR | 7.75 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Priyam Garg | 20 L | 20 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Abhinav Sadarangani | 20 L | 2.6 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Dewald Brevis | 20 L | 3 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Ashwin Hebbar | 20 L | 20 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Rahul Tripathi | 40 L | 8.5 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Aiden Markram | 1 CR | 2.60 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 1 CR | 1 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Mandeep Singh | 50 L | 1.10 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Rinku Singh | 20 L | 55 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Manan Vohra | 20 L | 20 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Finn Allen | 50 L | 80 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Devon Conway | 1 CR | 1 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Rovman Powell | 75 L | 2.80 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Subhranshu Senapati | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| R Samarth | 20 L | 20 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Abhijeet Tomar | 20 L | 40 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Pratham Singh | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| David Miller | 1 CR | 3 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| C Hari Nishaanth | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Anmolpreet Singh | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Alex Hales | 1.50 CR | 1.50 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Evin Lewis | 2 CR | 2 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Karun Nair | 50 L | 1.40 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Banuka Rajapaksa | 50 L | 50 L | Punjab Kings |
| Rahul Buddhi | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Ramesh Kumar | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Rassie van der Dussen | 1 CR | 1 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
Bowlers
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) | SELLING PRICE (₹) | TEAM |
| Kagiso Rabada | 2 CR | 9.25 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Trent Boult | 2 CR | 8 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Mohammad Shami | 2 CR | 6.25 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| T Natarajan | 1 CR | 4 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Deepak Chahar | 2 CR | 14 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Prasidh Krishna | 1 CR | 10 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Lockie Ferguson | 2 CR | 10 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Josh Hazlewood | 2 CR | 7.75 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Mark Wood | 2 CR | 7.5 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 2 CR | 4.2 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Shardul Thakur | 2 CR | 10.75 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 2 CR | 2 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 1 CR | 2 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Rahul Chahar | 75 L | 5.25 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 2 CR | 6.5 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Basil Thampi | 30 L | 30 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Kartik Tyagi | 20 L | 4 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Akash Deep | 20 L | 20 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| KM Asif | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Avesh Khan | 20 L | 10 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Ishan Porel | 20 L | 25 L | Punjab Kings |
| Tushar Deshpande | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Ankit Singh Rajpoot | 20 L | 50 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Noor Ahmad | 30 L | 30 L | Gujarat Titans |
| Murugan Ashwin | 20 L | 1.6 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| KC Cariappa | 20 L | 30 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Shreyas Gopal | 20 L | 75 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Jagadeesha Suchith | 20 L | 20 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| R Sai Kishore | 20 L | 3 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Khaleel Ahmed | 50 L | 5.25 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Dushmanta Chameera | 50 L | 2 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Chetan Sakariya | 50 L | 4.20 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Sandeep Sharma | 50 L | 50 L | Punjab Kings |
| Navdeep Saini | 75 L | 2.60 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 75 L | 1.30 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Mayank Markande | 50 L | 65 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Shahbaz Nadeem | 50 L | 50 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 50 L | 70 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Yash Dayal | 20 L | 3.20 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Simarjeet Singh | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Daniel Sams | 1 CR | 2.60 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Jason Behrendorff | 75 L | 75 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Obed McCoy | 75 L | 75 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Tymal Mills | 1 CR | 1.50 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Adam Milne | 1.50 CR | 1.90 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Vaibhav Arora | 20 L | 2 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Mukesh Choudhary | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Rasikh Dar | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Mohsin Khan | 20 L | 20 L | Luknow Super Giants |
| Chama Milind | 20 L | 25 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Prashant Solanki | 20 L | 1.20 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Sean Abbott | 75 L | 2.40 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Alzarri Joseph | 75 L | 2.40 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Riley Meredith | 1 CR | 1 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Baltej Dhanda | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Saurabh Dubey | 20 L | 20 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Ashok Sharma | 20 L | 55 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Lungi Ngidi | 50 L | 50 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Karn Sharma | 50 L | 50 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Kuldeep Sen | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | 50 L | 50 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Mayank Yadav | 20 L | 20 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Tejas Baroka | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Tim Southee | 1.50 CR | 1.50 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Varun Aaron | 50 L | 50 L | Gujarat Titans |
| Kuldip Yadav | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Umesh Yadav | 2 CR | 2 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | 2 CR | 2 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Siddharth Kaul | 75 L | 75 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
Wicketkeepers
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) | SELLING PRICE (₹) | TEAM |
| Quinton de Kock | 2 CR | 6.75 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Ambati Rayudu | 2 CR | 6.75 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Ishan Kishan | 2 CR | 15.25 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Jonny Bairstow | 1.5 CR | 6.75 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Dinesh Karthik | 2 CR | 5.5 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Nicholas Pooran | 1.5 CR | 10.75 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| KS Bharat | 20 L | 2 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Anuj Rawat | 20 L | 3.4 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Prabhsimran Singh | 20 L | 60 L | Punjab Kings |
| Sheldon Jackson | 30 L | 60 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Jitesh Sharma | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Baba Indrajith | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Sam Billings | 2 CR | 2 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Wridhhiman Saha | 1 CR | 1.90 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Matthew Wade | 2 CR | 2.40 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| N Jagadeesan | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Vishnu Vinod | 20 L | 50 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Glenn Phillips | 1.50 CR | 1.50 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Tim Seifert | 50 L | 50 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Dhruv Jurel | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Aryan Juyal | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Luvnith Sisodia | 20 L | 20 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
All-rounders
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) | SELLING PRICE (₹) | TEAM |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 2 CR | 5 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Pat Cummins | 2 CR | 7.25 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Dwayne Bravo | 2 CR | 4.4 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Nitish Rana | 1 CR | 8 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Jason Holder | 1.5 CR | 8.75 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Harshal Patel | 2 CR | 10.75 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Deepak Hooda | 75 L | 5.75 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 1 CR | 10.75 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Washington Sundar | 1.5 CR | 8.75 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Krunal Pandya | 2 CR | 8.25 CR | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Mitchell Marsh | 2 CR | 6.50 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Riyan Parag | 30 L | 3.8 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Abhishek Sharma | 20 L | 6.5 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Sarfaraz Khan | 20 L | 20 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Shahrukh Khan | 40 L | 9 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Shivam Mavi | 40 L | 7.25 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Rahul Tewatia | 40 L | 9 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Kamlesh Nagarkoti | 40 L | 1.1 CR | Delhi Capitals |
| Harpreet Brar | 20 L | 3.8 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Shahbaz Ahamad | 30 L | 2.4 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Liam Livingstone | 1 CR | 11.50 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Dominic Drakes | 75 L | 1.10 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Jayant Yadav | 1 CR | 1.70 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Vijay Shankar | 50 L | 1.40 CR | Gujarat Titans |
| Odean Smith | 1 CR | 6 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Marco Jansen | 50 L | 4.20 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Shivam Dube | 50 L | 4 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| K. Gowtham | 50 L | 90 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Lalit Yadav | 20 L | 65 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Ripal Patel | 20 L | 20 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Yash Dhull | 20 L | 50 L | Delhi Capitals |
| N. Tilak Varma | 20 L | 1.70 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Mahipal Lomror | 40 L | 95 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Anukul Roy | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Darshan Nalkande | 20 L | 20 L | Gujarat Titans |
| Sanjay Yadav | 20 L | 50 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Raj Angad Bawa | 20 L | 2 CR | Punjab Kings |
| Rajvardhan Hangargekar | 30 L | 1.50 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Jofra Archer | 2 CR | 8 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Rishi Dhawan | 50 L | 55 L | Punjab Kings |
| Dwaine Pretorius | 50 L | 50 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Sherfane Rutherford | 1 CR | 1 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Mitchell Santner | 1 CR | 1.90 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Romario Shepherd | 75 L | 7.75 CR | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Tim David | 40 L | 8.25 CR | Mumbai Indians |
| Pravin Dubey | 20 L | 50 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Prerak Mankad | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Suyash Prabhudessai | 20 L | 30 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Ayush Badoni | 20 L | 20 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Aneeshwar Gautam | 20 L | 20 L | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 50 L | 50 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Pradeep Sangwan | 20 L | 20 L | Gujarat Titans |
| Writtick Chatterjee | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Shashank SIngh | 20 L | 20 L | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Kyle Mayers | 50 L | 50 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Karan Sharma | 20 L | 20 L | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Mohammed Arshad Khan | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Ansh Patel | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Anunay Singh | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Chris Jordan | 2 CR | 3.60 CR | Chennai Super Kings |
| Nathan Ellis | 75 L | 75 L | Punjab Kings |
| Ramandeep Singh | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Atharava Taide | 20 L | 20 L | Punjab Kings |
| Gurkeerat Singh | 50 L | 50 L | Gujarat Titan |
| Benny Howell | 40 L | 40 L | Punjab Kings |
| Hrithik Shokeen | 20 L | 20 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Bhagath Varma | 20 L | 20 L | Chennai Super Kings |
| Arjun Tendulkar | 20 L | 30 L | Mumbai Indians |
| Shubham Garhwal | 20 L | 20 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Mohammed Nabi | 1 CR | 1 CR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| James Neesham | 1.50 CR | 1.50 CR | Rajasthan Royals |
| Vicky Ostwal | 20 L | 20 L | Delhi Capitals |
| Daryl Mitchell | 75 L | 75 L | Rajasthan Royals |
| Sai Sudharsan | 20 L | 20 L | Gujarat Titans |
| Fabian Allen | 75 L | 75 L | Mumbai Indians |
| David Willey | 2 CR | 2 CR | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| Aman Khan | 20 L | 20 L | Kolkata Knight Riders |
UNSOLD PLAYERS
Batters
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) |
| Suresh Raina | 2 CR |
| Steve Smith | 2 CR |
| Dawid Malan | 1.50 CR |
| Marnus Labuschagne | 1 CR |
| Eoin Morgan | 1 CR |
| Saurabh Tiwary | 50 L |
| Aaron Finch | 1.50 CR |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 50 L |
| Virat Singh | 20 L |
| Himmat Singh | 20 L |
| Sachin Baby | 20 L |
| Harnoor Singh | 20 L |
| Himanshu Rana | 20 L |
| Ricky Bhui | 20 L |
| Tanmay Agarwal | 20 L |
| Tom Kohler-Cadmore | 40 L |
| Sameer Rizvi | 20 L |
| Martin Guptill | 75 L |
| Laurie Evans | 40 L |
| Apoorv Wankhade | 20 L |
Bowlers
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) |
| Adil Rashid | 2 CR |
| Mujeeb Zadran | 2 CR |
| Imran Tahir | 2 CR |
| Adam Zampa | 2 CR |
| Amit Mishra | 1.5 CR |
| M Siddharth | 20 L |
| Sandeep Lamichhane | 40 L |
| Ishant Sharma | 1.5 CR |
| Sheldon Cottrell | 75 L |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 1 CR |
| Qais Ahmed | 50 L |
| Ish Sodhi | 50 L |
| Piyush Chawla | 1 CR |
| Vasu Vats | 20 L |
| Yash Thakur | 20 L |
| Arzan Nagwaswalla | 20 L |
| Mujtaba Yousuf | 20 L |
| Akash Singh | 20 L |
| Reece Topley | 75 L |
| Andrew Tye | 1 CR |
| Sandeep Warrier | 50 L |
| Ben Dwarshuis | 30 L |
| Pankaj Jaswal | 20 L |
| Yuvraj Chudasama | 20 L |
| Midhun Sudhesan | 20 L |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | 75 L |
| Kane Richardson | 1.50 CR |
| Sushant Mishra | 20 L |
| Blessing Muzarabani | 50 L |
| Mukesh Kumar Singh | 20 L |
| Lalit Yadav | 20 L |
| Chinntla Readdi | 20 L |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 20 L |
| Akash Madhwal | 20 L |
Wicketkeepers
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) |
| Mohammed Azharuddeen | 20 L |
| Vishnu Solanki | 20 L |
| Prashant Chopra | 20 L |
| Kennar Lewis | 40 L |
| BR Sharath | 20 L |
| Rahul Chandrol | 20 L |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | 50 L |
| Ben McDermott | 50 L |
All-rounders
| PLAYERS | BASE PRICE (₹) |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 2 CR |
| Roston Chase | 1 CR |
| Charith Asalanka | 50 L |
| Atharva Ankolekar | 20 L |
| Ben Cutting | 75 L |
| Pawan Negi | 50 L |
| Hayden Kerr | 20 L |
| Saurabh Kumar | 20 L |
| Shams Mulani | 20 L |
| Dhruv Patel | 20 L |
| Atit Sheth | 20 L |
| David Wiese | 50 L |
| Kaushal Tambe | 20 L |
| Ninad Rathva | 20 L |
| Ashutosh Sharma | 20 L |
| Moises Henriques | 1 CR |
| Akeal Hosein | 50 L |
| Scott Kuggeleijn | 75 L |
| Shivank Vashisth | 20 L |
| Gerald Coetzee | 20 L |
| Pratyush Singh | 20 L |
| Shubham Sharma | 20 L |
| K Bhagath Varma | 20 L |
| Colin Munro | 1.50 CR |
| Utkarsh Singh | 20 L |
| Duan Jansen | 20 L |
| Khizer Dafedar | 20 L |
| Rohan Rana | 20 L |
| George Garton | 50 L |
The teams
February 15, 2022: The Times of India
MUMBAI INDIANS
Strengths: Have retained most of the successful batsmen from past seasons. Skipper Rohit Sharma will open with Ishan Kishan while the middle order will have Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard & Tim David. Bumrah is the pace ace.
Weaknesses: No Trent Boult, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar or Pandya brothers, who were all instrumental in Mumbai winning the title in 2020 in the UAE.
Opportunities: Pace attack will wear a menacing look in 2023 when Jofra Archer is available. Left-arm seamer Tymal Mills adds variety. Watch out for ‘Baby AB’ Dewald Brevis too! Threats: Lack of replacements in case of injury or poor form. Riley Meredith had a high economy rate of 9. 94 for Punjab Kings last year.
‘Mystery spinner’ M Ashwin played just 3 games last year. Likely XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Fabien Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Strengths: The calming presence of MS Dhoni. The defending champs have reunited as many as 8 players out of the 11 from last year’s IPL final. Weaknesses: Will miss Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina. They lack an experienced leg-spinner too.
Opportunities: Devon Conway could be a decent replacement for Du Plessis. Fast bowling allrounder Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who was recently a part of India’s under-19 World Cup-winning side, is an exciting prospect. Mystery spinner Maheesh Theeksana could be their trump card as well.
Threats: At some stage they will need replacements for the 40-yearold Dhoni and 38-year-old Dwayne Bravo. Likely XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Adam Milne.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Strengths: Freed of the captaincy, Virat Kohli will be itching to make runs. Have done well to acquire Du Plessis, who is now the leading captaincy contender.
Weaknesses: No AB de Villiers. Glenn Maxwell can be devastating but also self-destructive. Opportunities: Perhaps the best attack in Hazlewood, Siraj, Harshal Patel and leggie Wanindu Hasaranga.
Threats: What if Kohli fails to find his touch? Also, have they gambled on 36-yearold Dinesh Karthik? Likely XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Strengths: Good pace attack with Marco Jansen, Natarajan, Umran Malik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Weaknesses: No Rashid Khan. Captain Williamson’s elbow injury. No Jonny Bairstow or David Warner either.
Opportunities: Washington Sundar’s time to shine. Can deliver economical middle-over spells and bat anywhere in the order.
Threats: Have taken a huge risk by spending Rs 10. 75 cr on Nicholas Pooran, who was in horrendous form for Punjab last season. Likely XI: Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Romario Shepherd, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik.
GUJARAT TITANS
Strengths: Rashid Khan and skipper Hardik Pandya’s broad bat. Weaknesses: Batting looks thin. Too dependent on allrounders. Will Pandya be fit to bowl or even lead in all of the games?
Opportunities: The allrounders in Pandya, Rashid, Rahul Tewatia and Vijay Shankar. David Miller as finisher.
Afghanistan’s left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed and UP leftarm pacer Yash Dayal are exciting prospects as well.
Threats: Batting coach and mentor Gary Kirsten has a poor record in the IPL with Delhi Daredevils and RCB.
Mohammed Shami’s economy rate is high. Players may take time to gel as a unit. Likely XI: Shubman Gill, Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Sai Kishore.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
Strengths: Excellent allrounders in Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, K Gowtham, Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis. Very reliable opening pair in Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul.
Weaknesses: No suitable backup options. Lack experienced names in the spin-bowling department too.
Opportunities: Power-packed batting lineup means they can chase a big score as well as set tall targets.
Threats: Lack wicket-taking thrust in the middle-overs. Likely XI: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.
DELHI CAPITALS
Strengths: Dynamic opening pair in Prithvi Shaw and David Warner. Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant complete a strong top four. Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel offer batting depth.
Weaknesses: No Kagiso Rabada to partner Anrich Nortje. Spin department also looks a bit thin.
Opportunities: Proven matchwinners in the top four have to deliver each time.
Threats: Striking upfront with the new ball in the Powerplay will be a cause of concern.
Likely XI: Prithvi Shaw, David
Warner, Mitchell Marsh,
Rishabh Pant,
Mandeep Singh,
Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya.
PUNJAB KINGS
Strengths: Good mix of accumulators and power hitters. Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan offer solidity at the top. In Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith, Punjab have the potential to be the best six-hitting side of the season.
Weaknesses: Onus on Rahul Chahar to do the heavy lifting in the spin department.
Opportunities: The personnel picked allows Punjab to maximise boundary hitting.
Threats: Bowling lacks oomph. The middle-overs phase will be a challenge with the ball. Likely XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Raj Angad Bawa, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
RAJASTHAN ROYALS Strengths: Explosive top five of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer.
Weaknesses: The combination of Jimmy Neesham and Riyan Parag as fifth and sixth bowling options leaves them with a distinct weak spot.
Opportunities: Batting firepower makes them dangerous. An in-form international batter like Rassie van der Dussen as backup offers more options as well.
Threats: Bowling in the death overs. Obed McCoy is the most suitable for the role but getting him into the playing XI will be a challenge. Likely XI: Jos Buttler, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, James Neesham, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Strengths: Yet again, the mystery spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.
Weaknesses: Too many. Lack of a solid first-choice wicketkeeper. Absence of pace options in both the Powerplay and the back end.
Opportunities: Alex Hales was a late, panic-stricken buy at the auction, but the Englishman can prove to be the trump card at the top along with Venkatesh Iyer.
Threats: Fitness-related issues to core players Narine, Andre Russell and Chakravarthy. Lack of able replacements. Likely XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Alex Hales, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
(SWOT analysis by Gaurav Gupta & Hindol Basu)
December mini auction
Prasanth Menon, Dec 24, 2022: The Times of India
From: Prasanth Menon, Dec 24, 2022: The Times of India
Kochi : It was touted as a mini-IPL auction but two young allrounders expectedly fetched the mega bucks.
While England’s 24-year-old Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL history when he was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 18. 50 crore, Australia’s 23-yearold sensation Cameron Green wasn’t far behind as he was bought by Mumbai Indians for17. 50 cr.
The two youngsters went past the record held by South African Chris Morris, who was paid Rs 16. 25 by Rajasthan Royals in 2021. The same amount was paid by Chennai Super Kings to bag the experienced England allrounder Ben Stokes, who is now being seen as an eventual successor to MS Dhoni at the franchise. West Indies’ wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran, meanwhile, was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 16 cr, while England batter Harry Brook went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 13. 25 cr.
The entry of Curran, whoemerged as ‘player of the tournament’ at the T20 World Cup in Australia, saw a bidding frenzy with six franchises going after the Englishman. In the end, it was Punjab who outbid Mumbai. Curran now rejoins the franchise that had given him his first IPL break in 2019, when he was bought for just Rs 7. 2 crore. “Back to where it all started! Looking forward to it,” Curran tweeted on his return to the Punjab franchise.
The inability to buy Curran seems to have spurred Mumbai to go all out for Green. Mumbai faced stiff competition from Delhi Capitals before bagging him for the second-highest price in IPL auction history. With Green having showcased his power-hitting skills in the Australian T20 set-up, Mumbai seemed to be keen to bag the allrounder, who proved himself in Indian conditions during the Aaron Finch-led side’s recent tour.
“We have been following Cameron Green for the last three years and with the recent performances, we thought he is exactly what we needed,” said Akash Ambani, owner of Mumbai Indians.
Having lost out on Curran, CSK opted for experience and picked Stokes, who is expected to play alongside MS Dhoni in next year’s IPL. Another young gun who bagged a decent price at the auctions was England’s Harry Brook, who went for Ts 13. 25 cr to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers’ former captain Kane Williamson, meanwhile, was bagged by Gujarat Titans at the base price of Rs 2 cr. Rajasthan Royals got the allrounder they wanted when they hired the services of West Indian Jason Holder for 5. 75 cr. Two players from smaller cricketing nations also made their maiden entry into IPL.
Ireland’s leftarm pacer Joshua Little was picked by Gujarat Titans for 4. 4 cr while Namibia’s David Wiese was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for 1 cr.
The most expensive Indian player at this year’s mini auction was Mayank Agarwal. Mayank, who was released by Punjab Kings after captaining the side last year, was acquired by Sunrisers for 8. 25 cr.
Mavi is most expensive uncapped player; Vivrant is surprise pick
Two uncapped Indian pacersbagged a hefty price. Pacer Shivam Mavi, who had a base price of Rs 40 lakh, was sold to Sunrisers Kolkata for 6 cr. Mavi, who burst into the limelight with his performances for the title-winning Indian U-19 World Cup team in 2018, was released by Kolkata Knight Riders last season. Meanwhile, 29-year-old Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar also made significant gains as he was fetched by Delhi Capitals for Rs 5. 50 cr from a base price of just 50 lakh.
Another surprising crorepatiuncapped Indian cricketer was little-known Jammu and Kashmir allrounder Vivrant Sharma. Vivrant, who came to the auction table at a base price of Rs 20 lakh and triggered a bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers, who eventually bagged him for Rs 2. 6 crore. While the new impact player rule may have forced franchises to change their auction strategy, the foreign allrounders laughed all the way to the bank.
2023
The players
March 29, 2023: The Times of India
GUJARAT TITANS
Not many would have bet on the Titans winning the IPL title on debut. Now they are the most-marked team and opponents will try to exploit the chinks in their armour. . .
STRENGTH: With the presence of Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and David Miller, the team’s core is very strong.
WEAKNESS: Lockie Ferguson’s departure means support bowlers to Pandya, Shami and Rashid look a bit thin on experience.
OPPORTUNITY: Like last year, they will be keen to prove they don’t need a superstar overseas player to take them over the line.
THREAT: Who opens with Gill among Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson and KS Bharat? And can they strike from the word go?
KEY PLAYERS
Hardik Pandya: Was a revelation in 2022 as skipper and batter. Titans will hope he carries on in that vein and takes even more bowling responsibility.
Shubman Gill: The opener will look to build on his international success. His form will be key to how they start at the top.
Mohammed Shami: Every time his ability to be an all-format bowler has been questioned, the pacer has responded with a bucketful of wickets. Can he go full tilt all season?
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Shivam Mavi: With his inclusion for Rs 6 crore, Titans have added some experience to their domestic bowling contingent.
Kane Williamson: While his T20 form has slipped over the last few years, he can still add value. A good buy to have on the field to help out with decisions, especially in crunch situations.
Joshua Little: Titans spent Rs 4. 4 crore for the 23-year-old Irish leftarm pacer and must have seen some spark in him. Took a hat-trick in the 2022 T20 World Cup against New Zealand.
INJURY WATCH
No injuries issue yet. David Miller will miss the first match due to commitments with South Africa. Joshua Little won’t be available in the second week of May as he will travel to play Ireland’s two ODIs against Bangladesh.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Having finally got rid of the image of ‘perennial underdogs’, last year’s runners-up Rajasthan Royals will be riding high on confidence. At the same time, theywill be under pressure to match last season’s performance. . .
STRENGTH: The squad has a good balance of experienced and promising players. They have some powerhouse foreign signings in Joe Root, Jason Holder and Adam Zampa.
WEAKNESS: Middle-order is slightly fragile. Shimron Hetmyer, although ideal for handling the back-end pressure, is inconsistent.
OPPORTUNITY: Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag are coming into the tournament after a successful domestic season and will look to replicate that success on the big stage.
THREAT: Pace spearhead Trent Boult needs an ally, but with Prasidh Krishna out with back injury, can Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini or Sandeep Sharma fill the void at the other end?
KEY PLAYERS:
Jos Buttler: The England captain will be expected to play a match-winning role more than once.
Sanju Samson: The Royals captain has been associated with the team since 2013 and is now considered their batting mainstay.
Yuzvendra Chahal: The leggie has added teeth to RR’s bowling department with his ability to turn things around.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Joe Root: It will be interesting to see how the Test stalwart adapts to the IPL’s challenges. Donovan Ferreira: The South African wicketkeeper-batter has no international experience but was hot property in the recent SA20 league.
Adam Zampa: His addition adds an extra dimension to the ChahalAshwin combination and gives the Royals more options in the spin department.
INJURY WATCH
Seamer Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out with a lower-back surgery. Medium pacer Sandeep Sharma has been named as replacement.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
Led by KL Rahul, Lucknow Super Giants finished third in 2022. Can they go one better this time?
STRENGTH: Excellent group of allrounders in the form of Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Romario Shepherd and Marcus Stoinis. In Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul, they have a reliable and explosive opening pair.
WEAKNESS: Spin-bowling stocks seem to lack strength. Besides Ravi Bishnoi, there is the ageing Amit Mishra in the team.
OPPORTUNITY: Power-packed batting lineup means they canchase a big score as well as set one.
THREAT: Seem to lack wickettaking thrust in the middle-overs, which might be exposed by powerful batting lineups.
KEY PLAYERS
Quinton de Kock: The form man after a successful series against West Indies will be key in terms of quick starts, but will miss the opening game.
KL Rahul: The skipper, usually among the top run-scorers in the event, will again have a point to prove.
Mark Wood: Known to clock speeds in excess of 150kmph, his blistering pace is an asset.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Nicholas Pooran: The hard-hitting West Indies middle-order batsman played for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season and is known to be brutal against spinners.
Romario Shepherd: In the Andre Russell mould. Bowls at a decent clip and can be devastating with bat in hand.
Prerak Mankad: Pace-bowling allrounder from Saurashtra has a batting strike-rate of 142. 60 and an assortment of slower deliveries.
INJURY WATCH:
Mohsin Khan. The young left-arm fast bowler who impressed in the previous season is nursing a shoulder injury and will miss a majority of the season.
MUMBAI INDIANS
After a forgettable 2022, which saw them lose their first eight matches and finish at the bottom of the standings, MI will look to bounce back with a vengeance. . .
STRENGTH: One of the best batting lineups, boasting the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
WEAKNESS: In Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, Jofra Acher is the only genuine pacer in their ranks. The spin department wears a weak look as well.
OPPORTUNITY: New recruits like Cameron Green and Duan Jansen will aim to seal their places.
THREAT: Lack of depth. If the big guns fail to fire, like last season, they may find themselves in trouble.
KEY PLAYERS
Rohit Sharma: Had a below-par 2022 but with the amount of experience under his belt, still remains Mumbai’s most potent batter.
Suryakumar Yadav: May have struggled in the recent ODI series against Australia but no one can take ‘Mr 360’ for granted in this format. His contributions in the middle will again be key.
Tim David: The Australian gave a glimpse of his abilities with somefiery knocks last season.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Jofra Acher: Bought in the 2022 auction despite some injury problems, he will be hoping to go full tilt this time.
Cameron Green: A perfect replacement for Kieron Pollard. The 23-year-old has pushed himself into the list of best allrounders in the world.
Duan Jansen: The 22-year-old South African left-arm quick is another newbie MI have up their sleeves.
INJURY WATCH: Jasprit Bumrah (back surgery) and Jhye Richardson (hamstring surgery) will both miss the entire season.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
When Chennai Super Kings splurged Rs 16 crore on Ben Stokes in the auctions, it showed desperation. A team that normally never goes for more than Rs 10 cr for an international player broke the bank for Stokes, because MS Dhoni is likely to retire after this season. The future begins now for the franchise. . .
STRENGTH: Experienced players who know what it is like to deliver on the big stage. Plus the leadership skills of MS Dhoni.
WEAKNESS: Pace-bowling pool looks slightly weak. Deepak Chahar is coming back after a long lay-off and the attack lacks a hitthe-deck bowler who can consistently bowl at speeds of 140-plus kmph.
OPPORTUNITY: Pitches at Chepauk can be tailor-made for their spinners like Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theeksana to weave their magic.
THREAT: They might struggle to match the firepower of some of the teams who tend to play a high-tempo game.
KEY PLAYERS:
Ben Stokes: Explosive batter, brilliant fielder and a leader. If he bowls, Stokes will be a complete package
Ravindra Jadeja: The most crucial player in the CSK lineup with his allround abilities. Deepak Chahar: No. 1 pacer of the team. Has to deliver to help CSK make an impact.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Matheesha Pathirana: Sri Lankan slinger with a lot of promise. Can be used as an impact substitute.
Simarjeet Singh: The Delhi pacer has shown promise and is rated highly by the CSK team management. Can he deliver?
Subranshu Senapati: Odisha righthander who can shape up into a useful middle-order batsman.
INJURY WATCH:
Pacers Kylie Jamieson and Mukesh Choudhary have been ruled out. ( Text by Rajesh Pansare, Mandakini Shalya, Hindol Basu, Dwaipayan Datta)
The list continues
March 30, 2023: The Times of India
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Can they shed the tag of perennial underachievers? RCB will play six of their seven home matches in the first four weeks of the competition and Faf du Plessis and his men will be keen to cash in on the early home advantage. . .
STRENGTH: Top-order batting. Virat Kohli’s recent return to form augurs well. With Glenn Maxwell likely to be fit, the stars seem to have aligned.
WEAKNESS: Middle-order batting and death-overs bowling. RCB also need their battery of domestic bowlers to back pacemen Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel.
OPPORTUNITY: In Josh Hazlewood’s absence, focus is on England’s left-arm seamer Reece Topley to deliver with the new ball. Watch out also for Avinash Singh, the new pacer from J&K.
THREAT: The spin department, especially in home conditions. Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed are the top picks.
KEY PLAYERS:
Virat Kohli: Having rediscovered his mojo, his form will be crucial for the team.
Faf du Plessis: The Proteas stalwart led from the front in the previous season and emerged the highest run-getter with 468 runs.
Mohammed Siraj: In Hazlewood’s absence, the pacer will have to up his game, especially at the death.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Avinash Singh: The former tennis-ball cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir is untested but could be RCB’s surprise package.
Reece Topley: The left-arm pacer from England will be a vital cog in RCB’s foreign-player lineup.
INJURY WATCH
England allrounder Will Jacks is ruled out. Pace ace Josh Hazlewood and batter Rajat Patidar will miss the initial phase.
DELHI CAPITALS
They have been consistent enough in the last four editions under coach Ricky Ponting, but need that extra push under new captain David Warner. . .
STRENGTH: Powerful top order with David Warner, Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh.
WEAKNESS: Rishabh Pant’s absence has shaken the balance of the side, especially the middleorder. With no Indian wicketkeeper matching Pant’s ability, DC may have to compromise their fastbowling department by droppingan overseas pacer.
OPPORTUNITY: Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who displayed some good form in domestic cricket, have a chance to show they are ready for the big league.
THREAT: Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav need to swing matches at crucial junctures, but can they deliver consistently in this format?
KEY PLAYERS
David Warner: One of the most prolific IPL batters. Has the experience of leading an IPL team to the trophy.
Axar Patel: Has developed into a strong allrounder. His batting ability could make up for Pant’s absence in the middle.
Anrich Nortje: Led Capitals’ charge in the last three seasons with his searing pace and wicket-taking ability.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Aman Khan: Capitals traded Shardul Thakur with this 26-yearold seam-bowling allrounder. Ponting has been very impressed with his power hitting.
Ishant Sharma: Discarded from India’s Test squad, Ishant is back in the IPL. He could make up for the lack of experience in the fast-bowling department. Can be used as an ‘Impact Player’ too.
Mukesh Kumar: Bought for Rs 5 cr, this pacer from Bengal has been making all the right noises.
INJURY WATCH
Rishabh Pant is out with injury. South African pacers Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi will miss the first match since are busy playing the World Cup qualifiers against the Netherlands.
PUNJAB KINGS
Have never won the title and are prone to making wholesale changes after nearly every season. The last time they reached the playoffs was back in 2014. . .
STRENGTH: The batting looks strong with several power-hitters in the lineup. Shikhar Dhawan offers solidity as well as consistency at the top. Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Sam Curran can go ballistic.
WEAKNESS: Lack of credible death-overs specialists. Sam Curran is good towards the end with his wide yorkers and slower deliveries but lacks support.
OPPORTUNITY: On paper, have the personnel to maximise boundary hitting.
THREAT: Bowling attack lacks a bit of the oomph that defines their batting.
KEY PLAYERS
Shikhar Dhawan: The captain, known to keep his cool in crunch situations, is also the secondhighest rungetter in IPL history.
Sam Curran: The star allrounder helped CSK win theirfourth IPL title in the 2021 season before giving the last season a miss due to back injury.
Arshdeep Singh: Was India’s main man at the T20 World Cup in Australia. Is known to swing the new ball both ways and then bowl toe-crushing yorkers at the death.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Sam Curran: Punjab picked Curran at the auction for Rs 18. 50 crore, making the Englishman the most expensive player in IPL history. His addition to the team brings in a lot of depth in both the bowling and batting departments.
Sikandar Raza: The Zimbabwean has been in brilliant form over the last two years. Starred for his country at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Also helped Lahore Qalandars win the PSL this year. A handy spinner too.
Vidwath Kaverappa: Remember the name. Pace-bowling sensation from Karnataka who impressed one and all in his debut season (2022-23). Gets awkward bounce and has a mean yorker. Was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2022-23 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 with 18 wickets from 8 games.
INJURY WATCH
Englishman Jonny Bairstow continues to recover from a leg injury that he suffered in September last year while playing golf. Liam Livingstone suffered a knee injury during England’s tour to Pakistan last year and is likely to miss the first couple of matches.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
A new-look team with a new captain in Aiden Markram. Most of their overseas players come into IPL in red-hot form. It’ll be a toss-up between Mayank and Bhuvneshwar to lead in the first two games as the South African players are not available. . .
STRENGTH: Potent bowling lineup comprising Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooki, Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid. Plenty of variety.
WEAKNESS: Below-par performance of domestic players.
OPPORTUNITY: The likes of Rahul Tripathi, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Vivrant Sharma and Samarth Vyas can prove their mettle.
THREAT: The challenge is to ensure Natarajan and Washington are back to full fitness and Bhuvneshwar stays injury-free.
KEY PLAYERS
Aiden Markram: In great form. Was player of the tournament in CA T20 and was part of the T20I in which South Africa chased down a record total set by the West Indies. Harry Brook: It will be the Englishman’s first IPL experience. He’s been scoring centuries for fun in Test cricket.
Umran Malik: Fast and exciting. Opponents will have enough data on him by now, but he can beat the best by sheer pace.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Adil Rashid: Will hope to fill the big shoes of Rashid Khan. Harry Brook: Unknown commodity but has the licence to go bang-bang in the middle.
Aiden Markram: His batting and man-management will be tested.
INJURY WATCH
All are fit. SRH must keep an eye on the workload of Bhuvneshwar, Washington and Natarajan.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
The two-time champions grossly underperformed last season, finishing seventh. Can the new management comprising head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun and captain Nitish Rana deliver this time?
STRENGTH: Allrounders. In Russell, Narine, Hasan and Thakur, they have players who can be useful with both bat and ball. Then there are Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese and Shakib Al Hasan who can play more than just one role.
WEAKNESS: Unsettled look at the top. Prone to using various opening combinations. May miss someone to anchor the innings.
OPPORTUNITY: The likes of Russell, Narine and Venkatesh Iyer have the potential to single-handedly pull off a win. Then there’s the presence of some very hard hitters in Litton Das, David Wiese, Narayan Jagadeeshan and Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz. THREAT: If their leading lights fail, KKR may lose direction. Too much dependence on individuals.
KEY PLAYERS
Nitish Rana: It remains to be seen whether the added responsibility of captaincy helps his batting.
Shardul Thakur: Apart from intelligent bowling, he is very useful as a lower-order batter. Andre Russell: Always the key man. If he gets going, job is done. NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR: Litton Das: Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter has been on fire in recent times. David Wiese: Not exactly young at 37, but this ex-South African-nowNamibian player can make useful contributions. Back in the IPL after seven long years.
Narayan Jagadeeshan: The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter can be an answer to KKR’s opening woes, given that he has been in excellent form with five consecutive centuries in List A cricket.
INJURY WATCH
Regular skipper Shreyas Iyer is out with back injury. It is not clear when he will be available. (Text by Manuja Veerappa, Arani Basu, Hindol Basu, JAC Gladson, Saibal Bose)
The top 11 players
From: Sabu Cherian, May 30, 2023: The Times of India
See graphic:
The top 11 players, IPL 2023
2023: Post-match altercation between Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir
Arani Basu, May 3, 2023; The Times of India
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees following a post-match altercation after the conclusion of the RCB-LSG game Monday night. LSG’s Afghan bowler Naveen-ul Haq, too, was fined 50% of his match fee for heated words with Kohli — during which he was also seen grabbing the former Indian skipper’s arm — before the two were separated by RCB’s Glenn Maxwell.
Gambhir, the LSG mentor, and RCB batting mainstay Kohli were fined for breaching Article 2. 21 of the IPL code of conduct, which relates to public acts of misconduct, unruly behaviour and inappropriate comments that are detrimental to the interests of the game.
Kohli’s match fee can be calculated from his contract with RCB but Gambhir’s fee is not revealed by LSG. The tradition has been that franchises pay such fines out of their own pockets. Kohli and Gambhir have indulged in aggressive on-field behaviour in the past. They have history of public post-IPL match showdowns. The two had a heated exchange of obscenities in 2013 following an RCB-KKR game. Gambhir was then KKR captain.
Details
Arani Basu, May 3, 2023: The Times of India
The trigger of the spat between Kohli and Gambhir seemed to be LSG opener Kyle Mayers’ exchange with Kohli, which was seemingly interrupted by Gambhir pulling Mayers away. Gambhir’s aggressive celebration back in the first leg of this encounter at the Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru after LSG’s one-run win seemed to have riled Kohli up. And this time, it was Kohli who celebrated aggressively following RCB’s 18-run victory defending only 126 runs.
Gambhir had earlier pointed at the Chinnaswamy crowd and gestured it to shut up. Kohli repeated the gesture at the Ekana Stadium crowd in Lucknow.
Following the incident, cryptic messages were put out from the social-media handles of both Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq. RCB went on to release a dressing-room video after the match which shows an animated, bare-bodied Kohli saying: “If you can give it, you got to take it. ”
Naveen took to Instagram and posted a story which read: “You get what you deserve. That’s how it should be and that’s how it goes. ” Soon, Kohli put out a story quoting Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius: “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. ”
This is the second time during this IPL that Kohli has got into a controversy for his post-match behaviour. Earlier, his apparent refusal to shake hands with Delhi Capitals mentor Sourav Ganguly during the customary post-game handshakes created a minor furore on social media.
This time too, social media was immediately abuzz with images of Gambhir and Kohli clashing, with Gambhir seen charging at Kohli and being held back by some LSG players. LSG’s Amit Mishra was seen restraining Kohli, with LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya and RCB skipper Faf du Plessis too getting into the act at some stage.
Kohli had apparently earlier pulled up Naveen-ul Haq for trodding on the pitch with spikes, and even shown his boot to both the bowler and the umpire. As is always the case, alot of fake news and innuendo on social media immediately started doing the rounds, distorting the incident.
Faf du Plessis defended Kohli, who seemed hyper-charged throughout the game, speaking in the same video posted by RCB: “That’s the best version of Virat, isn’t it? That’s when he’s at his best. It’s awesome to be a part of it. My job is to keep things calm on the field, which I thought we did really well. ”
A source close to the developments said, “It was expected Kohli would turn up fired up in Lucknow. He was having a go at every LSG player right through the match. Naveen-ul-Haq was also not shying away when Kohli was batting. But things got out of hand during the chase. Kohli was gesturing to the crowd and mimicking Gambhir. And then he said something to Naveen while pointing at his shoe. Naveen was very upset.
“Mayers wasn’t having a cricketing conversation with Kohli. He just went up to Kohli to ask why he was saying unsavoury things for a mere stare from Mayers. Gambhir interjected and told Mayers there was no point of (having) a discussion and that irked Kohli further,” the source added. Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket operations, said, “I guess after the last match here at the Chinnaswamy where we lost off the last ball, it always felt like we were desperate to get this one. I guess you probably saw a little bit of that boil over. ”
CSK beats Gujarat Titans
See graphic:
CSK beats Gujarat Titans, T20Is, 2023
Key numbers
See graphic:
IPL 2023, Key numbers
Hits and flops
Dwaipayan Datta, May 31, 2023: The Times of India
HITS & FLOPS OF IPL-2023
HITS
Shubman Gill (GT) : With 3 tons and 890 runs in 17 games, Gill owned the IPL. Criticised for his slow strike-rate in earlier IPL seasons and his inability to hit those massive sixes, Gill showed how much he has transformed as a T20 batter this time.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) : Looked at ease against top-quality pace and spin and found power to match poise. Scored the fastest 50 and the fastest 100 by an Indian while scoring 625 runs in 14 games. Bossed the Powerplays, scoring 361 runs and hitting 14 sixes.
Rinku Singh (KKR): The first season in which he played all games. He repaid the faith of the franchise by staging stunning escape acts. 474 runs in 14 games (SR 149. 52) is proof of his value.
Rashid Khan (GT): Had an off day in the final with a greasy ball otherwise, whenever GT needed a wicket, he produced it. Bowling with a quick arm speed, the Afghan star has made wrist spin sexy in T20 cricket.
Mohammed Shami (GT): Powerplay wickets are like gold dust and Shami took 17 of his 28 wickets in that period. Also bowled 193 dots, the most in the IPL. A deserving winner of the Purple Cap.
FLOPS
Harry Brook (SRH): Scored the first century of the IPL season but the Englishman bought for Rs 13. 25 cr just could not continue his form, and ended up with just 190 runs in 11 games.
Sam Curran (PBKS): The man of the tournament in England’s T20 World Cup win in Australia was picked up for Rs 18. 5 cr by Punjab Kings, the most expensive buy ever. He seemed weighed down by the expectations, as the meagre returns of 276 runs and 10 wickets show.
Prithvi Shaw (DC): Just 106 runs from 8 matches don’t do justice to the player who was once labelled as a combination of Tendulkar, Lara and Sehwag. Looked rushed and was caught out of position often against quality pace. Lost his place in the playing XI too.
KL Rahul (LSG): Looked confused and laboured his way to 274 runs in 9 games (SR 113. 22) before getting injured. The botched-up chase vs GT, when he was batting on 50-plus and failed to guide the team home when they needed 31 off 36 balls with 9 wickets left, was almost scandalous. Sunil Narine (KKR): Narine’s mystery seems to have run its course. Teams played him comfortably and his 11 wickets came at 7. 97, the most expensive he’s been since 2012. TNN
List of awards
May 30, 2023: The Times of India
From: May 30, 2023: The Times of India
From: May 30, 2023: The Times of India
After 74 matches spread across two months and involving 10 teams, the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League saw Chennai Super Kings being crowned the champions for the fifth time, which brought MS Dhoni's team level with Mumbai Indians, who have also won the title five times.
Here's the complete list of awards given for the season:
Orange Cap (most runs):Shubman Gill (890)
Most Valuable Player of the Season: Shubman Gill
Gamechanger of the Season: Shubman Gill
Emerging Player of the Year:Yashasvi Jaiswal
Fairplay of the Season: Ajinkya Rahane
Catch of the Season: Rashid Khan
Longest Six of the Season: Faf du Plessis wins (115 metres)
Most Fours: Shubman Gill (85)
Super Striker of the Season: Glenn Maxwell
Best Venues of the Season: Eden Gardens (Kolkata) and Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai)
December
From: Dec 20, 2023: The Times of India
From: Dec 20, 2023: The Times of India
From: Dec 20, 2023: The Times of India
See graphics:
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How the bar was raised, IPL players, 2008-24
The auction factfile, IPL, 2024
