IPL Auction 2019: Grading all eight teams from their buys 

Chennai Super Kings will believe they have a squad to defend their crown from 2018
Chennai Super Kings will believe they have a squad to defend their crown from 2018

The 2019 IPL auction was a contrasting affair. While teams like Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals bid all day long for their earmarked players, teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings filled their areas of requirement and watched the action as it unfolded.

Like all previous auctions there were proven names who went unsold while new and emerging teenagers pocketed the big bucks.

By the end of the auction, some teams got their man while others had to resort to plan B and bid for another of their earmarked players.

Here is a detailed grading of all eight teams and their auction buys.


#8 Rajasthan Royals: C+

Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat

Batsmen

Manan Vohra (20 Lakhs)

Manan Vohra is part of the talented bunch of players that have made a name for themselves through the IPL. He will be fighting for the opener's spot with Rahul Tripathi after Jos Butler leaves for national duty.

All Rounders

Liam Livingstone (50 Lakhs), Ashton Turner (50 Lakhs), Shashank Singh (30 Lakhs), Riyan Parag (20 Lakhs), Shubham Ranjane (20 Lakhs)

Liam Livingstone had a great Vitality T20 Blast season where in 7 matches he scored 318 runs at an average of 45.42 and a strike rate of 188.16, bowling his legbreaks Livingstone also captured 6 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 8.25.

Ashton Turner is an Australian all rounder, who is a right hand batsman and an off break bowler. He has a career T20 strike rate of 142.56 and a career T20 economy rate of 6.97.

Bowlers

Jaydev Unadkat (8.4 Crores), Varun Aaron (2.4 Crores), Oshane Thomas (1.1 Crores)

Jaydev Unadkat took a paycut of 4 crore after a below par IPL 2018 season where he took 11 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 9.65. He will be given the job of leading the royals pace attack again in 2019.

Oshane Thomas had a great CPL season where he took 18 wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate of 8.36 to finish as the 2nd highest wicket taker in the tournament.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore: B-

Shimron Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer

Batsmen

Shimron Hetmyer (4.2 Crores), Heinrich Klaasen (50 Lakhs), Himmat Singh (65 Lakhs), Devdutt Paddikal (20 Lakhs)

Shimron Hetmyer turned heads in the CPL by scoring 440 runs in 12 matches at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 148.14. In the recently concluded ODI series against India he scored 259 runs at an average 51.8 and a strike rate of 140. He might open the innings with Virat Kohli.

All Rounders

Shivam Dube (5 Crores), Akshdeep Nath (3.6 Crores), Prayas Ray Burman (1.5 Crores), Gurkeerat Singh Mann (50 Lakhs)

Mumbai lad Shivam Dube came into the limelight when Sunil Gavaskar spoke highly about him, an all rounder, Dube was part of Mumbai's victorious Vijay Hazare squad where he took 13 wickets at an economy rate of 4.53 and with the bat boasted a strike rate of 137.09. On auction eve he struck 5 sixes of consecutive balls in a Ranji trophy game to secure a sparkling bid.

Prayas Ray Burman is a mystery spinner from Bengal. The 16-year old's claim to fame was his performance in the Vijay Hazare trophy where he captured 11 wickets in 9 matches at an economy of 4.45.

#6 Kolkata Knight Riders: B-

Carlos Brathwaite
Carlos Brathwaite

Batsmen

Nikhil Naik (20 Lakhs)

A wicket-keeper batsman from Maharashtra, Nikhil Naik has a career T20 average of 25.54 and a strike-rate of 128.89.

All Rounders

Carlos Brathwaite (5 Crores), Joe Denly (1 Crores), Shrikant Mundhe (20 Lakhs)

Carlos Brathwaite had an average CPL season where he scored 104 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 150.72, he also captured 10 wickets at an economy rate of 7.86. Brathwaite will provide back up for Andre Russell.

Joe Denly had a great season with both bat and ball in the Vitality T20 Blast as he scored 409 runs in 13 matches at an average of 37.18 and a strike rate of 145.03. He also captured 20 wickets at an economy rate of 7.76

Bowlers

Lockie Ferguson (1.6 Crores), Harry Gurney (75 Lakhs), Anrich Nortje (20 Lakhs), Yarra Prithvi Raj (20 Lakhs)

New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson has had a great 2018 season where he captured 18 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 6.69.

English fast bowler Harry Gurney had a good season with the ball for Nottinghamshire in the Vitality T20 Blast where he took 20 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 7.63.

South African Anrich Nortje took 8 wickets in 3 matches in the recently concluded MSL before being sidelined due to injury but it was his ability to clock 150 kph consistently that caught everyone's eye.

#5 Kings XI Punjab: B+

Sam Curran
Sam Curran

Batsmen

Nicholas Pooran (4.2 Crores), Prabhsimran Singh (4.8 Crores) and Sarfaraz Khan (25 Lakhs)

Nicholas Pooran had a great year with the bat in the shortest format of the game, he set the CPL on fire with hard hitting abilities and finished the tournament with 267 runs at a strike rate of 144.47, in the recently concluded T10 league he was the highest run-getter with 324 runs to his name at a strike rate of 245.5. All in all he is a player who can clear the rope with ease and will be worth each penny KXIP spent on him.

Simran Singh is just 17 years old but has shown potential in the youth International circuit having been a part of India's U19 Asia Cup and Emerging Players Asia Cup squad. He has drawn comparisons to Rishab Pant due to his hard hitting abilities and is player to watch out for in the future.

Sarfaraz Khan is a experienced IPL campaigner who has shown potential in past seasons and will look to regain his lost form.

All Rounders

Varun Chakravarthy (8.4 Crores), Sam Curran (7.2 Crores), Moises Henriques (1 Crore), Darshan Nalkande (30 Lakhs), Harpreet Brar (20 Lakhs), Agnivesh Ayachi (20 Lakhs)

Varun Chakravarthy's domestic performances clearly caught the franchises eye and turned him into a millionaire overnight. Varun's claim to fame was his performance in the 2018 TNPL season where he finished with a miserly economy rate of 4.7 even after bowling in the powerplay and death overs. His performance earned him a place in Tamil Nadu's Vijay Hazare squad where he finished with a 22 wickets at an economy rate of 4.23. If Varun can keep up his performances, he will be KXIP's greatest coup.

Sam Curran terrorized the Indians with both bat and ball in the test series and showed that his performances were not a flash in the pan by repeating his performance against Sri Lanka in sub continent conditions. Curran has shown that he can be a factor with both bat and ball even on sub continent pitches and KXIP hope his presence can turn their fortunes around.

Bowlers

Mohammed Shami (4.8 Crores), Hardus Viljoen (75 Lakhs), Murugan Ashwin (20 Lakhs), Arshdeep Singh (20 Lakhs)

With a dearth of pace bowlers in their ranks, KXIP went big for seasoned Indian pacer Mohammed Shami even though his IPL career is not one to drool upon. Shami has played just 19 matches combined in his last 3 IPL seasons taking 13 wickets at an economy north of 9. KXIP will hope that he brings his test match form to the IPL this season.

Hardus Viljoen is a South African fast bowler who had a fruitful T10 campaign where he picked up 18 in 9 matches to finish as the league's highest wicket taker at a miserly economy rate of 7.77.

#4 Mumbai Indians: B+

Barinder Sran
Barinder Sran

Batsmen

Anmolpreet Singh (80 Lakhs) and Yuvraj Singh (1 Crore)

The 20-year old opening batsman was part of India's 2016 U-19 World Cup squad where he won the Man of the Match award for his performance in India's semifinal clash against Sri Lanka. In 9 List-A matches Anmolpreet has scored 537 runs at an average of 59.66 and a strike rate of 105.5.

All Rounder

Pankaj Jaiswal (20 Lakhs)

Yuvraj Singh is an Indian legend but his recent IPL form has been mediocre at best. During last season, he scored just 65 runs in 8 games at an average of 10.83 and a strike rate of 89.04. Getting a spot in the starting 11 will be tough for the veteran left-hander.

Pankaj Jasiwal is a lower order batsman who can hammer the ball backed by the fact that he has a career T20 strike rate of 203.03. He is a handy medium pacer who has 42 wickets in 27 matches at a career economy-rate of 7.09.

Bowlers

Barinder Sran (3.4 Crores), Lasith Malinga (2 Crores), Rasikh Salam (20 Lakhs)

Barinder Sran made headlines when he was picked up for India's Australian tour squad in 2016 but since then he has failed to return to the international fold and his IPL performance is also not inspiring having taken just 4 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 12.45 in the last 2 seasons.

Malinga returns to the IPL as a player after serving as a mentor last season with the Mumbai Indians. He came back from his retirement and has had a fairly successful return to the game.

#3 Delhi Capitals: A-

Colin Ingram
Colin Ingram

Batsmen

Colin Ingram (6.4 Crores), Hanuma Vihari (2 Crores), Ankush Bains (20 Lakhs)

Ingram had a great 2018 season in the shortest format of the game as he was part of the title-winning Adelaide Strikers in the BBL and APL runners-up Kabul Zwanan where he scored 206 runs in 9 innings. I

In the PSL, he scored 243 runs at an average of 34.71 with a strike rate in the excess of 140. His performance in the APL and PSL on sub-continent pitches prompted DC to shell out big bucks for the South African.

Hanuma Vihari has a career strike rate of 111.12 and isn't a name synonymous with T20 cricket but his presence might provide a calm head in a batting order that has explosive names like Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan.

All Rounders

Axar Patel (5 Crores), Sherfane Rutherford (2 Crores), Keemo Paul (50 Lakhs), Jalaj Saxena (20 Lakhs)

Axar Patel is one of the brighter young talents in the IPL, a accurate line and length bowler who can clear the ropes when called upon.

Sherfane Rutherford is a hard hitting batsman who was one of the top-10 run scorers in the recently concluded T10 league, scoring 195 runs at a strike rate of 211.95. In the CPL, coming down the order he scored 171 runs at an average of 34.20 with a strike rate of 142.50.

Bowlers

Ishant Sharma (1.1 Crores), Nathu Singh (20 Lakhs), Bandaru Ayappa (20 Lakhs)

Ishant Sharma is quite an intriguing pick by DC given the fact that he last played a T20 in 2017, the Capitals are hoping that bring his test form into the IPL as well.

Nathu Singh was a rage 2 seasons ago when he was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for 3.2 crore but he has faded out of the spotlight since then.

#2 Sunrisers Hyderabad: A-

Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow

Batsmen

Jonny Bairstow (2.2 Crores), Wriddhiman Saha (1.2 Crores), Martin Guptill (1 Crore)

The English wicket keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow is a solid option at the top and will most probably slot in at the other opening spot with David Warner. He has a healthy T20 career average of 24.61 and a T20 career strike rate of 125.71.

Wriddhiman Saha took a 4 crore paycut after a disastrous 2018 IPL season which was hampered by injury problems and bad form as he scored just 122 runs in 11 matches at an average of 15.25. He is still one of the best glove men in India and will look to make amends for last season.

Martin Guptill is one of the best opener's in the shortest format of the game and can form one of the most explosive opening pair's alongside David Warner. He has a career T20 average of 32.62 and a career T20 strike rate of 128.21.

#1 Chennai Super Kings: A-

Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma

Batsmen

Ruturaj Gaikwad (20 Lakhs)

This young Maharashtra lad is part of India's emerging squad which took part in the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup in Sri Lanka. He has a career T20 average of 26.20 and a career T20 strike rate of 137.89.

Bowlers

Mohit Sharma (5 Crores)

Mohit Sharma returns back to where it all started for him, CSK catapulted him to Indian national squad where he was lucky enough to play 2015 World Cup after replacing an injured Ishant Sharma. He had a mediocre IPL 2018 as he captured just 7 wickets in 9 matches at a costly economy rate of 10.85.

In a team that had just Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur as their frontline pacers, Mohit Sharma will be expected to take on most of the workload for the pace attack as he is senior most member and has the most experience bowling on the Chepauk pitch.

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