IPL7 Auction, what's the balance of each team and which team looks strongest ?

This IPL could decide the cricketing future of Yuvi and Sehwag,
the two out of favour Indian batsmen .

So, the IPL7 auction has ended in the backdrop of IPL betting and fixing allegations and all the franchises got the players that they wanted(atleast the core players that they wanted).  


Some of the highlights of the auction are-

• The auction was held in Indian rupees.
• Teams which exhausted  their full purse of 60 Crores- RCB and DD
• Team which is most economical-  Rajasthan Royals(54.45 Crores).
• Team which has the biggest squad- Rajasthan Royals(25)
• Team which has the smallest squad- CSK(20)

Richard Madlee

Any controversies during the IPL7 Auction?

Yes, one controversy . Yuvraj Singh was sold to RCB for 10Crore initially and just after the hammer went down KKR placed their bid too, the auctioneer ,Richard Madlee went forward with the auction of Yuvi and was finally sold to RCB at 14 Crores. Vijay Mallya lodged an official complaint against Richard Madlee but no action was taken as the IPL auction takes place at the full discretion of the auctioneer(read Madlee). Coincidentally a similar thing happened during the IPL4 auction, during the auction of Sarabh Tiwari that too involved RCB. It also saw some animated discussion between Preity Zinta and Siddharth Mallya  when the auctioneer carried forward the auction of Saurabh Tiwari when he was already sold to RCB at 5 crores. Due to this RCB had to shell out more 3 crores to buy him.

Vijay Malya was not happy with the extra 4 Crore spent on Yuvi

Now let us look at where the teams stand and which team looks the best on paper.



1. Chennai Super Kings

Squad strength: 20 (Indian 12, overseas 8)

Squad cost: INR 59.80 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Faf du Plessis (INR 4.75 crore), Mithun Manhas (INR 30 lakh), Suresh Raina (retained)

Allrounders: Dwayne Smith (INR 4.5 crore), John Hastings (INR 50 lakh), Vijay Shankar (INR 10 lakh), B Aparajith (INR 10 lakh), Dwayne Bravo (retained), Ravindra Jadeja (retained)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Brendon McCullum (INR 3.25 crore), MS Dhoni (retained)

Spinners: Samuel Badree (INR 30 lakh), Pawan Negi (INR 10 lakh), R Ashwin (retained)

Fast bowlers: Mohit Sharma (INR 2 crore), Ashish Nehra (INR 2 crore), Ishwar Pandey (INR 1.5 crore), Ben Hilfenhaus (INR 1 crore), Matt Henry (INR 30 lakh), Ronit More (INR 10 lakh).

As always CSK has maintained their core . They would be disappointed to miss out Mike Hussey but it will not hurt them as they managed to get two new explosive openers in Brendon Mccullum and Dwane Smith. Depending on their form , either of the two would form a formidable  opening pair with the classy Faf Du Plessis. Though they have only one well known international bowler in Ben Hilfenhaus but they have bought Matt Henry who with his fierce pace can cause damage like the way he did in the only ODI he played recently vs India(4/38). They do have good Indian bowlers in Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey. Ashish Nehra in form can also be a good bowler.When it comes to spin bowling they have Ashwin and Jadeja. In allrounders they have Dwayne Bravo and Jadeja.Though Dwayne Smith can also play as an allrounder. In middle order they have proven T20 players in Dhoni and Raina.

My X1-

Brendon McCullum/Dwayne Smith ,  Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo,Mithun Manhas ,Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ben Hilfenhaus/Matt Henry, Mohit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey/Ashish Nehra.

Ben Hilfenhaus- He will have to bowl really well if CSK wants to win this IPL.

As always, CSK looks a very balanced side but their fast bowling is  weaker than other years and other teams.

2. Mumbai Indians

Squad strength: 21 (Indian 13, overseas 8)

Squad cost: INR 59.95 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Michael Hussey (INR 5 crore), Apoorv Wankhede (INR 10 lakh), Rohit Sharma (retained), Ambati Rayudu (retained)

Allrounders: Corey Anderson (INR 4.5 crore), Jalaj Saxena (INR 90 lakh), Kieron Pollard (retained)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Aditya Tare (INR 1.6 crore), CM Gautham (INR 20 lakh), Ben Dunk (INR 20 lakh), Sushant Marathe (INR 10 lakh)

Spinners: Pragyan Ojha (INR 3.25 crore), Shreyas Gopal (INR 10 lakh), Harbhajan Singh (retained)

Fast bowlers: Zaheer Khan (INR 2.6 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (INR 1.2 crore), Josh Hazlewood (INR 50 lakh), Krishmar Santokie (INR 30 lakh), Marchant de Lange (INR 30 lakh), Pawan Suyal (INR 10 lakh), Lasith Malinga (retained)

It's difficult to imagine Mumbai Indians without Sachin and this year they will have to play without Sachin in playing 11, though it is speculated that he will be a part of MI as a mentor. Like CSK, MI also maintained their core and have added Mike Hussey and Corey Anderson but they lost Mitchel Johnson. Overall MI looks weaker than previous years and the loss of Malinga for the most part of this year IPL will hurt them a lot( As SL tours England during the later three fourth of IPL). But who knows, may be the solidity of Hussey at the top and hitting ability of Anderson and Pollard could still make them favourites.

Corey Anderson- All eyes will be on him after he made a world record century in ODI in 36 balls

My X1-

Mike Hussey, Aditya Tare, Rohit Shrama, Ambati Rayudu, Corey Anderson,Kieron Pollard,Jalaj Saxena,Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha,Zaheer Khan,Malinga/Hazlewood.

3. Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad strength: 21 (Indians 14, overseas 7)

Squad cost: INR 60 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Nic Maddinson (INR 50 lakh), Vijay Zol (INR 30 lakh), Tanmay Mishra (INR 10 lakh), Virat Kohli (retained), Chris Gayle (retained)

Allrounders: Yuvraj Singh (INR 14 crore), Albie Morkel (INR 2.4 crore), Yuzvendra Chahal (INR 10 lakh)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Parthiv Patel (INR 1.4 crore), Yogesh Takawale (INR 10 lakh), AB de Villiers (retained)

Spinners: Muttiah Muralitharan (INR 1 crore), Shadab Jakati (INR 20 lakh)

Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc (INR 5 crore), Varun Aaron (INR 2 crore), Ashok Dinda (INR 1.5 crore), Ravi Rampaul (INR 90 lakh), Harshal Patel (INR 40 lakh), Abu Nechim (INR 30 lakh), Sachin Rana (INR 20 lakh), Sandeep Warrier (INR 10 lakh)

RCB are a batting powerhouse this year. With the addition of hitters like Yuvraj and Albie Morkel the batting looks very solid and fast bolwing also looks good due to the presence of Mitchell Starc, Ravi Rampaul, Varun Aaron and Dinda.The only place where the team seems to lack is the Indian spinners as they won't be able to find a place for Murali in their playing X1 due to the too much competition in the team.

Yuvi-Another addition to the batting powerhouse, RCB.

My X1-

Parthiv Patel, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli,  Yuvraj Singh, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Albie Morkel, Shadab Jakati, Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda 

4. Delhi Daredevils

Squad strength: 23 (Indian 16, overseas 7)

Squad cost: INR 60 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Kevin Pietersen (INR 9 crore), M Vijay (INR 5 crore), Manoj Tiwary (INR 2.8 crore), JP Duminy (INR 2.2 crore), Ross Taylor (INR 2 crore), Kedar Jadhav (INR 2 crore), Mayank Agarwal (INR 1.6 crore), Saurabh Tiwary (INR 70 lakh), Milind Kumar (INR 10 lakh)

Allrounders: Laxmi Ratan Shukla (INR 1.5 crore), Jimmy Neesham (INR 1 crore), Jayant Yadav (INR 10 lakh)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Dinesh Karthik (INR 12.5 crore), Quinton de Kock (INR 3.5 crore)

Spinners: Rahul Sharma (INR 1.9 crore), Shahbaz Nadeem (INR 85 lakh)

Fast bowlers: Nathan Coulter-Nile (INR 4.25 crore), Mohammad Shami (INR 4.25 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (INR 2.8 crore), Wayne Parnell (INR 1 crore), Siddarth Kaul (INR 45 lakh), Rahul Shukla (INR 40 lakh), HS Sharath (INR 10 lakh)

DD didn't want to retain any players from the last year team(it so appeared as they were not placing their bids for them at all during the auction) except Kevin Pietersen. They have very good useful players like Dinesh Karthik, JP Duminy and Jimmy Neesham. Their bowling is very strong but their batting lacks firepower apart from Kevin Pietersen.Overall DD looks good on paper and far better than the team of last year. Gary Kirsten must be credited for this.

My X1-

M Vijay, Quinton de Kock ,Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Kartik, Manoj Tiwari, Saurabh Tiwari, Jimmy Neesham/JP Duminy  ,Rahul Sharma, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat.

Kevin Pietersen- Would love to prove his critics at ECB wrong.

Karthik looks the most probable candidate for captaincy though Pietersen also has some chance as he would want to prove how responsible he is.

5. Rajasthan Royals

Squad strength: 25 (Indian 17, overseas 8)

Squad cost: INR 54.45 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Brad Hodge (INR 2.4 crore), Karun Nair (INR 75 lakh), Unmukt Chand (INR 65 lakh), Ajinkya Rahane (retained)

Allrounders: Steven Smith (INR 4 crore), Rajat Bhatia (INR 1.7 crore), Abhishek Nayar (INR 1 crore), Ben Cutting (INR 80 lakh), Kevon Cooper (INR 30 lakh), Rahul Tewatia (INR 10 lakh), Shane Watson (retained), Stuart Binny (retained), James Faulkner (retained)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Dishank Yagnik (INR 30 lakh), Ankush Bains (INR 10 lakh), Sanju Samson (retained)

Spinners: Iqbal Abdullah (INR 65 lakh), Ankit Sharma (INR 10 lakh), Pravin Tambe (INR 10 lakh)

Fast bowlers: Tim Southee (INR 1.2 crore), Dhaval Kulkarni (INR 1.1 crore), Kane Richardson (INR 1 crore), Deepak Hooda (INR 40 lakh), Vikramjeet Malik (INR 20 lakh), Amit Mishra (INR 10 lakh)

Unlike other years, this year RR has a pretty big squad so they have lots of option to choose from. Apart from the retained players, they don't have any big names that they have bought in the auction except Brad Hodge and Steven Smith. But this has been the brand of RR over the years, no big names but big performances from them.Due to the availability of so many players they can always make a balanced squad depending on the conditions as they have so many good all rounders.

Steve Smith- Brings more balance to the side.

My X1-

Unmukt Chand, Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson,Sanju Samson,Steve Smith,Stuart Binny,James Faulkner,Tim Southee, Dhaval Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe,Iqbal Abdullah

6. Kings XI Punjab

Squad strength: 23 (Indian 16, overseas 7)

Squad cost: INR 55.90 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: George Bailey (INR 3.25 crore), Virender Sehwag (INR 3.2 crore), Shaun Marsh (INR 2.2 crore), Cheteshwar Pujara (INR 1.9 crore), Gurkeerat Singh (INR 1.3 crore), Mandeep Singh (INR 80 lakh), David Miller (retained), Manan Vohra (retained)

Allrounders: Glenn Maxwell (INR 6 crore), Rishi Dhawan (INR 3 crore), Thisara Perera (INR 1.6 crore), Akshar Patel (INR 75 lakh), Karanveer Singh (INR 10 lakh)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Wriddhiman Saha (INR 2.2 crore)

Spinners: Murali Kartik (INR 1 crore), Shivam Sharma (INR 10 lakh)

Fast bowlers: Mitchell Johnson (INR 6.5 crore), Beuran Hendricks (INR 1.8 crore), L Balaji (INR 1.8 crore), Sandeep Sharma (INR 85 lakh), Parvinder Awana (INR 65 lakh), Anureet Singh (INR 20 lakh), Shardul Thakur (INR 20 lakh)

KX1 Punjab looks like the team to watch out for this year. They have a very good collection of good players to choose from.The Captaincy of George Bailey will also add to the X factor of the team. They have 2 of the most explosive finishers in Glen Maxwel and David Miller.With the current form of Johnson their bowling also looks lethal. This is also the ideal team where Sehwag can find his form back and can express his batting as they will have  very good lower order batsmen. The team looks weak when it comes to spin bowling but the other positives definitely cover up this.The only problem which the team might face si the lack of backup wicketkeeper.

JohnDADDY and Bailey will have to play the key roles if Punjab wants to win this IPL.

My X1-Virender Sehwag, Shaun Marsh, Cheteshwar Pujara/Manan Vohra, Glenn Maxwell, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller , Akshar Patel, Rishi Dhawan, Mitchell Johnson, Murali Kartik, L Balaji

7. Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad strength: 21 (Indian 13, overseas 8)

Squad cost: INR 59 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: Robin Uthappa (INR 5 crore), Manish Pandey (INR 1.7 crore), Chris Lynn (INR 1.3 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 70 lakh), Gautam Gambhir (retained)

Allrounders: Jacques Kallis (INR 5.5 crore), Yusuf Pathan (INR 3.25 crore), Shakib Al Hasan (INR 2.8 crore), Ryan ten Doeschate (INR 1 crore), Andre Russell (INR 60 lakh)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Manvinder Bisla (INR 60 lakh), Debabrata Das (INR 20 lakh), SS Mondal (INR 10 lakh)

Spinners: Piyush Chawla (INR 4.25 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 40 lakh), Sunil Narine (retained)

Fast bowlers: Vinay Kumar (INR 2.8 crore), Morne Morkel (INR 2.8 crore), Umesh Yadav (INR 2.6 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 1 crore), Veer Pratap Singh (INR 40 lakh)

Like CSK and MI, KKR has also tried to maintain their core. Their bowling looks very good, allrounders pretty decent but their main problem would be their batting(based on current form). If they bat even above average, they have the bowling that can look to defend the total.

Pat Cummins, could surprise everyone with his bowling

My X1-Bisla, Gambhir, Kallis, Utthapa, Ryan ten Doeschate ,Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, , Piyush Chawla,Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav , Pat Cummins/Morne Morkel,

8. Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad strength: 24 (Indian 17, overseas 7)

Squad cost: INR 59 crore

Squad composition

Batsmen: David Warner (INR 5.5 crore), Aaron Finch (INR 4 crore), KL Rahul (INR 1 crore), Venugopal Rao (INR 55 lakh), S Anirudha (INR 20 lakh), Manprit Juneja (INR 10 lakh), Ricky Bhui (INR 10 lakh), Shikhar Dhawan (retained)

Allrounders: Darren Sammy (INR 3.5 crore), Irfan Pathan (INR 2.4 crore), Moises Henriques (INR 1 crore), Parveez Rasool (INR 95 lakh)

Wicketkeeper-batsmen: Naman Ojha (INR 50 lakh), Brendan Taylor (INR 30 lakh), Amit Paunikar (INR 20 lakh)

Spinners: Amit Mishra (INR 4.75 crore), Karn Sharma (INR 3.75 crore)

Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (INR 4.25 crore), Ishant Sharma (INR 2.6 crore), Jason Holder (INR 75 lakh), P Parameswaran (INR 30 lakh), Ashish Reddy (INR 20 lakh), Chama Milind (INR 10 lakh), Dale Steyn (retained)

SRH is  to the team that every one wants to win since the very first season( read DC). They have chosen a very good team this year and I think Tom Moody must had a big hand to play in this .The only place where they are lacking is very good lower order batsmen. Still, they have good players in all the departments to choose from , plus they have Dale Steyn, period.

Dale Steyn-Will have to show the same consistency as he showed last year.

My X1-Shikhar Dhawan, Aaron Finch, David Warner,  KL Rahul/S Anirudha, Irfan Pathan, Darren Sammy/,Moises Henriques, Karn Sharma,Amit Mishra ,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma ,Dale Steyn.

 Best X1- 

1.KX1 Punjab.

2. DD

3. RCB

4. RR

5. KKR

6. SRH

7. CSK

8. MI

If the teams like CSK and MI look weaker then you can imagine how good other teams would be. This IPL would be the battle of equals and hopefully the most exciting till date. I just hope it remains free from any further controversies. 

How to avoid 2-0 test series loss in NewZealand?

Well, it's the end to the ODI series between India and NewZealand and against all the predictions India lost the series badly (4-0). This series loss seems to be worse than what we had in England last year as atleast we fought well in all the matches but in this series, except the one match in which saw the heroics of Ravindra Jadeja we couldn't compete well.

Taking the ODI's batting form forward only three batsmen appear to be competent enough to play in those conditions viz, Kohli, Dhoni and Jadeja. The addition of Pujara to the batting lineup is expected to add another name in the list. But, when it comes to test matches we have seen that neither Dhoni or Jadeja appear to be a full batsman, although Dhoni does appear an almost full batsman when we play in the subcontinent.This clearly shows that there will be tremendous pressure on Kohli and Pujara to score runs.As, cricket is a team game , so to win the series all the batsmen will have to perform well.

Howmuchever a team may score but to win a test match the bowlers need to take 20 wickets. Seeing the bowling performance of our bowlers in the recent ODIs I don't think the bowling attack is lethal by any means. I had a huge expectation from Zaheer Khan when he made his comeback in SA series but he disappointed me by his average bowling performance.

So, it's a tricky situation for Dhoni and Fletcher when it comes to the selection of final 11 players.
One good solution would be to play 5 bowlers and 6 batsmen( including Dhoni) ,as if you play Jadeja and Ashwin both then they both can combine to make you a full batsman at #7 position.People may argue that it's a risky decision but I feel that it will atleast make the Indian bowling attack stronger and put them in a position to take 20 wickets.

Team-Dhawan,Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni, Ashwin, Jadeja, Bhuwaneshwar, Zaheer, Umesh

If Bhuwaneshwar can find his length to bowl on these wickets then it will add a different dimension to our bowling attack else it would take a miracle to make India win this test series.  

In pursuit of Cricket World Cup '15.

It's January 14th 2014 and the cricket World Cup campaign for India will begin exactly 13 months after i.e on 15th of Feb'15 at Adelaide Oval against our arch rival Pakistan.
So, how good is our team now and how good are the preparations going?
Inspite of being Ranked 1 in ODIs we are not at our dominant best. The last time we showed dominance on the field was during Champions trophy. The recently concluded ODI series against SA showed we are still not a force to be reckoned with. Even the India vs Australia series that was held recently was very closely fought.So where does the problem lie? isit batting? bowling? or fielding? .
Fielding is certainly not a problem as we have a best fielding side in the world and they are performing very well over an year. The major worry for me is our bowling. Our best fast bowler in matches played in India was dropped for 66.66% of the matches of the ODI series vs South Africa. You guessed him right, he is Bhuvi! Just as Bhajji took the baton of spin bowling department from Kumble , Ashwin took it with ease from Bhajji. But, of late Ashwin doesn't appear to be the bowler that he used to be. In short he appears to be short of ideas. Although his batting has improved drastically and in fact he has become a better batsman than Jadeja. But this won't solve the spin department problem for India unless India finds a new spinner , but that too is not possible because the time is running out. So, the only solution that looks feasible is either Ashwin should improve his bowling or we will have to bring in Ojha! The bowling of Jadeja and Shami are the only two highlights in the Indian bowling department. Sorry to say this, but the bowling of Zaheer doesn't appear as threat a to the opposition these days. Talking about Ishant Sharma, he should have been a very good fast bowler given his height and repetitive action but he appears a shadow of  his abroad's performance when he plays in India. To be honest he is pretty decent bowler in foreign conditions so, he can be considered for WC squad. Talking about the 5th bolwer( mind you we are not talking about Jadeja as a 5th bowler) it can go to either of Umesh/Aaron/Zaheer depending on the current form during the tournament.

In the squad for NZ series we have an interesting character. You again got is right, he is Stuart Binny.
For me he should be the ideal guy at number 7 for India because of his swing bowling and hard hitting abilities, but again it is too early to comment because the guy is yet to make the debut.

Talking about the batting , the moment we think about cricket matches in Australian subcontinent we think about the bounce and then the short pitched deliveries and immediately we imagine red flags on the names of Yuvi and Raina. Both have a prerry ordinary average in Austraila (30, 26 respectively) but the positive with Raina is that he has played recently in Australia plus he is in the squad for NZ series so he has a chance to improve his shortcomings. Surprisingly Yuvraj hasn't played in Australia for 6 long years!!

The opening pair of Rohit and Dhawan looked steady before SA series but now there are doubts about that. If they don't perform well in the NZ tour then Rahane can be given a chance on top of the order.

So, the picture looks very unclear at this moment but hopefully will be clearer by the time we are playing the Asia Cup .My assumption is that, 9 out of 11 players will definitely play the WC'15 who play the Asia Cup if we remain positive about fitness.