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Looking for the smartest IPL auction strategy
Summary
Player retentions revealed the thinking in the franchises. Now they have to play their trump cards and make the most of the purse
The Indian Premier League (IPL) laid out a level playing field through player auctions from the very outset in 2008. Every team has a fixed purse, ensuring that the richest franchises cannot dominate the league simply by buying the best players. Rather, it rewards the smartest franchises who deploy their purses wisely.
The purse is ₹120 crore for each of the 10 teams to be formed in the triennial mega auction on 24-25 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Each franchise has been allowed to retain a maximum of six players, with their purses debited accordingly before the auction. Now we await the unfolding of their auction strategies.
Mumbai Indians looking for bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah is the only specialist bowler among the five players retained by the Ambani-owned franchise that finished last in IPL 2024. It’s a tacit acknowledgement that Mumbai Indians (MI) messed up their bowling lineup after 2020, the last time they won the title. With Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya forming the backbone of the batting, MI can focus on acquiring bowlers to back Bumrah, with ₹45 crore left in the purse. 
Trent Boult, released by Rajasthan Royals (RR), may rejoin MI. After becoming New Zealand’s highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup, the 35-year-old Kiwi retired from international cricket. But he can still be lethal with the new ball. Jofra Archer, who let MI down by pulling out in the last IPL, is also back in the auction.
Punjab Kings’ total revamp
Second from bottom in IPL 2024, Punjab Kings (PBKS) junked their full roster, except for two uncapped players, Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh. New coach Ricky Ponting, who parted ways with Delhi Capitals (DC), will have maximum leverage to form his team with ₹110.5 crore, the auction’s fattest purse.
Not retaining India’s T20 opening bowler, Arshdeep Singh, surprised commentators. But the left-arm swing bowler’s economy rate of around 10 last season apparently did not impress Ponting. He may target Aussie left-armer Mitchell Starc, who was with the 2024 title-winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). But his sights will first be on the potential skipper, Rishabh Pant, who opted out of DC. Another DC player who may move to PBKS is Aussie opener Jake Fraser-McGurk with a 234 IPL strike rate.
Remember the Gujarat Titans
The abdication of Hardik Pandya, who moved to MI, disrupted Gujarat Titans (GT). But Shubman Gill, who took over from Pandya, will have an opportunity to prove his mettle with a new team after finishing seventh in 2024. A purse of ₹69 crore after retaining Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudarshan, Rahul Tewatia, and Shahrukh Khan provides ample scope. 
GT let go of two of their star performers, Mohammed Shami and David Miller. They may try to get one of them back with a right-to-match (RTM) card. (A franchise has the right to match the top bid for a player they have released if their quota of six retentions is unfulfilled.)
Lucknow Super Giants want selfless strikers
The three-year-old franchise parted ways with skipper K.L. Rahul, whose self-preservative attitude kept his strike rate below 140 in the last six IPL seasons. “We wanted to go in with players who put the team before their personal aspirations," said Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka.
Trinidadian striker Nicholas Pooran, retained for ₹21 crore, will be the new captain. Uncapped batsman Ayush Badoni and three bowlers, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, and Mohsin Khan are the other retentions, leaving a purse of ₹69 crore. Look for LSG to aim for strikers like Miller, Phil Salt, and Will Jacks to join Pooran. 
Delhi Capitals go local
Failing to make the 2024 playoffs despite a late surge, DC had a rethink about the team management. They replaced marquee Aussie coach Ricky Ponting with two low-profile Indian coaches, Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao, who have been doing well in local leagues.
Unable to retain Rishabh Pant, they kept their powder dry with ₹73 crore. The spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, upcoming South African batsman Tristan Stubbs, and uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Porel are smart retentions under the circumstances. DC may try to buy their former skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who opted out of KKR.
Also read: The hunt is on to find India's new T20 stars
Chennai Super Kings get a bonus
The IPL generously dusted out an old rule to allow Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to retain M.S. Dhoni, for ₹4 crore as an “uncapped player". This leaves them with ₹55 crore after retaining five experienced players: Ruturaj Gaekwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, and Dhoni.
They disbanded the Kiwi brigade—Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Mitchell Santner—who won the Test series for New Zealand earlier this month. CSK may use their RTM to fill the hole at the top with Conway or Ravindra.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru shuffle
The marquee franchise that has never won the title will try another one of their periodic shuffles in the auction. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) kept their faith in Virat Kohli, retaining him for ₹21 crore. Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal are the only other retentions. The omission of Will Jacks, who injected strike power midway through the 2024 season, is surprising.  It leaves RCB with ₹83 crore for the auction, making them the second best armed after PBKS. Rumour is they will get local boy Rahul, despite his unceremonious exit from LSG.
Rajasthan Royals want fresh blood
RR released their marquee bowlers Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who are getting on in years. They’ve retained five batsmen—Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel—and only one bowler, Sandeep Sharma. So they want a fresh bowling line-up.
They also let go of Jos Buttler, who was struggling with injury. Likely replacement as Jaiswal’s partner is skipper Samson after his back-to-back T20 centuries against Bangladesh and South Africa as an opener for India. RR have the smallest purse of ₹41 crore. So team managers Kumar Sangakkara and Rahul Dravid need to be smart bargain-hunters. 
Sunrisers Hyderabad keep their hitters
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took T20 batting to a new level in 2024. Not surprisingly, they retained their three most destructive batsmen—Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen—along with skipper Pat Cummins. They preferred batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy over bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar. With ₹45 crore, SRH will be hunting for bowlers to support Cummins. 
Kolkata Knight Riders need a skipper
KKR’s title-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer opted out of retention to “test his market value". DC may want him back after Pant’s exit. KKR will go into the auction with ₹51 crore to get a new captain. 
They retained ageing all-rounder Andre Russell instead of the red-hot opening batsman, Phil Salt. Mystery spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy will continue to work in tandem. Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, and Harshit Rana complete the six retentions. KKR need top-order batsmen to keep up their hopes of defending the title without their mentor, Gautam Gambhir, who moved on to become India’s coach.
Sumit Chakraberty is a writer based in Bengaluru.
