ANALYSIS
Follow UsRahul Tewatia to Gujarat Titans for 9 crore
In what arguably turned out to be the most baffling purchase of the 2022 Mega Auction, Gujarat Titans paid a staggering 9 crore for Rahul Tewatia. Indeed, 9 crore for a player who across seven seasons has had only a handful of good knocks with the bat, is not guaranteed to give 4 overs with the ball and has already once failed to meet expectations. Even if the franchise blindly looked at potential, Tewatia does not have the highest of ceilings. A puzzling purchase in every sense.
What could be the reason for the Titans doing what they did then?
Well, from how the franchise operated at the auction table, it was clear that they were hell-bent on acquiring the services of a spin bowling all-rounder that could complement Hardik Pandya down the order. Gujarat bid up to 8 crore for Krunal Pandya and fought up to 7.25 crore for Washington Sundar but were able to land neither player.
It is entirely possible, therefore, that they used the budget they’d allocated for Krunal/Sundar on Tewatia, who is one of the very few experienced all-rounders in the same mold. Gujarat might have envisioned getting Tewatia, their third choice, for a much cheaper price, but losing out on the first two options might have forced their hand into breaking the bank for the 28-year-old.
ALSO READ: How each team fared at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction
Shivam Dube to Chennai Super Kings for 4 crore
All-rounder Shivam Dube is a handy customer, but that he became CSK’s third-most expensive buy at the auction flummoxed many. Despite enjoying a decent IPL 2021 season, the fact remains that Dube has looked out of his own depth at the IPL level, averaging a mere 22.16 across three seasons.
So why did CSK go after him?
From a tactical standpoint, there is every chance that the Super Kings identified Dube as one of the best middle-overs spin bashers in the entire competition, and hence wanted to acquire him at all costs.
In IPL 2021, only Glenn Maxwell hit more sixes in the middle-overs versus the spinners than Dube, while no batsman hit a six (versus spin in overs 7-15) as frequently as the southpaw (a six every 9.3 balls). Rajasthan used him at #4 on seven occasions for specifically this reason and the move did come off occasionally, at least in the form of cameos and mini-explosions. CSK themselves were at the receiving end of one such knock as Dube smashed an unbeaten 64 in Abu Dhabi, battering Jadeja and Moeen for 3 sixes in 5 balls.
Additionally, the Mumbai factor too might have been on the back of CSK’s mind. Dube is a Mumbai lad and if reports are to be believed, a good chunk of the 2022 season could be played in Maharashtra.
It is a gamble, but certainly a very calculated one.
ALSO READ: IPL 2022 mega-auction: Major talking points
Devdutt Padikkal to Rajasthan Royals for 7.75 crore
Buying an opener for 7.75 crore after retaining two openers for a combined sum of 14 crore defies logic. Equally baffling is to announce that the opener you’ve just bought for 7.75 crore will be batting out of position at No.3, a place where he has batted just 4 times in the past.
So what made Rajasthan splash the cash on Padikkal?
Unlike the Dube move, numbers don’t validate the purchase. As a #3 batter you need to be adept versus spin and efficient in the middle-overs, but Padikkal is neither. In his IPL career he’s struck at 121 versus spin and has a SR of 119.4 in overs 7-15. Versus pace, this number drops to a concerning 106.54. He also almost never bats deep into the innings (he’s faced just 29 balls at the death in IPL), something anchor-openers and number three batters should be skilled at doing.
It is hence clear that RR have opted to bank on potential, with the franchise having the confidence that Padikkal has it in him to some day tick all boxes and become a complete T20 batsman.
At 21, Padikkal has already delivered back-to-back 400-run seasons and is among the best young T20 run accumulators in the world. Investing in him heavily in the hope that he evolves is thereby not a bad call.
It is worth remembering that KL Rahul, at 21, was not even half the T20 batter Padikkal is currently, struggling to break into the SRH side. Hence if Rahul could make such a 180° turnaround out of nowhere, Rajasthan have every reason to believe that Padikkal, down the line, can turn into a superstar No.3 batter.
Manish Pandey to Lucknow Super Giants to 4.60 crore
Notorious for always operating in gears 1, 2 and 3, Manish Pandey is not the most popular of players amongst fans and experts. Understandably, on the back of his forgettable stint with SRH, there was a visible shock when LSG went all in for him to secure his services. Even more so because he was guaranteed to bat in the middle-order, meaning one of his few strengths - powerplay bashing - got taken away.
Why, then, were Lucknow delighted to land the right-hander, to the extent that mentor Gambhir described his purchase as a ‘steal’?
Simple: Team dynamics.
Needless to say, Pandey is a very limited T20 batter. One of his more noticeable shortcomings is his inability to hit boundaries outside of the powerplay, particularly sixes, at will. This flaw, though, got accentuated at SRH due to the lack of reliable power-hitters down the order. Far too often Pandey was put in an uncomfortable position where he himself had to go big at the death, something he was incapable of doing. In other instances, the anchoring he did went to waste owing to the inability of those below him to get the job done.
This is not to say Pandey did well at SRH, but his skill-sets are a far better fit to this Lucknow side.
A middle-order of Hooda, Stoinis, Holder and Krunal will allow Pandey to anchor the innings at peace, knowing, unlike at Sunrisers, there will be no pressure on him to finish matches off. His job, merely, will be to keep things ticking, something he is more than capable of doing.
Additionally, there is also the possibility that LSG roped in Pandey to specifically give Rahul more freedom up-front. At Punjab, Rahul played within himself due to feeling the need to carry the side, but the security Pandey provides at No.3 could very well also unshackle the skipper at the top.
All things considered, the purchase of Pandey seems to be one that is pretty well thought out.
Romario Shepherd to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 7.75 crore
At the auction table, Sunrisers Hyderabad made several perplexing calls. The most bemusing one, though, was to land West Indies’ Romario Shepherd, a bowling all-rounder, for 7.75 crore. It is not that bad a purchase in isolation, but it sure damn makes little sense when you’ve already got Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi and Marco Jansen.
Given SRH had already covered every single base in the pace department prior to Shepherd’s purchase, they did not land the 27-year-old to fill holes with the ball. There was no paucity of bowling all-rounders either, with Sundar, Abhishek Sharma and Jansen all snapped up.
The only logical explanation, then, is that they’d planned in advance to get a fast bowler, Indian or overseas, that could tonk sixes at will down the order. Their auction strategy indicates that this might be the case.
SRH bid up to 10.50 crore for Deepak Chahar (a player who fits the description above) and also went to war with Punjab Kings to get their hands on Odean Smith. They couldn’t land either player, so naturally ended up throwing everything they had at the next best option in their mind, Romario Shepherd.
If we are to put ourselves in their shoes, perhaps the management felt the need to have one more player that would not simply extend the batting line-up on paper but had the ability to win matches. As handy as Sundar, Bhuvi and Jansen are with the bat, Shepherd is leagues above them as a T20 batter. The Guyanese all-rounder also, as a bonus, gives SRH a pretty handy bowling option at the death.
Nonetheless, it is still a move slightly hard to understand, for SRH would be better served fielding 4 overseas batters due to the non-existent batting depth on the Indian front.
