Indian Premier League is miles ahead of all the other leagues around the globe. The quality of domestic players followed by the world's best players is what makes IPL one of the best T20 leagues in the world.
But every interesting story needs a powerful start and auctions are the beginning of the blockbuster IPL movie.
Auctions are held every year, a few months before the start of the season and the line-ups are decided from there. Players who fail to prove their worth are released by the franchises and go back to the auction pool. There have been 12 auctions till now which included 4 mega auctions.
Franchises go through a lot during auctions. They have to make difficult choices with a limited budget. They have to choose a perfect combination that would help them lift the trophy.
However, so many minds at the same place create a lot of confusion as well.
IPL 2020 auctions are set to take place on December 19 but before that let's take a look at blunders made by franchises during the previous IPL auctions.
1) SRH opting out of Stokes before RPS pick him
The 3 dimensional England player entered the IPL auctions pool in 2017. For two successive seasons, Stokes was the most expensive player. The English player was highly rated in spite of the tough WT20 in 2016, where he was smashed for 4 successive sixes by Carlos Braithwaite.
During the auction, four teams went after Stokes.
In the beginning, Sunrisers Hyderabad and 2 other teams were bidding. Amongst the 3, Sunrisers Hyderabad was one of the front-runners and it looked like Stokes was all set to join the orange army. Rising Pune Supergiants came in with big bids and took Stokes along as SRH let Stokes go.
RPS snatched Stokes from SRH for a whopping Rs.14.50 crore.
Stokes became the most valuable player. In 12 games, he made 316 runs with a strike-rate of 142.99. He also picked up 12 wickets and played a crucial role in helping RPS reach the final.
2) Tymal Mills for 12 crores
Another England player who was in headlines after being picked in IPL.
Over-rated Mills had only played 4-5 T20 matches and that too only on English conditions. He was known for his slower deliveries. And following that he was bought by Royal challengers Bangalore for 12 crores.
Mills had a base price of only 50 lakhs but soon the bidding went through the roof as the Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, and Kolkata Knight Riders tried to snag him. Eventually, RCB got him for 12 crores which were way too high for a bowler like Mills who only have one variation.
The same was showcased in the 10th edition of the IPL where Mills failed to justify his bided price. HeHe played just 5 matches and took only 5 wickets at an economy of 8.58.
Next year Mills was released from the RCB.
3) RCB not using "Right to match" card for Rahul
RCB never fails to shock us. In 2018 mega auctions, teams were allowed to retain 3 players before the auction and 2 players during the auction by using the Right to Match card. Before the auction, RCB retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and the uncapped Sarfaraz Khan ahead of KL Rahul. This decision stunned and confused everyone.
After retention RCB was left with 49 crores, whereas it hardly made any difference if they retained Rahul. The purse would only drop from 49 to 47 crores if the Karnataka boy was retained.
It was an absolute shocker but another shocker was on its way when he went at a price of 11 crores in the auction and RCB didn’t use their Right to Match (RTM) card. Kings XI Punjab snaffled the Indian opener.
Rahul has bloomed in KXIP and had a couple of excellent seasons. Hence, it may be one of the regrets haunting RCB at the moment.
4) KKR lost Rohit to MI
Rohit Sharma has been the core of Mumbai Indians. He has not only contributed with the bat but also has been very impressed with his tactics and captaincy.
This could be the possible reason that he has led his Mumbai franchise to four IPL titles which are the most by any team. But all this could never happen if KKR had never let Rohit go in the auctions.
Back in 2011, Rohit was struggling for the national call. He was not the same Rohit as he is known today.
When he went to the auction pool, it was Mumbai who scalped him. Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians were involved in a bidding war. KKR left Rohit at the end as MI picked him up for a sum of 9.2 crores and the rest is history.
5) CSK not going for Ashwin
The local boy was part of the CSK franchise from the very beginning. He has played a crucial role in the success of CSK and was part of the franchise till 2015, after which CSK was banned for 2 years.
When CSK returned in 2018, it was speculated that Ashwin would be in the list of top 3 players retained by CSK. But this did not happen as CSK chose Jadeja ahead of Ashwin.
Later in the auctions, he was sold to Kings XI Punjab for 7.6 crores and Chennai Super Kings didn't use the Right to Match (RTM) card for the player who served CSK for 8 years. During the season, CSK was missing Ashwin very badly as CSK had the worst economy in the power play and death overs, also their bowlers were unable to strike early and were conceding 180-200 runs consistently. Thanks to the batsmen who helped CSK lift the trophy.
After the auctions, Ashwin was disappointed because of his absence from the CSK outfit after years of representing them in the tournament.
"I was a tad disappointed because I have been here for the last ten years," Ashwin said.
