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The IPL auction has ended and it seems like every team have got what they wanted. Some teams went ahead and emptied their pockets for newbies and also some for old horses too. This year has been no different. The amount of research, these franchises go through every year before the auction is mammoth, but it doesn't bear fruit everytime.
IPL, no doubt is a bread and butter, especially for the ones who don't make a living playing for their country. This year's auction was like any other auction, a search for an anomaly!
Every year IPL franchises lookout for players who bring something new to the table. And they are ready to spend millions on such players.
Let's look at the best team of 11 players who were sold in this year's auction.
#1 Johnny Bairstow
The aggressive English batsman has proved his mettle on the big stage in the shorter formats. And adapting to IPL would be a cakewalk for him. His dominating style of play might have seduced the SRH selectors to pick him up at ₹ 2.2 cr.
His style of play is tailor-made for the T20 version of the game, which is to attack the bowlers in the first 6 overs. The Hyderabad ground has always seemed to favour those who attack early on rather than those who take it to the last over.
In his 22 innings in international T20s, Bairstow has managed to maintain a healthy strike rate of 125.71. It will be interesting to see how his approach will be in India.
#2 Wriddhiman Saha
Saha has been around IPL for a long time but it was only in 2014 that people discovered him after he scored a magnificent hundred in the night of the final at Chinnaswamy stadium. With that century he showed his strength and adaptability in the side. He opened the innings and batted till the end.
Saha is keen on making an international comeback and given the fact that Indian selectors look for IPL to select test players it won't be a bad buy for SRH since Saha is looking like a wounded lion waiting to hunt, because he has watched too much of Rishab Pant now.
Saha has scored more than 1600 runs at a healthy average and strike rate of 24.33 and 129.85 respectively. Along with the runs he brings great skills along with him behind the wicket. He is probably the best wicketkeeper in India at the moment besides Dhoni.
#3 Shimron Hetmyer
The young lad from Guyana burst onto the international screen after leading his team to a U-19 world cup victory against favourites India. He truly bloomed in the One-day series against India a few months ago.
The 21-year-old is known for his attacking batting display like most West Indian batsmen. But, at the same time, he is known to take responsibility up the order. Since he bats at no 3 for his national side in international T20s, it would be apt for RCB to let Kohli open the innings and Hetymer to bat at no 3 and Mr.360 can follow him next.
#4 Colin Ingram
Colin Ingram is one of those unlucky players who missed out a great international career despite great promise because of shuffling of the batting order. He was a new promising star when India toured South Africa in 2010-11 just before the world cup. He disappeared and then later in 2016-17 he found his form back in Natwest T20 blast in England.
He is a very experienced campaigner when it comes to T20s. In Vitality blast 2018 he has scored 430 runs at an astonishing average of 53.75 for Glamorgan. He has honed his skill set with his leg spin and has also picked up important wickets when it was needed.
He was picked up at a whopping ₹ 6.4 cr by Delhi Capitals in this auction season and there is no doubt he will be made to play all the games in the league. It would be a good option to have an attacking middle order batter like Colin Ingram who brings a bag load of T20 experience.
#5 Yuvraj Singh
The man behind two of the most significant events in Indian cricketing history, Yuvraj Singh is surely gonna a be a player to watch out for in this season. Though he hadn't played much in the last 2 seasons of the league there is an inevitable sense that something is waiting around the corner and the opposition may be put under the sword.
Yuvraj Singh is no doubt a legend in Indian cricket in shorter formats and his record speaks for himself. In 122 innings he has managed to score 2652 runs at an average and strike rate of 24.79 and 129.68 respectively.
But, with a player like Yuvraj, it is not about his records in the past, but rather his form in that particular season or maybe his form on the match day itself. With Rohit opening the innings, Yuvraj will have full freedom to play in the middle order. He will give some economical overs with wickets in between too.
#6 Shivam Dubey
Shivam's purchase for a staggering amount of ₹ 5 cr came as a surprise for many pundits. He recently made himself quite a name in the domestic circuit by giving the red cherry a nice tonk 5 times in an over.
He will surely add a great value to otherwise an imbalanced RCB side. He can bowl at crucial intervals for his skipper and can manage some quick fire 20s and 30s down the order. He can be the finisher in this side along with Yuvraj and Curran.
His right arm medium pace will be tested against some of the best in the world and if he managed to come on top after this IPL then he might find himself in a good position for getting into the national side.
#7 Sam Curran
There was only one option in the team between Brathwaite and Sam Curran and I have gone with the Englishman. It is inevitable that someone bought out for a heavy buck of ₹ 7.2 cr will be played for all the matches unless there are some injury problems.
The Kings XI Punjab had always looked for an all-rounder who could manage both at equal measures. They failed the last time after they had retained Axar Patel who didn't perform well for them in the last season.
Sam Curran has had a dream start to his international career and there is no doubt why he is not going to perform in IPL.
For Surrey, he has been a vital part in many of their country games. He was also signed by Auckland Aces in 2017-18. There is no doubt that he would breathe some fresh air in that stinky old KXIP dressing room.
#8 Varun Chakravarthy
The IPL franchises and their love of picking up young mystery spinners go way back to 2011 when CSK bought a young Tamilnadu carrom-ball specialist in R Ashwin. Then KKR followed them by picking up Sunil Narine in 2012.
The tradition has continued ever since. Gujarat Lions bought S. Kaushik, KKR bought K.Cariappa, Pune Giants bought M Ashiwn and last year KXIP picked up Mujeeb-ur-Rehman.
This year it's Varun Chakravarthi who has been bought by KXIP for a whopping Rs 8.4cr! It will be interesting to see how he is used this time by the KXIP captain.
#9 Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma has been in and around the IPL teams for quite a few seasons now. He became well known among the players and the selection after his great 2012-13 domestic season for Haryana. He picked up 37 wickets in just 8 matches.
His debut in IPL was a dream one as he picked 20 scalps in a single tournament at Chennai Super Kings. After a promising start to his career, he then got selected for the national side in shorter formats. He picked 13 wickets in 2015 world cup in Australia, but later his career went downhill as Bumrah and others came along.
It is a nice opportunity for Mohit Sharma to get a call from the national selectors once again by performing well in this IPL.
#10 Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat might have not been top notch in last season of IPL in 2018 for RR but he is surely one to watch out for in IPL 2019. He has been the joint highest bid player for ₹ 8.4 cr. In 2017 he destroyed the opposition team batting line-ups both top and lower orders.
He has probably had one of the best IPL careers so far where he has picked up 67 wickets in 62 matches at an impressive average of 26.78. He has an economy of 8.4 per over which is considered healthy in a tournament like IPL.
This IPL can be the catalyst in his international career. Since Khaleel Ahmed has shown some good intent already this would be a golden opportunity for Unadkat to overcome his last year woes and cement his spot back in the Indian dressing room.
#11 Mohammed Shami
Though many would disagree with this selection, I would still argue with them since Shami is bowling at his peak. He is absolutely shining in Test cricket and there is no doubt that once a bowler is on a song in the toughest format he can easily get into a T20 transition mode. He was an integral part of India's 2015 world cup campaign and was very successful too.
Mohammed Shami after all he has gone through in this year has still managed to come out and bowl over after over with precision and at real pace for his captain. He is the highest wicket-taker for India in this year in test cricket.
Shami has picked up 21 wickets in his IPL stint so far, but, known as 'second innings' Shami, he will certainly be hoping this IPL turns out to be his second innings into the Blue jersey for India.
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