IPL Auction 2019: Rating the teams based on their performance in the auction

The 2019 IPL auction took place last night (December 18) in Jaipur and as many as 351 players went under the hammer out of which the eight franchises bought 60 players (out of which 20 are overseas internationals) and spent a total of 1,06,80,00,000 INR in purchasing them. Last year's costliest Indian pick Jaydev Unadkat was the costliest pick of the season as he was picked by Rajasthan Royals again for 8.4 crores, the same amount that was spent on Tamil Nadu spinner CV Varun. Following Unadkat and CV Varun is England all-rounder Sam Curran, who was bought by Varun's team Kings XI Punjab for 7.2 crores.

Some franchise spent their money shrewdly and some, splashed their money on players and got them for a price that is more than what they actually deserve.

Let us take a look at how the eight franchises fared in the auction and where they stand among all the other teams that took part in the auction.

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Mumbai Indians

Having a good enough squad at their disposal coming into the auction, Mumbai Indians started off the auction by signing Punjab all-rounder Anmolpreet Singh, former MI pacer Lasith Malinga, Indian pacer Barinder Sran etc. The blockbuster signing of the auction for Mumbai came at the very end as the franchise signed Yuvraj Singh for his base price of 1 crore when the unsold players came into the auction again.

But, barring Sran and Anmolpreet Singh, the signing they made were questionable. It is very evident that the likes of Lasith Malinga and Yuvraj Singh are well past their prime and only time will tell whether these players will be worth the money or not.

Players signed: Lasith Malinga - 2 crores, Anmolpreet Singh - 80 lakhs, Barinder Sran - 3.40 crore, Pankaj Jaiswal - 20 lakhs, Rasikh Dar - 20 lakhs, Yuvraj Singh - 1 crore.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Evin Lewis and Quinton de Kock.

Rating: BAD

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 8/8

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad needed to address their middle-order and wicketkeeper woes but all they managed in the IPL was buying Wriddhiman Saha, Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill, three players who can play at the top-order that already has the likes of David Warner and Kane Williamson.

Saha is a good buy considering their needs but Bairstow is an opening batsman who won't be available for the whole tournament not only for IPL 2019 but also IPL 2020 and beyond, thanks to England's international calendar. Guptill is a good backup if Warner joins the Australian squad. Sunrisers could have signed at least one middle-order batsman to bolster their middle-order.

Players signed: Wriddhiman Saha - 1.20 crores, Jonny Bairstow - 2.20 crores Martin Guptill - 1 crore

Squad: Kane Williamson (C), Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill, Manish Pandey, Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al-Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma.

Rating: BELOW AVERAGE

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 7/8

Rajasthan Royals

When Rajasthan Royals released Jaydev Unadkat ahead of the IPL auction, it was expected that they will get him back for a lesser price and that's exactly what they did as they got him for 8.4 crores, the costliest buy at the auction.

They made some questionable purchases by signing the likes of Varun Aaron for 2.4 crores, Liam Livingstone, Ashton Turner etc. when they had the chance to sign better overseas players as backups when their first-choice players leave for international commitment.

Their best signing of the day came in the form of Manan Vohra, who was bought for just 20 lakhs in the auction.

Players signed: Jaydev Unadkat - 8.40 crores, Varun Aaron - 2.40 crores, Oshane Thomas - 1.10 crores, Shashank Singh - 30 lakhs, Liam Livingstone - 50 lakhs, Shubham Ranjane - 20 lakhs, Manan Vohra - 20 lakhs, Ashton Turner - 50 lakhs, Riyan Parag - 20 lakhs.

Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun,Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Manan Vohra, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Jos, Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, and Ish Sodhi.

Rating: BELOW AVERAGE

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 6/8

Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders came into the IPL auction with just 13 players in their squad and they had to buy some backups for their players. First, they signed Carlos Brathwaite for 5 crores and then, took their time before they made their second signing.

They signed South African pacer Anrich Nortje, England internationals Joe Denly and Harry Gurney etc. in the auction. Though they bought eight players in the auction, their squad barring their retained 13 players, looks underwhelming.

Players signed: Carlos Brathwaite - 5 crores, Lockie Ferguson - 1.60 crore, Anrich Nortje - 20 lakhs, Nikhil Naik - 20 lakhs, Harry Gurney - 75 lakhs, Prithvi Raj Yarra - 20 lakhs, Joe Denly - 1 crore, Shrikant Mundhe - 20 lakhs

Squad: Dinesh Karthik (C), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje, Nikhil Naik, Harry Gurney, Yarra Prithviraj, Joe Denly, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Srikanth Mundhe and Piyush Chawla.

Rating: AVERAGE

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 5/8

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore came into the auction with Rs. 18.15 crores to spend and unlike the previous seasons, they did a reasonably good job. They started off by buying the Windies star Shimron Hetmyer before purchasing Shivam Dube for Rs. 5 crores, an unknown player in Prayas Ray Barman for 1.5 crores etc. They also made some good buys in the form of Heinrich Klaasen and Devdutt Padikal for a combined price of 70 lakhs.

Players signed: Shimron Hetmyer - 4.20 crores, Gurkeerat Singh - 50 lakhs, Devdutt Padikal - 20 lakhs, Shivam Dube - 5 crores, Heinrich Klaasen - 50 lakhs, Himmat Singh - 65 lakhs, Milind Kumar - 20 lakhs, Prayas Ray Barman - 1.50 crores, Akshdeep Nath - 3.60 crores

Squad: Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Tim Southee, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Shimron Hetmyer, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klaasen, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Prayas Barman, Marcus Stoinis and Akshdeep Nath.

Rating: GOOD

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 4/8

Delhi Capitals

Unlike the previous IPL auctions, Delhi Capital did a good job at the auction as they addressed all the areas that needed attention. With a solid top-order at their disposal, they needed a middle-order batsman at number 5 or 6 to finish the innings for them.

They exactly got not one but two players for that as they signed veteran South African batsman Colin Ingram for 6.4 crores and West Indian batsman Sherfane Rutherford for 2 crores.

Adding to these names, they signed all-rounder Axar Patel for 5 crores, Hanuma Vihari for 2 crores, Ishant Sharma for 1.1 crores etc. With some shrewd signings in the auction, Delhi have a very good squad at their disposal.

Players signed: Hanuma Vihari - 2 crores, Axar Patel - 5 crores, Ishant Sharma - 1.10 crore, Ankush Bains - 20 lakhs, Colin Ingram - 6.4 crores, Sherfane Rutherford - 2 crores, Keemo Paul - 50 lakhs, Jalaj Saxena - 20 lakhs, Bandaru Ayyappa - 20 lakhs

Ratings: Shreyas Iyer (C), Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Bandaru Ayyappa, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Ankush Bains, Nathu Singh, Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Jalaj Saxena, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan and Shikhar Dhawan.

Rating: GOOD

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 3/8

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings entered the auction with just two slots remaining and it was expected that they will go after at least one of Mohit Sharma and Jaydev Unadkat. As expected, they went after both the names and ended up getting Mohit Sharma for 5 crores.

After buying Mohit inside the first hour of the auction, the CSK thinktank had to wait for a long time before they bought Rituraj Gaikwad for 20 lakhs. They did ensure that the other teams spend more money on a few players by just inflating the price.

They went into the auction with just one thing in mind and returned home by addressing it.

Players signed: Mohit Sharma - 5 crores, Ruturaj Gaikwad - 20 lakhs

Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Mohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif KM, N Jagadeesan, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey and Mitchell Santner.

Rating: GOOD

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 2/8

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab, without a doubt, had the best auction among all the eight teams. This might be a coincidence that their owner Preity Zinta was not at the auction as Mike Hesson and co. did a fantastic job at the auction table.

They made the costliest buy of the auction as they signed Tamil Nadu spinner CV Varun for 8.4 crores followed by Sam Curran for 7.2 crores. They addressed their fast bowling woes by signing Curran and Mohammed Shami, wicketkeeping area by buying Prabhsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Indian middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan etc.

Players signed: Moises Henriques - 1 crores, Nicholas Pooran - 4.20 crores, Mohammed Shami - 4.80 crores, Sarfaraz Khan - 25 lakhs, Varun Chakravarthy - 8.40 crores, Sam Curran - 7.20 crores, Hardus Viljoen - 75 lakhs, Arshdeep Singh - 20 lakhs, Darshan Nalkande - 30 lakhs, Prabhsimran Singh - 4.80 crores, Agnivesh Ayachi - 20 lakhs, Harpreet Brar - 20 lakhs, Murugan Ashwin - 20 lakhs

Squad: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Mohammed Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Varun Chakravarthy, Sam Curran, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, PrabhSimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, Mandeep Singh.

Rating: BRILLIANT

Where they rank among 8 teams in the IPL auction: 1/8