IPL Auctions, 2018: One overseas player each franchise could release in the trade

There are still approximately five months left before the 12th edition of Indian Premier League kicks off but the aura of this splendid tournament has led to, it became one of the ‘Hot Topics’ in the entire cricket fraternity.

The fans’ excitement is increasing by leaps and bounds as the auction is around the corner and the first transfer window has already been unfastened. The teams have started to swap and trade the players. Since the auction is likely to be held on 16th December 2018, the franchises have been asked to submit a final list of the players released and retained by them till 15th November i.e. one month before the auctions. This means that the teams still have about 20 days to make their squads stronger through the trading window.

Whilst some of the franchises haven't shown any interest in the preseason trading window, some of the teams have already swung into the action. The Mumbai-based team Mumbai Indians has made a couple of changes in their team as they have released the Sri Lankan off-spinner Akila Dananjaya along with the Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman who was bought by the team in the previous season for 220 and 50 lakhs respectively.

Some reports also state that the star SRH opener Shikhar Dhawan has moved to KXIP because he was unhappy with the Sunrisers team management.

There are some other overseas players as well who are currently useless for their present team but could turn out to be an X-factor for another franchise.

Thus, in the following slides, we will have a look at an overseas player each team should release in the off-season trading window

---

Kolkata Knight Riders - Mitchell Johnson

Kolkata Knight Riders performed quite impressively last time as they were the third-ranked side of the championship. The Dinesh Karthik-led franchise has a very balanced side as they aren’t too weak in any aspect. The team has adequate depth in batting and has a wonderful bowling line-up consisting some brilliant seamers and quality spinners.

Whilst on one hand, the team has Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine, and Piyush Chawla as their lead spinners, on the other hand, the pace battery contains pacers such as Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi and Mitchell Starc. And with such bowlers already into the squad, Mitchell Johnson's role is going to be minimal. And it will be better for the franchise to release him as it will help them to regain their 2 crores in the auction.

Kings XI Punjab - Aaron Finch

Kings XI Punjab's performance in the Indian Premier League, thus far, has been extremely mediocre. The team hasn't been able to lift the silverware for even a single time in the 11 seasons. It has been 4 seasons since the franchise broke into the playoffs. The team once again failed to make it to the playoffs in the eleventh edition of the tournament, largely due to an awful team effort in the second half of the league.

Punjab have a problem of plenty in their batting order. With the likes of Chris Gayle, KL Rahul and perhaps Shikhar Dhawan already in the squad, the team has a spectacular top order in which someone like Aaron Finch looks useless.

Howbeit, the Aussie batsman played in the middle order last year but failed miserably as he was able to score just 134 runs in 10 matches at an average of 16.75. Finch was bought by the franchise for 6.20 crores which also means that releasing him will refill his team’s purse in the auctions and will help them to buy a proper middle order batsman.

Chennai Super Kings - Mark Wood

Chennai Super Kings are arguably the best team to play in the Indian Premier League. The franchise was banned for two years (2016-17) and made a comeback in IPL 11. The team made the comeback in style as it went on to win the IPL for the third time in 9 years. The current Champions also continued their record of qualifying for the playoffs in each and every season they have featured in.

Chennai's dominant batting was one of the main reasons behind their awe-inspiring performance. The only weakness that the team possessed last year was fast bowling. Although, Lungisani Ngidi made the bowling line-up stronger in the second half of the tournament, the three times champions suffered a great lack of death bowlers in the first half of the league.

CSK tried Mark Wood as the partner of Dwayne Bravo in the slog overs against MI in the first game of the tournament but he turned out to be a big upset as he was brutally tonked by the MI batsmen. He gave a total of 49 runs in his 4-over expensive spell.

CSK would undoubtedly look to buy a better death bowler in the upcoming auctions and for this Wood is the perfect guy to be released.

---

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Quinton De Kock

The star-studded line-up of Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to make it to the playoffs for one more season last year. In spite of having the likes of Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Washington Sundar, the team finished the tournament at the 6th position due to the lack of confidence and inability to figure out the right team combination. The team had plenty of top order batsmen in the squad while there were hardly any bowlers who can bowl yorkers during the slog overs.

Nonetheless, the franchise tried to correct a few wrongs in the off-season trade window. The Royal Challengers sold the WK/Batsman Quinton De Kock to Mumbai Indians in the first ever pre-auction trade window in the history of IPL.

The franchise already has quite a few Wicket Keeper batsmen such as Parthiv Patel, Brendon McCullum and AB De Villiers and with these guys already in the team, De Kock was just a liability. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians, in order to facilitate the trade released Mustafizur Rahman (2.2 crores) and Akila Dananjaya (50 lakhs).

Rajasthan Royals - D'Arcy Short

Under the guidance of Ajinkya Rahane, the Champions of the inaugural edition of IPL Rajasthan Royals had a decent run in IPL 11 as they were able to secure a place in the top 4. Despite not having their main player Steve Smith, the team qualified for the playoffs which were a huge achievement for them.

However, the team bought the Australian D'Arcy Short for a hefty amount of 4 crores. The star performer from Big Bash League turned out to be a tragic deal for his team as his performance wasn't up to the expectations and could score only 115 runs in 7 matches.

And it will be better for RR to release him because once Steve Smith will be back, Rajasthan will already have enough openers and Short won't have much to deliver.

---

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Chris Jordan

Sunrisers Hyderabad has been one of the most consistent teams in IPL from the past 3 years. The team has been qualifying to the playoffs for 3 consecutive years, has played 2 finals and has won 1 of them in 2016. Under the tutelage of Kane Williamson, the team dominated the tournament for yet another time as they made it to the finals for the 2nd time in three years.

The team's bowling line-up was so good that they, in one of the matches last year, even defended the total of 118 against Mumbai Indians. Star bowlers such as Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, and Basil Thampi were so good that they even overshadowed the team's weakness i.e. lower middle order. And in the presence of such a brutal pace battery, Chris Jordan (100 lakhs) is of no use. Thus, it will be better for the team management to release him and get a proper finisher

Delhi Daredevils - Dan Christian

Delhi Daredevil’s inconsistent performance in the IPL isn't hidden from anyone. Last season was yet another year where the team ended up with a booby prize because of a disastrous bowling display by the bowlers throughout the season.

Despite having a stellar squad inclusive of big names like Rishab Pant, Glenn Maxwell and Trent Boult, the team lost its momentum midst the tournament and couldn't qualify for the playoffs.

The Australian All-Rounder Dan Christian was bought by DD, last year for a total of 1.5 crores. However, the 35-year old underperformed in the tournament as he scored just 26 runs at a strike rate of 79 and took only 4 wickets in the 4 matches that he played. The guy doesn’t seem to be a solution to the problems of Delhi Daredevils as his form isn't up to mark. The franchise would rather like to sign an in-form all-rounder who could be a proper death bowler for them instead of retaining Dan Christian.

---

Mumbai Indians - JP Duminy

After releasing Mustafizur and Dananjaya, the only guy MI should drop is Jean-Paul Duminy. The 3-time champions already have 4 all-rounders in their squad and retaining Duminy doesn't really makes any sense. At the same time, the South African's performance was also not good in the last season as he could score just 36 runs in 6 matches and with the ball, Duminy went wicketless.

Krunal Pandya's consistent performance has already made him the permanent member of the team and with Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Ben Cutting in the squad, JP Duminy's selection in the playing XI anyways seems tough.

IPL 11 wasn't a season Mumbai Indians would have wanted. The defending champions didn't end the season on a high as they couldn't make it to the playoffs. Albeit, the team has a very strong batting line up which consists of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis etc. The bowling pace battery seems a bit weak as there is currently no back-up for Jasprit Bumrah in the team. And for this, the team will surely like to release a player and pick a fast bowler.