The mega auction for the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended on November 25 with franchises buying and bidding for talented players. It was a fruitful auction for all franchises as they went all out for many players. In the end, the owners and the support staff looked content with their buys. The biggest buy of the entire tournament was the fans' favourite Rishabh Pant, brought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 27 crores. After him was Shreyas Iyer, who went to the Punjab Kings for INR 26.75 Crores.
The only player who wouldn't be satisfied with his price would be KL Rahul as Delhi Capitals grabbed him for just INR 14 crores. The young 13-year-old boy Vaibhav Suryavanshi went to Rajasthan Royals under coach Rahul Dravid. Overall, it was a good two-day outing for the franchises in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Here are the ratings of the IPL teams based on their squad for the upcoming season:
1. Delhi Capitals - 8.8/10
Delhi Capitals had a great auction as they got many steal deals, starting with KL Rahul for 14 crores. He is highest highest-paid player for the team. They also got Jake Fraser-Mcgurk for 9 crores and Mitchell Starc for 11.75 crores. They have a balanced team with talented batters and bowlers plus some firepower in batting. Out of 10, DC get 8.5 ratings for their balanced team.
2. Mumbai Indians - 8.5/10
Mumbai Indians have a deadly bowling combination of Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult. Their 12 overs in the game are sorted. These bowlers are nightmares for any kind of batter in the IPL. Plus, they have Will Jacks and Rohit Sharma to open and Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma in the middle order. This team looks really good on paper and if they can manage their performance in the IPL, they will win many games. Hence, they get a solid 8.5 out of 10.
3. Sunrisers Hyderabad - 8.4/10
SRH's best buy was Ishan Kishan for 11.25 crores. The lefty batter is in form and has performed recently in all the tournaments he was a part of. They also have Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Pat Cummins and Henrich Klaassen in the team who are power-hitters. The previous season of the league was a bright example of how dangerous the team can be. In bowling, they now have Mohammed Shami, Harshel Patel and Nitish Reddy who have a good record in the tournament. So, SRH will get 8.4 out of 10 for their balanced squad.
4. Punjab Kings - 8.2/10
After a long time, Punjab Kings have had a good auction. They managed to pick up their captain material Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crores and Yuzvendra Chahal for 18 crores. PBKS also grabbed Arshdeep Singh who is a good bowler. If we talk about batting, they have Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. This pretty much sums up their team. Well, on paper the team might not look that strong, on match days the tables might turn. Hence, PBKS will get 8.2 out of 10.
5. Royal Challengers Bengaluru - 8/10
RCB have picked up a good side but their middle order still seems a bit empty. With Virat Kohli and Phil Salt to open, they will have Rajat Patidar to bat in the middle order. Apart from him, Tim David, Liam Livingstone and Krunal Pandya can bat in the middle. In the bowling department, it will be more around Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazelwood, Yash Dayal and Rasikh Dar making the lineup. For this, they get 8 out of 10.
6. Chennai Super Kings - 7.9/10
Just like always, this time too CSK lack solid power strikers in the team. With Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway in the top order, followed by Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni in the middle, CSK lacks a power hitter who can help chase something around 250+ runs. The bowling department looks fine as of now with Mateesha Pathirana, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mukesh Choudhary. So CSK gets 7.9 out of 10 for missing out on a finisher because relying on Dhoni, in the long run, wouldn't be a smart task to do.
7. Gujarat Titans - 7.8/10
Gujarat Titans didn't form their team well this time. With Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler at the top and Sai Sudarshan at No.3, GT doesn't have a solid middle order. They have players like Glenn Phillips and Mahipal Lomror but they aren't much trustworthy. The bowling department looks sorted though with Mohammed Siraj from one side and Kagiso Rabada on the other. Thus, 7.8 out of 10 is what GT deserves at this moment.
8. Rajasthan Royals - 7.7/10
Rajasthan Royals have Jofra Archer and Tushar Deshpande in the bowling department, along with Fazalhaq Farooqui and Wanindu Hasaranga. In the batting, however, they don't have much depth. They have grabbed Nitish Rana, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi and retained Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson who did well in the previous years. They don't have players who can play big match-winning innings down the order which will be a problem if the openers are dismissed early. Hence they get 7.7 out of 10.
9. Lucknow Super Giants - 7.5/10
Lucknow Super Giants didn't do well in the auction even though they picked up Rishabh Pant for INR 27 crores. While the batter deserved every bit of it, LSG didn't focus much on their lower-order batters. The top-order batting department looks unsorted as well. They have some great players like Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni and many more, but none of them look promising. Thus, LSG gets 7.5 out of 10.
10. Kolkata Knight Riders - 7.4/10
KKR's highest bid was for Venkatesh Iyer who went for 23.75 crores. On paper, KKR looks very strong but they don't have proper batters except Rinku Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rahmadullah Gurbaaz. They have some good bowlers like Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy, and Andre Russell. They also have Sunil Narine who can bat and bowl like a pro. But they still don't have a balanced side and power hitters except Rinku Singh in the middle order. Hence, they get 7.4 out of 10.