IPL auction: Royals make headline with big buys. Franchises look beyond reputation, regions

Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta and Rajasthan Royals CEO Ranjit Bartakur during the IPL auction

Bengaluru, January 28: In the previous editions, Rajasthan Royals remained spectators when other franchises splurged on big names in the IPL auction. Their focus resting more on the smart buys.

But during the two-day IPL auction held here, Royals announced their return to the grand stage with some big purchases. Ben Stokes (Rs 12.5 cr) and Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 11.5 cr) being the beneficiaries of Royals loosening the purse strings.

Of course, Stokes and Unadkat were the headline buys because of the money involved but others like KL Rahul (Rs 11 cr) and Manish Pandey (Rs 11 cr) too joined the elite pay list members. Unadkat also became the costliest Indian player in this IPL auction.

Sandeep Lamichhane creates history, first Nepal player in IPL Sandeep Lamichhane creates history, first Nepal player in IPL

The Royals' generous spending might have been the banner move of IPL auction 2018 but their readiness to pursue the likes of Sanju Samson (Rs 8 cr), Darcy Short (Rs 4 cr), Jofra Archer (Rs 7.2 cr) and K Gowtham (Rs 6.2 cr) is indicative of a more subtle nature of this IPL auction.

The teams' willingness to look beyond reputation and pedigree.

There was no clamour for players like Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel etc who have excellent T20 record.

But the franchises chose to look beyond statistics and instead invested in players who thought could be a part of them for a while from now. In fact, Gayle had to enter the auction three times to earn a contract - a mercy call if you may - from Kings XI Punjab.

The deals India's under-19 players like Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw gained point to that direction. Several domestic players too benefited from the eye for detail of the franchises.

This time they also dared to look beyond the traditional cricketing destinations. That there will be more player representatives in this edition of the IPL from Afghanistan than from Sri Lanka testify to that. Afghan leggie Rashid Khan, all of 18 years, was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 9 crore via Right to Match (RTM) card.

Oh yes! We have a player from Nepal too - 20-year-old leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. And members of his tribe were in high demand during this auction.

The franchises vied to have a leg-spinner/chinaman bowler in their ranks also show that they have grown tactically over the years than just making the blind buys.

Of course, many of us may feel that Chennai Super Kings letting go R Ashwin could prove to be a disaster or Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royals made the best use of the auction to acquire players.

But there will always be regrets and what-could-have-been points. It's quite natural too after such high intensity, money flawing event. The real outcome of their efforts in the auction will be known only during the IPL.

Let's wait until then for the judgment.

Total players bought: 169

Indian: 113

Overseas: 56

Capped: 91

Uncapped: 78

Total money spent: Rs 431.70 crore

TOP BUYS

Ben Stokes: Rs 12.5 cr: RR

Jaydev Unadkat: Rs 11.5 cr: RR

KL Rahul: Rs 11 cr: Kings XI

Manish Pandey: Rs 11 cr: SRH