IPL 2014: Smart signings to end teams' woes

Yuvraj Singh – The costliest buy at the auction

A lot of moolah has been spent this week by franchisees looking forward to strengthen their stake for this years IPL , and evidently a lot of thinking has been done by every team management in bidding for players that adds strength to their team structure. Considering the fact that a lot of matches will be played at home, each team has gone for the players that could suit their conditions at home.

Rajasthan Royals over the years have built a fortress around the Sawai Man Singh stadium and not many teams have gone back victorious over the past 6 years. They had an almost immortal home record last year, and taking cue from the Royals teams have made decisions in this years auctions to strengthen their team at home. Let’s take a look at some of the players that could end the woes of teams struggling over the years in areas where they were never considered the best.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

RCB has never been a power house of fast bowlers , and all that could end this year with the addition of Mitchell Starc. A lot of eyebrows were raised when there was intense bidding for Starc, but he is expected to end RCB’s bowling troubles. Over the years, RCB has always been a power packed batting team with players like Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers in its ranks.

They have added on Yuvraj Singh and further strengthened what they have always been good at, although in hindsight they might have ended up paying a lot more than RCB had hoped for. Varun Aaron and Ashok Dinda , capped Indian players have also figured in their scheme of things to add strength.

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

The Royals traditionally have always believed in utility players who adds value to the team, and they have stuck patriotically to that principle this year too- Steven Smith, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdullah , Kevon Cooper, Ben Cutting and Abhishek Nayar are all players who brings the all-rounder option to their table.

An area where they lacked the required talent was in the spin department. The Royals after the departure of Shane Warne has never been a team that boasted of quality spinners that could win them matches away from home. They seemed to struggle for wickets when they played on turning tracks outside the comforts of Jaipur.

All that might end this year after they retained Pravin Tambe, who showed some great talent towards the fag end of last season and Iqbal Abdullah , another crafty spinner who can also bat a little down the order. Iqbal Abdullah at 65 lakh is a steal, and its surprising none of the other teams were keen to grab him.

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)

A team that has never boasted quality middle order batsmen over the years since Yuvraj Singh’s departure may finally have their prayers heard in the form of the Australian batsman,George Bailey. Punjab has never been a team that had hard hitting batsman in the middle overs, and neither did they have quality finishers.

George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell – Smart buys from Kings XI Punjab

George Baileys addition along with David Miller and Glen Maxwell might turn the tables for them this year. Kings XI has never looked this solid on paper since IPL 1, but they seem to be a top contender for this years championship. Someone like Cheteshwar Pujara at one end to steady the ship in the middle overs, and an explosive batsman at the other end to add on to the total is envious.

The team management has done their homework right by going aggressively for players that were the missing pieces in the earlier editions.

Mumbai Indians (MI)

They have had trouble in finding players to open the innings in the past. One of the few teams that have tried ‘n’ number of opening combinations in the past, Mumbai Indians will have a solid opener in the form of Michael Hussey this year. His services to Chennai Super Kings in the past has been commendable and MI will be hoping to see Michael Hussey at his best this season.

The addition of Corey Anderson takes away the added dependence on Keiron Pollard’s fireworks towards the end. From the looks of it Aditya Tare and Michael Hussey might open the innings for the Mumbai Indians this season, and that’s a pair to watch out for.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

SRH had been having trouble with their batting last year, and this year might be a lot better for them with the likes of Aaron Finch and David Warner coming into the team. SRH has always been a strong bowling unit and their batsmen have faltered matches in the past that could have easily been theirs with poor performances.

With Moises Henriques and Irfan Pathan down the order their batting seems slightly better than last year. SRH has taken an effort to balance their team well by bidding well for a few good batsmen.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

KKR relied too much on spin last year and found themselves in trouble when Sunil Narine had an off day at the office. Since winning away from home is as important as their home matches, the KKR have bought quite a few quality bowlers that could end their porblems in the fast bowling department.

R Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Pat Cummins form a lethal pace attack that was missing from their side over the years. KKR has focussed this year on building up their pace department, and they have done it with reasonable success looking at the players they have in their kitty. This might be a turn around for the KKR’s this season.