The Indian T20 league is all set to get bigger and hopefully more entertaining for its fans, yet more challenging for the players, with the auction for the upcoming tournament to be held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13.
More than 590 players are up for a massive bidding war among 10 teams, which include all of the biggest names from international cricket as well as India, such as David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Shreyas Iyer, Faf du Plessis, Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin and Quinton de Kock.
What about the two new teams?
It must be remembered that the Indian T20 League is now a 10-team tournament with Team Lucknow and Team Gujarat joining the world's biggest T20 cricket competition as its two new sides. The Indian T20 league governing council gave both the new teams a window to sign up three players of their choice from the available bank ahead of the mega auction.
The Lucknow side roped in India vice-captain KL Rahul along with Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and India's uncapped legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, whereas the Gujarat side went for the local hero Hardik Pandya as their new captain along with Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan and India's batting star Shubman Gill.
What about the other 8 teams and their retained players?
Apart from the two new franchises, the existing eight teams were allowed to retain up to four players which included a maximum limit of three Indian players and one overseas. It was no-brainer for the four-time winners team Chennai to go for their captain M Dhonii along with Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad. While team Hyderabad let go of Warner ahead of auction, they went on to retain their regular captain Kane Williamson along with uncapped Indian players in Abdul Samad and Umran Malik.
V Kohlii will continue to play for team Bangalore and so will the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj, whereas Delhi have retained their regular captain Rishabh Pant along with South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje as well as Prithvi Shaw and Akshar Patel.
… who did Mumbai and Kolkata retain?
Team Kolkata have retained the star all-rounders Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. The five-time champions Mumbai have retained the services of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav whereas Punjab have retained only two players in Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. Rajasthan have kept Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
What about the uncapped Indian players?
Apart from the big international names, the Indian T20 league 2022 mega auction will also witness plenty of young and exciting players who have not yet made it to the biggest stage in international cricket, but carry a lot of promise which the teams tend to utilise in the competition such as Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, Vishnu Vinod, Abhinav Manohar, Tanmay Agarwal and a few others.
Ahead of the grand event over this weekend, et us take a look at the players who can be hot properties during the mega auction:
David Warner: Following his unceremonious exit from the Hyderabad camp — the team’s greatest player in terms of magnitude and achievements — the Australian was believed to be hard done by. Warner brings along immense experience of playing in the Indian T20 league wherein he has also held leadership roles. Warner holds several records for team Hyderabad in the competition and remains one of the best batsmen in the competition who can garner plenty of runs at the top. For teams that are looking for change in leadership, such as Punjab and Bangalore, Warner comes across as an excellent option to rope in.
Shreyas Iyer: At one point in time, Shreyas Iyer looked as a long-term leader of the Delhi camp until he ran into shoulder trouble, which kept him out of the 2020 edition. Iyer did return for the edition next year but played under the leadership of Rishabh Pant. With the team management sticking with Pant as their leader, Iyer decided to part ways and put his name in the mega auction list as one of the marquee players. The Indian middle order batsmen has leadership credentials and as a solid player in the format — one that every team would want to have.
Shikhar Dhawan: One of the most experienced players in international as well as Indian T20 League circuit, Dhawan has remained a consistent run getter in the format with plenty of promise at the top of the order. With Delhi releasing the left-handed batsman, he can be a crucial player for any side in this tournament who are looking to solidify their top order, or even the middle for that matter.
Quinton de Kock: The aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman from South Africa formed a very potent pair with Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma in the last few seasons. De Kock is a fluent batsmen who likes to feel the thumping sound of the ball on his bat more often than not, convincingly, while getting runs in all the parts of the ground. His wicketkeeping skills are impeccable and the South African remains a very important player for the Indian T20 League.
Pat Cummins: The newly-crowned Australia Test captain is one of the most skilful bowlers in the world right now. The right-arm fast bowler missed the second leg of last year’s edition which was played in the UAE for Team Kolkata, following which he was released from the side. His raw pace and accuracy are his forte but Cummins is also a handy batsman in the lower order, having played an extremely vital and entertaining innings for Kolkata against Chennai in the last Indian T20 league edition.
Ishan Kishan: For someone who has been on the rise and has been knocking down the doors for selection in the Indian team on a regular basis, Ishan Kishan will be one of the most exciting prospects on the auction table this weekend. An aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, Kishan has fluent stroke play in all the parts of the cricket ground which makes him one to watch out for. His young age of 23 also helps teams to plan for the long haul.
Kagiso Rabada: It was unfortunate for the South African to have been discarded by his team, Delhi, despite doing a fabulous job for the last couple of seasons. The South African bowler is replete with all qualities that one requires in a fast bowler — pace, aggression and accuracy. He is another player to make it to the marquee list of the auction this year with whom teams can get into long-term planning.
Jason Holder: The stocks have been on the rise for the West Indies all-rounder who was unceremoniously removed by his team as their national captain a few seasons ago. Holder has since gone on to become a better player across formats, delivering performances consistently with both bat and the ball while also playing crucial roles with his cricketing acumen. Holder has proven his skills in the Indian T20 League for Team Hyderabad in the last few seasons and he is surely a valuable addition for any side going forward.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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