The auction is about strategy and vision as teams chase players who fit into defined roles. Utility more than ability, auction price demand and supply
With ₹250 crore on the table for 77 slots, the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is compelling television theatre where all eyes are fixed on the paddle. If it goes up there is life for the player because an IPL contract, even at base price, is a career changing moment. It is an entry ticket to life in the fast lane with access to cricket superstars and social royalty.
The auction is about the team, not players. Behind the spectacle of bidding is serious cricket and serious commerce. Players are bought and sold like art or vegetables, depending on one’s viewpoint, but it is the team that is more important.
The auction is about identifying and acquiring talent, but this isn’t normal selection. When teams construct a squad of 25, players are picked in an unconventional manner. Cricket experts zero in on options through background work and number crunching. Then on the big day it boils down to market forces, which play out in mysterious ways, to decide who is worth what.
The auction is about constructing a group which will navigate through 14 games and hence teams must factor in injuries, bad form, availability and pitch conditions while choosing players. The challenge for every team is to find the right players at the right price.
The auction is about strategy and vision as teams search for players who can fit into defined roles. Sam Curran (IPL’s most expensive player ever at ₹18.5 crore) is a cricket lightweight, but Punjab Kings desperately needed a bowling all-rounder to fill a gap in their team. This highlights the point that utility (what the team wants) matters more than ability and auction price, of course, is impacted by demand and supply.
The auction is also about luck, the X-factor, and a player’s fate is affected by when his name comes up. Teams tend to go hard in the beginning, not wanting to miss out on players, and names that come up later usually receive modest bids. In this auction, Indian batters will again spark a bidding war because they are scarce and every team needs their commercial brand value. Similarly, there is always market for foreign finishers and those with express pace. This cricket stock remains strong while all-rounders, once very expensive, are suffering a demand slump because of the Impact Player rule.
The auction is about research and data plays a big role. Potential picks are put through a strict DNA test, a 360 degree check where every strength and weakness is analysed. Auctions now are scientific, far less dependent on gut feel compared to the past. Before the auction, teams do extensive prep, holding mock sessions and keeping an eye on interest other teams may have on particular players. Talent scouting for potential stars is now a key vertical in each IPL team.
That said, auctions throw up googlies that disrupt carefully made plans. Multiple bids from competing teams can drive up price to an astonishing level and a team can end up, as someone observed, paying the price of a Mercedes for a motorcycle. The bidding process is dynamic and unpredictable and sometimes it just boils down to obstinacy — the owner/coach/captain is determined to get a ‘must have’ player. In which case the paddle keeps going up. So does the price.
In Dubai on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see how Kolkata Knight Riders reset their team by filling 12 slots with the ₹32 crore they have. Having axed their entire new-ball attack (Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Kulwant Khejroliya), they have a lot of shopping to do. Royal Challengers Bangalore face a similar challenge because they let go most of their bowlers; perhaps they want to buy back Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Hazelwood (all expensive players) at cheaper prices.
There are many other intriguing questions, specially about Indian players, in the auction. What kind of bids will Karun Nair or Manish Pandey attract? Will Shahrukh Khan get anything close to the ₹9 crore Punjab Kings paid for him? Same for Shardul Thakur, who cost KKR ₹10.75 crore? Are teams looking at Umesh Yadav and Chetan Sakariya?
T20 cricket and IPL celebrate fresh talent and the upcoming auction will surely throw up new stars and staggering prices. But in this inevitable churn do remember Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla who carry on defying age, fitness and competition from younger players.
The player auction is a means to an end — an exercise to collect players capable of winning IPL. CSK and Mumbai Indians are IPL’s two most successful sides, but both follow very different auction strategies. CSK play to their strength, maximising their home advantage by packing the team with spin options and all-rounders. CSK make few changes because master strategist MS Dhoni believes in continuity and consistency.
MI are built around big players and big buys in the auction. Previously it was Ishan Kishan, Cameron Green, Tim David, Jofra Archer. This year, with Pandya already in the bag, who will they target?
