So, in the previous article, we talked about the retained and released players of five teams in build up to the IPL Auction 2023. In this one, we are going to talk about the other five teams and how their current squad stands, what do they need to get right in the auction, the purse left with them and much more. You will learn many interesting facts as this article progresses, so make sure you stay on till the end.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS – Let’s start this article with the second-most successful franchise in the IPL history, the four-time champions, Chennai Super Kings. Last season was not a great one for them as there were some issues with the captaincy and management. Jadeja captained the team from the beginning but left captaincy midway and handed it over to MSD. He was then ruled out of the remainder of IPL due to an injury. Nevertheless, this season everything is sorted as Dhoni will captain the team from the beginning and hopefully till the end. Coming to the releases, they did release few big names such as Dwayne Bravo (announced Bowling Coach of CSK), Chris Jordan, Adam Milne, Robin Uthappa and a few domestic players. The noticeable thing was release of most of their fast bowlers, even the domestic ones. They will go into the auction with a good amount of purse of INR 20.45 crores, with a maximum of 7 slots to be filled. Their batting is more or less sorted with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway being in top form lately, they will mainly focus on some spin bowling all-rounders and bowlers who can bowl good slower balls in the auction as it will be very useful on slow decks of Chennai.
DELHI CAPITALS – Coming to the franchise which has been playing some exceptional cricket in the IPL since the past 3-4 years, Delhi Capitals. They have been doing really well in the competition since the time they have included Ricky Ponting in their ranks. Their team had almost no weakness last year and this time also, they have retained their core with releasing only 4 players and trading Shardul Thakur to Kolkata Knight Riders during the trading window. Shardul Thakur was acquired for a hefty sum of money, so by trading him, DC management has got a sum of INR 19.45 crores to go into the auction with only 5 slots to be filled. They can surely be a party spoiler for few of the teams in the auction. They have a solid batting line-up with a good mix of experienced Indian and Overseas players, along with some uncapped players. They will be looking to get some good quality spinners in the auction along with some Indian fast bowlers who can hit the deck hard and can be a wicket-taking option for Rishabh Pant during the middle overs.
GUJARAT TITANS – It’s time for the defending champions and the team which have the full potential of defending their title, Gujarat Titans. They performed fairly well last season as they had a very balanced side and an excellent captain who took them all the way by leading from the front and by example. They released some big names in Jason Roy, Dominic Drakes and traded out Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson to Kolkata Knight Riders. They still have INR 19.25 crores with them and need to fill 7 slots out of which 3 are overseas. They have a good core and will try to target few middle order batters who can flourish the innings and can also stabilize it in case of some early wickets. The other part they will have to look after is getting 1-2 overseas pacers who can bowl quick, as they have traded Lockie Ferguson and need someone to play that role. They have a world-class spinner in Rashid Khan and have some young talent around him who can get the work done for them.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS – The 2012 and 2014 champions of IPL, have followed some strange tactics before this year’s auction. They were the most active team during the trading window, where they spent heavily and acquired three players in Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson. They released a whole lot of players, a total of 16, out of which one player was traded out to Delhi Capitals. Pat Cummins, Alex Hales and Sam Billings made themselves unavailable for this year’s IPL, whereas players like Aaron Finch, Mohd Nabi, Shivam Mavi, Chamika Karunaratne and some domestic players were released from the squad. KKR have only INR 7.05 crores with them and still need to buy back-up players for their regulars. They have 11 slots to be filled with 3 of them being overseas. They have some good overseas players but will be looking for some more reliable and experienced batters in the auction along with finding back-up players.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS – Coming to the last team of this article, LSG, who performed fairly well in their first outing in the Indian Premier League. They finished third in the points table and lost to RCB in the eliminator of IPL 2022. They released 7 players from their squad out of which 4 were overseas. Mostly, it was the fast bowling unit which was released as 4 fast bowlers in Andre Tye, Dushmantha Chameera, Jason Holder and Ankit Rajpoot were discarded from the squad. Other than these, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey and Shahbaz Nadeem were the players who were not given a go ahead. This team still looks decent as they have some good all-rounders like Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham and Marcus Stoinis who can bat as well as chip in a few overs with the ball. They will be looking to get some overseas batters and fast bowlers in their team, having a budget of INR 23.35 crores with them, having left to fill a maximum of 10 slots, out of which 4 are overseas.
Also Read: Every Important Update you need to know about IPL 2023 Retentions in detail