IPL Auction 2018 blunders: One mistake that each team will regret making

The IPL Auction 2018 turned out to be a cracker of an event. It is said that the IPL title is won or lost on the day of auction itself. While most teams managed to build a rock-solid team on paper that can give phenomenal performances, there are little loopholes in every squad. Let us analyze each team’s weakness, one by one.

Chennai Super Kings - Improper Pace-Spin balance

Chennai Super Kings are one of the two teams returning after a two-year ban.

The Chennai Super Kings have got a huge imbalance in the bowling department. The men in yellow, in addition to the retained Ravindra Jadeja, picked four specialist spinners (Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner) but only one Indian capped pacer in Shardul Thakur. Hence their bowling attack looks lopsided. Mark Wood and Lungi Ngidi are the other two foreign pacers but only one of them can play in the playing XI alongside Dwayne Bravo, who is a certainty. Out of the 5 spinners, ideally only 2 can play in the XI. Having only one capped seamer means they are very thin on the quality seam back-up as well.

Delhi Daredevils - No experience in the middle order

Delhi Daredevils are one of the teams to have not gotten their hands on the prestigious title

The Delhi Daredevils lack an experienced Indian batsman in the middle order. Batting has been Delhi's Achilles heel in the past few seasons and not having experience in the middle order would do no good to the fortunes of the team. The team from the capital have internationally in-experienced middle order of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Naman Ojha. Glenn Maxwell is another man in the middle order but he has shown that he cannot always be relied to steady the ship if required. The team thrives on the exuberance of youth and it does not always pay off since there is no substitute for experience.

Kolkata Knight Riders - Lack of captaincy options

Kolkata Knight Rider have won the IPL in 2012 and 2014

After Gautam Gambhir's exclusion, the Kolkata Knight Riders are searching for a leader and at the moment, they don't have an automatic choice for the captaincy. Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn are two prime candidates to be at the helm of affairs but none of them has got a lot of captaincy experience. Uthappa has not led any IPL team in the past and despite Lynn's captaincy experience in the BBL with Brisbane Heat, the Australian hasn't played a full season in IPL due to recurring injuries. Dinesh Karthik is another name they could consider, but remains an inexperienced candidate in the IPL. KKR have invested heavily in youth, bagging handful of players from the victorious U19 World Cup team. However, the lack of natural leader might contribute to their undoing in the tournament.

Kings XI Punjab - Questions over captaincy and lack of genuine keeper

King XI Punjab will be looking for stability in on-field leadership

Like the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Kings XI Punjab too are in a dilemma when it comes to captaincy. There are several candidates like Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, David Miller. Chris Gayle and Ravichandran Ashwin, latter known for having a shrewd cricketing brain, are two more worthy inclusions on the list. The team from the North have never the same captain leading them for a long period and the captaincy demons continue to haunt them. Also, Kings XI Punjab do not have a genuine wicket-keeper with part-time wicketkeeper likely to don the role behind the stumps. We have seen how a part-time keeper dropping a catch or two or missing a stumping could cost badly in T20 cricket.

Mumbai Indians - Lack of an experienced spinner

The defending champions will be looking to retain the title in the 11th edition.

Even though the Mumbai Indians managed to replace most these stars with other big names, they could not find an apt replacement for Harbhajan Singh, which leaves them without a world-class spinner. Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar and Anukul Roy are the probables to get into the playing XI but none of them have international experience. Like the Chennai Super Kings, the Mumbai Indians too have an imbalanced in their bowling lineup, but tilted more towards seamers in the case of the defending champions. They have 6 genuine seam options in Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rehman, Jason Behrendorff, Ben Cutting and Pradeep Sangwan in addition to the part time exploits of Hardik Pandya and Pollard. There could come a time when the Mumbai Indians could feel the need to drop an overseas pacer and pick an overseas spinner in Akila Dananjaya.

Rajasthan Royals - Lack of big names

Rajasthan Royals are the second team returning to the cash-rich league after a two-year ban

The Rajasthan Royals have always been a team who likes to keep it low-key. Despite spending a bomb on Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes, they had very little money to buy more international superstars. Hence, lack of big names on paper means they are not as strong as other teams in the competition. In this side, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes are the only ones with a wealth of T20 experience. The onus is on these players to guide the youngsters during the various stages of the competition.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Lack of experience in the middle order

The team from Bengaluru look a more balanced than they have in a long time

There is not a single Indian capped middle-order batsman who has a wealth of experience and this could hurt RCB badly if the top order fails. RCB have always been a top-heavy batting line-up and hence when the top order is blown away, the rest of the team falls like a pack of cards. RCB's middle order consists of Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh, Parthiv Patel, none of them has played international cricket for a long time. Also, these three were openers for their respective teams last season and have not played the role of finisher in the past. This year they will have to bat in the middle order because that is all the RCB got.

Sunrisers Hyderabad - No quality Indian spinner

Sunrisers Hyderabad clinched the title in 2016

The Sunrisers do not have an experienced Indian spinner in their side. This means if Rashid Khan misses a game or has an off-day, there is no Indian back-up spinner who can fill in his shoes. This could hurt them big time since Indian spinners are an integral part of any IPL team. Bipul Sharma, Deepak Hooda, Sachin Baby and Yusuf Pathan are the Indian spin-bowling options but none of them is either a genuine spinner or has made significant impact as a spinner in any of the previous editions of the IPL.