IPL 2021 Auction Strategies – CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC: The IPL 2021 player retention and release day saw several surprises and some big names being released by several franchises and as we are just a day away from the IPL 2021 auctions, the think tanks of all the eight franchises – CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC, will be scratching their heads over which players to buy in auction.
To get the right players, they need to have a proper auction strategy in place. They have to be cautious as well as intelligent while making bids which is why the games between the franchises begin much before the first ball is bowled.
Here we take a look at the strategies remaining purse, released and retained players list of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC, ahead of IPL 2021 auction.
Chennai Super Kings
Purse: After releasing six players and trading Robin Uthappa from Rajasthan Royals in an ‘all-cash deal’, CSK are left with Rs 19.9 cr in its kitty.
Retained players: MS Dhoni, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan, Mitchell Santner, KM Asif, Shardul Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran, Karn Sharma
Traded: Robin Uthappa from RR
Released players: Shane Watson (retired), Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Monu Singh.
Auction strategy
Notably, CSK will be going into IPL 2021 auctions with seven slots available to fill. Out of these seven, it can only sign one overseas player on February 18 at Grand Chola Hotel in Chennai. For the one overseas slot, they may be looking to go big for World no.1 T20 batsman Dawid Malan in the auction.
If not Malan, then CSK will try to buy former RR skipper Steve Smith to fix their struggling top-order.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Purse: Virat Kohli-led RCB will be going into the IPL auctions with the purse of Rs 35.9 crore.
Retained players: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Adam Zampa
Traded: Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel from DC
Released players: Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Isuru Udana, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann, Parthiv Patel
Auction strategy
With Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube and Umesh Yadav released, RCB will eye to add a seamer, an all-rounder and a top-order/middle-order batsman in their squad.
Given the need for an experienced pacer, they can go for Australian speedster Mitchell Starc, who is not only lethal in death overs but also bring experience to the table, while in the batting department, RCB can target Dawid Malan and Kerala opener Mohammad Azharuddeen, who shot to fame scoring a 54 ball 137 not out against a strong Mumbai side at the beginning of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in 2021.
Also, the Bengaluru-based franchise can target Shakib Al Hasan to complete their all-rounder’ department.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Kings XI Punjab
Purse: The KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab side will be going into the IPL auctions with the largest purse of Rs 53.2 crore.
Retained Players: KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohd. Shami, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, Prabhsimran Singh
Released Players: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran, Hardus Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith, Tejinder Singh Dhillon
Auction strategy
KXIP will be eyeing to add a seamer and an all-rounder/ power-hitting batsman at the auctions scheduled for February 18 in Chennai. Hence, they will target Dawid Malan, New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme, Australian speedster Mitchell Starc.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Mumbai Indians
Purse: Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians will be going into the IPL auctions with the purse of Rs 15.35 crore.
Retained players: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare
Released Players: Lasith Malinga, Mitch McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, Digivijay Deshmukh
Auction strategyMI now have 18 players in their squad with seven spots open which can be filled in the mini-auction. With near to perfect squad, the defending champions will be looking to bolster their overseas bench and also have a back-up for their spinner Rahul Chahar, which means MI could do well to include leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. The Nepal legspinner has had great success in the Big Bash League in Australia and his prowess in the middle overs could get Mumbai Indians interested.
Also, MI may add Mitchell Starc in the line-up as a back-up to Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Kolkata Knight Riders
Purse: Eoin Morgan-led KKR will enter the IPL 2021 auction with Rs 10.75 crore in their kitty.
Retained players: Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert.
Released players: Tom Banton, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Siddharth M and Siddhesh Lad
Auction strategyKolkata Knight Riders have eight slots available, including two overseas slots. So, they will give more importance to pick up the Indian talents during the IPL 2021 auction.
Given that KKR struggled with their opening batting combination for the majority of the last season, they will target an opener whom they can pair with Shubman Gill. Hence, Alex Carey, Steve Smith and Dawid Malan will be on their radar. Also, to bolster their all-rounder department and have a backup for inconsistent Andre Russell, KKR might want to add Shivam Dube, who has been released by RCB.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Rajasthan Royals
Purse: RR have Rs 34.85 crore to spend at IPL 2021 auction.
Retained players: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra
Released: Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.
Auction Strategy
RR had their worst IPL season in 2020 as for the first time in 13 years, the Jaipur-based franchise finished at the last position on the points table and now they will be desperate to fix their issues.
Notably, RR altered their opening combination frequently in the absence of Ben Stokes last year and now with the exclusion of Smith, they will be eyeing a solid opening pair. Hence, Alex Carey, Aaron Finch, Mohammad Azharuddeen and Dawid Malan will be on their radar. Also, the 32-year-old Sachin Baby can be a good option for Rajasthan Royals for the top-middle-order batting position in the upcoming IPL 2021.
Moreover, the team needs 3-4 quality pacers and a couple of all-rounders. Therefore, they can target Shivam Dube, Mitchell Starc, Chris Morris, Billy Stanlake, Jhye Richardson.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Purse: SRH will enter IPL 2021 auction with Rs 10.75 crore in their kitty.
Retained players: Kane Williamson, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, T Natarajan, Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mitchell Marsh, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Basil Thampi, Jason Holder
Released players: Billy Stanlake, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, B Sandeep and Yarra Prithvi RajAuction Strategy
SRH have released only five players ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, keeping their core unchanged once again. They have a place for only three additional members, hence they won’t be much active in the auction. However, they are expected to target Shakib Al Hasan in the auction, a player whom they released in 2019 after the Bangladeshi cricketer was slapped a one-year ban. However, SRH will look forward to engage in a bidding war for the all-rounder, and given that they can buy only upto three players, it might be possible that the franchise goes all in for Shakib.
Also, after releasing Stanlake, SRH can add Jhye Richardson to replace him.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction
Delhi Capitals
Purse: DC have only Rs 12.9 crore to spend at IPL 2021 auction.
Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams, Pravin Dubey, Chris Woakes
Released Players: Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Jason Roy
Auction Strategy
With the second-lowest purse left, DC will not be making a lot of noise at the IPL 2021 auction. However, DC need an explosive middle-order batsman and an all-rounder to back up Marcus Stoinis, hence they can target Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris, Moises Henriques and Shivam Dube.
IPL 2021 Auction: Strategies of CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, KXIP, RR and DC for IPL 2021 auction