IPL 2024: Team-wise best buys in the auction

Wanindu Hasaranga & Harry Brook. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) auction saw franchises break their banks in hopes of building a formidable tournament-winning unit. For the first time, the IPL auction was held overseas and Dubai played host to the event on December 19, 2023. A total of 333 players were on the list to fill up 77 spots, out of which 30 were for overseas players.

In total, 72 players were picked by the franchises in the IPL 2024 auction. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins became the first two players ever to get a bid of over INR 20 Cr each. Starc got a bid of INR 24.75 Cr from Kolkata Knight Riders, while Sunrisers Hyderabad paid INR 20.50 Cr to Pat Cummins. Harshal Patel with a bid of INR 11.75 Cr from Punjab Kings was the most expensive Indian player.

With squads for all ten franchises completed, we take a look at who was the best buy for each of the ten franchises in the IPL 2024 auction. 

Here are the team-wise best buys in the IPL 2024 auction:

1. Chennai Super Kings – Rachin Ravindra

Rachin-Ravindra. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

New Zealand played a lottery by sending Rachin Ravindra to bat at the No. 3 spot in the ICC World Cup 2023 in place of the injured Kane Williamson and hit the jackpot. Ravindra went on to own that spot for the tournament and hammered three centuries to score over 570 runs. He batted like a proper batter and also picked a handful of wickets with his left-arm spin.

Ravindra had smartly kept his base price to INR 50 lakhs and Chennai Super Kings had to bid just 1.80 Cr to get the young all-rounder in the CSK squad. Now they have three left-arm spin all-rounders in their squad Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, and Rachin Ravindra to choose from as per requirement.

2. Mumbai Indians – Gerald Coetzee

Gerald Coetzee SA20. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Gerald Coetzee was the highest wicket-taker for South Africa in World Cup 2023. The old-fashioned pacer bowling with aggression impressed everyone, and the fact that the pacer can hold his own with the bat lower down the order is a bonus. It was expected that Coetzee would see a bidding war for himself in the IPL 2024 auction.

And Mumbai Indians won that bidding war, by making an INR 5 crore bid for Coetzee. Now, the MI team has a scary pace arsenal for IPL 2024 led by Jasprit Bumrah and Coetzee, with support from Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Dilshan Madushanka, and Nuwan Thushara. Coetzee himself said that he was excited to bowl alongside Bumrah at the Wankhede Stadium.

3. Delhi Capitals – Harry Brook

Harry-Brook. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

Harry Brook was a case of big names and low return in his debut IPL season in 2023. Though he hit a century, more than that, what the batter said about the Indian fans resonated more than his knock. SRH had paid quite a bit of money for him but had to release him after a below-par performance. 

However, all franchises know Brook is a special player and Delhi Capitals, who were light on batting resources last season, got Brook for a steak price of INR 4 crore. He, along with Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, and Rishabh Pant, will form a dangerous batting unit for the DC team in the next IPL season.

 

4. Gujarat Titans – Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The Gujarat Titans had lost their captain and power-hitter, Hardik Pandya, who decided to move to Mumbai Indians during the trade window. Though the GT squad had a captain in Shubman Gill, they felt they needed an Indian talent to fill that role of a finisher and lessen the burden on David Miller and Rahul Tewatia.

Enters Shahrukh Khan, who was surprisingly released by Punjab Kings. Gujarat bid INR 7.40 Cr for Shahrukh’s services and have gotten themselves a brilliant hitter and finisher, who can also bowl some mean off-spin. He along with Abhinav Manohar, Miller, and Tewatia gives GT lots of options to choose from.

5. Lucknow Super Giants – Shivam Mavi

Shivam Mavi. (Photo Source: Instagram/gujrat_titans)

Lucknow Super Giants were looking for an Indian pacer to bolster their pace attack. In IPL 2022 and 2023, Mark Wood, along with Mohsin Khan, Naveen Ul Haq, and inexperienced Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh carried the pace attack. LSG’s eyes were on the best of the Indian pacers and they got one in Shivam Mavi.

Mavi honed his skills in the KKR franchise since the IPL 2019 and was also part of Gujarat Titans. But here in the LSG squad, Mavi is expected to be at the forefront of a pace attack with Mark Wood and a fit again Mohsin Khan. The fact that Mavi is a capable batter, gives LSG the required depth with the bat as well, when needed.

6. Royal Challengers Bangalore – Lockie Ferguson

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were notorious for their poor bowling attack, despite boasting a very good batting order led by Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. In this IPL 2024 auction, RCB went on a spree buying fast bowlers, both overseas and Indian to fill that gap. Their buys will also lessen the burden on Mohammed Siraj.

RCB got Alzarri Joseph for INR 11.5 crore, but their most inexpensive, yet most formidable buy came in the form of Lockie Ferguson, whom they bought for his base price of INR 2 crore. Due to injuries and form, KKR had let go of Ferguson, but RCB snapped him up quickly. And now they have a formidable pacer in the New Zealander who can bowl at death. 

7. Rajasthan Royals – Nandre Burger

Burger. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Rajasthan Royals had come into the IPL 2024 auction with a small purse and blew 90% of it in buying Rovman Powell (INR 7.4 crore), and Shubham Dubey (INR 5.8 crore). They had very little to fill in some gaps for IPL 2024.

Amongst the best buys they made in the later half of the IPL 2024 auction, apart from Tom Kohler-Cadmore (INR 40 lakh), they got South Africa’s left-arm pacer Nandre Burger for just INR 50 lakh. Burger, who made his Test and ODI debut for South Africa against India recently, impressed one and all with his skills and pace. Along with Trent Boult, Burger brings the left-arm pace aspect to the RR squad.

8. Sunrisers Hyderabad – Wanindu Hasaranga

Wanindu Hasaranga. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

For a long time, the SRH squad was known to be a batting-heavy side with excellent pace bowling options. They experienced a very poor IPL 2023 where they finished last on the points table. One of the reasons was injury to their premier spinner Washington Sundar, who missed the majority of the tournament.

Learning from the same, SRH looked for another very good spinner to partner Sundar and found one in Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga. RCB inexplicably released Hasaranga and they didn’t go for him again in the auction. This enabled SRH to buy Hasaranga for his base price of INR 1.5 crore. With him, Washington Sundar, and Mayank Markande, SRH has a formidable spin attack for IPL 2024.

9. Punjab Kings – Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Punjab Kings splurged INR 11.75 crore for Harshal Patel’s services. They had learned a hard lesson in IPL 2023, where they had to depend on foreign pacers like Sam Curran and Nathan Ellis to do the heavy lifting in the pace department along with Arshdeep Singh. Curran experienced poor form throughout the IPL 2023, adding to the woes of PBKS.

But now in Harshal Patel, they have a death overs specialist, leaving Arshdeep Singh to use the new ball to good effect. Sam Curran and Nathan Ellis will also have their work made easy, as Harshal has extensive experience of Indian conditions. To add to this, Harshal Patel can also hit some lusty blows with the bat for his PBKS team, if needed.

10. Kolkata Knight Riders – Chetan Sakariya

Chetan Sakariya. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Another franchise, that added some meat to their fast bowling department was Kolkata Knight Riders. They splurged the most-ever money on Mitchell Starc, buying him for INR 24.75 crore. In addition to that, KKR also added Gus Atkinson, Ramandeep Singh, and Chetan Sakariya to the mix. 

Sakariya is expected to do wonders for KKR as he is a gifted left-arm pacer with a deadly yorker to boot. He had an excellent outing for Rajasthan Royals, before warming the bench in IPL 2023 for Delhi Capitals. KKR should show confidence in Sakariya and he will be one of their trump cards in the pace department. Sakariya with his guile and variations, is something the franchise’s one-dimensional attack needs.

Also check: IPL 2024: Team-wise worst buys in the auction