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Imagine the fiery Jofra Archer hustling deliveries past a batsman’s chin, making the latter sniff leather, and then Mumbai Indians’ riveting Jasprit Bumrah going for broke by hitting that very batter’s pads, trying to ‘york’ him! Now, imagine Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock are those batsmen. If Bumrah errs a wee bit, Rahul could caress it with a glance or a flick to the fine-leg boundary or he doesn’t and Rahul finds the furniture behind him dismantled. Then, de Kock could upper-cut the Archer delivery to the point boundary or just mistime one for Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma to take an easy catch.
Wouldn’t that be fantasy land?
The 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) could well be an imaginary land with so many mouth-watering delicacies (read contests) on the anvil after the dust settled with the weekend IPL auction giving us a preview of what’s in store. But, luck would have to play its part. Archer is nursing an elbow injury and, with some luck, could be only available in the latter half of IPL if there is the April 2-June 3 schedule in place, which sources confirm at this point, Covid-19 notwithstanding. But MI, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and off course the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) know more. Else, why would his previous franchise, RR, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH) and winners MI, go hammer and tongs for him for Rs 8 crore?
Expect Bumrah and Archer in tandem a year before the 2023 edition. And, he wasn’t the biggest buy in monetary terms on day two of the auction — after Ishan Kishan made waves on day one, Saturday, with MI bidding for him for Rs 15.25 crore, followed by Chennai Super Kings going all out for Deepak Chahar for Rs 14 crore – it was his England teammate, the hard-hitting Liam Livingstone for whom Punjab Kings raked in the moolah, all of Rs 11.5 crore, his 42-ball century vs Pakistan in July, 2021, fastest by an Englishman, still fresh in the franchise’s memory.
If the kind of money on offer wasn’t surprising enough, to whom it was offered only doubled the excitement. Mumbai, at it again, splurged Rs 8.2 crore for the virtually unknown (his hard-hitting prowess was on show during Australia’s Big Bash League and the Pakistan Super League recently) Tim David of Singapore. And, then there was Romario Shepherd going to Sunrisers for a whopping Rs 7.75 crore. His description of a West Indian player who is burly, bowls fast-medium and hits the ball out of the park on a good day is of a Caribbean, tailor-made for the IPL.
What about the young guns then? India has just won the Under-19 World Cup. All-rounder Raj Angad Bawa, who had helped his cause with a 168 in the U-19 WC against Uganda and then a five-wicket haul in the final against England, to go with a fifty in the same match, went to Punjab for Rs 2 crore while a-rounder Rajyawardhan Hangrekar would now be under the aegis of MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.5 crore.
After a rollicking Saturday, Sunday was comparatively dull with flashy moments in between. At the end of the auction, the knowns are good enough for the fans to deliberate which teams are best on paper.
Rohit’s Mumbai could be favourites, again, but the well-oiled Chennai machine will be tough to beat on any day. RR and the Delhi Capitals might have, made cerebral choices but the Royal Challengers Bangalore may get it right this time as they have Faf duPlessis (at Rs 7 crore, perhaps as captain) to guide the ship of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell in the absence of AB de Villiers. Kolkata Knight Riders having Shrey Iyer (as skipper perhaps) would give them the x-factor of going one step further than being finalists in 2021. Newbies LSG and the Gujarat Titans have made some smart choices but could find the going tough.
The ageing Suresh Raina not getting a franchise and Ajinkya Rahane going to KKr for Rs 1 crore were expected but would come as a dampener for some, which IPL does time to time.
The jigsaw pieces are in place. Pawns and knights and bishops and Kings are in order, ready to make the move.
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