Ten Indian Premier League teams went all out to secure foreign and home players in this weekend’s auction to reset their squads for the 15th edition of the big-bucks Twenty20 tournament.
AFP Sport looks at the teams including two new additions in Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans ahead of the start of the world’s richest cricket league in late March.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai, led by India white-ball captain Rohit Sharma, went big to buy back wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan ($2 million) and added England’s Tymal Mills to their pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah.
They also picked up Jofra Archer for $1.06 million but the England fast bowler is unlikely to play this season due to his elbow injury.
However, the team’s director of cricket operations Zaheer Khan said the prospect of watching Archer and Bumrah bowl in tandem “will be worth the wait”.
Chennai Super Kings
The defending champions, led by warhorse Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 40, got most of their old guard back including pace bowlers Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar for $1.85 million.
But Chennai failed to buy South African Faf du Plessis although New Zealand batsman Devon Conway is seen as a worthy replacement at the top of the order.
Kiwi quick Adam Milne comes in as a pace bowling replacement for Australia’s Josh Hazlewood who went to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Delhi Capitals
India’s Shardul Thakur ($1.42 million) and Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were Delhi’s top buys in the auction, but could have done with another fast bowler to supplement Anrich Nortje.
The Rishabh Pant-led side still looks threatening with their opening batting pair of Prithvi Shaw and David Warner, who returned to the franchise — coached by compatriot Ricky Ponting — after his previous 2009-2013 stint.
Lucknow Super Giants
The new team utilised every penny of their purse and stood out with their choice of picks including uncapped pace bowler Avesh Khan for $1.32 million.
With skipper KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock at the top of the batting order and England pace ace Mark Wood joining Avesh, the team looks good on paper and owner Sanjiv Goenka could not agree more.
“The team looks balanced. We have a number of multi-dimensional players,” he said.
Gujarat Titans
The IPL’s other newcomer, led by Hardik Pandya, had already bought match-winners including Afghan spin supremo Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill before the auction.
But despite getting a winning bid for England’s Jason Roy, their batting looks inexperienced.
New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson leads the pace pack alongside India’s Mohammed Shami, whose experience in invaluable but is not as effective in T20 cricket as other formats.
Punjab Kings
England power-hitter Liam Livingstone remained a prize pick at $1.52 million for the team still searching for a title.
New signee Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow lead the batting charge that also boasts new sensation Shahrukh Khan.
South African pace ace Kagiso Rabada leads the bowling charge.
Rajasthan Royals
The inaugural champions did their best to fill in the holes left by Ben Stokes, who is sitting out this year’s tournament, and Archer.
Their batting looks inexperienced with skipper Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler as the only two consistent performers.
They have added firepower to their bowling by bringing in New Zealand quick Trent Boult, Indian paceman Prasidh Krishna and ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The two-time champions seem to have aced the captain’s pick by getting Shreyas Iyer in the auction but their batting still looks inexperienced despite the presence of Alex Hales.
Buying back Australia’s pace bowler Pat Cummins was a steal at nearly $1 million and Sam Billings as their wicketkeeper batsman also a good late sweep. Last year’s captain Eoin Morgan went unsold.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Hyderabad have largely relied on Indian talent including pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Washington Sundar to repeat their 2016 success when Warner led them to their only title.
The team will bank heavily on skipper Kane Williamson to deliver the batting goods in the middle overs despite getting West Indies players Nicholas Pooran and Romario Shepherd in the auction.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore await a new captain after Virat Kohli stepped aside following the end of previous edition and they did well to strike a balance in the auction.
Du Plessis remained a good get and will likely open with Kohli while Glenn Maxwell, a possible leadership choice, and Dinesh Karthik remain key to their middle-order success.
Hazlewood and Harshal Patel join the pace pack with the already retained Mohammed Siraj.
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