IPL Auction 2020: 3 things we learned

The IPL auction is usually very entertaining, and this year was no different. The auction featured a good mix of young talent and seasoned pros on show, fierce bids, generous amounts of money and even friendly banter between players and their franchises.

The costliest player at the auction was Pat Cummins, who was bought for an overseas-record of Rs 15.50 crore (by Kolkata Knight Riders). Glenn Maxwell (Rs 10.75 crore) and Chris Morris (Rs 10 crore) also received princely sums for their services.

Apart from the overseas players, some exciting Indian youngsters such as Virat Singh and Priyam Garg were also bought. All in all, 62 players (29 of them overseas) were sold at the auction.

On that note, here are three things we learned from the IPL auction 2020.

#3 New Zealand will have little participation in IPL 2020

Martin Guptill playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Cricket can feel like a roller-coaster ride at times. One moment a sportsperson or team may feel on top of the world, but a few months later they may fade to the background.

That is exactly what happened to New Zealand’s cricketers in 2019. The Kiwis surprised everyone when they advanced all the way to the World Cup final in July, beating the highly-fancied India en route. Despite not boasting a star-studded team, they made up for it with plenty of determination and heart.

Although they fell short at the final hurdle, the team was feted in the media afterwards.

But six months later, only one member of that 15-man squad was bought at the IPL auction (eight players listed their names). There were a few reasons for this, including poor form (Martin Guptill, Colin Munro and Ish Sodhi), substandard IPL records (Tim Southee and Colin de Grandhomme) and inadequate game-time (Matt Henry) in recent months.

The question is: can these players regain their form and force their way into IPL teams for 2021?

#2 Fast bowlers are now hot property in franchise cricket

Pat Cummins became the costliest overseas player in IPL history

The IPL auction showed that fast bowlers are very much the flavour of the month. A lot of franchises these days want a quality pacer in their ranks - one who can send stumps cart-wheeling and make batsmen jump around in the crease.

This is largely thanks to the World Cup 2019. At that event, cricket fans saw Jofra Archer and Lockie Ferguson in full flow. They bowled close to 150 kmph on a regular basis and had batsmen in all sorts of trouble with their well-directed bouncers.

After the tournament, bowling fast was seen as a glamorous thing to do. So it did not come as a surprise when pacemen Pat Cummins (Rs 15.50 crore to KKR), Chris Morris (Rs 10 crore to RCB), Sheldon Cottrell (Rs 8.5 crore to KXIP) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 8 crore to MI) fetched huge sums at the IPL auction 2020.

Cummins in particular has the potential to finish as the top wicket-taker in IPL 2020. He is a workhorse bowler for Australia, and KKR can thus bank on him to produce match-winning as well as consistent performances throughout the season.

#1 Age is just a number for Pravin Tambe

Pravin Tambe was bought by KKR for 20 lakh

Some of the players are young enough to be his son. While prodigies such as Abdul Samad and Yashasvi Jaiswal were bought at the IPL 2020 auction, at the other end of the scale Pravin Tambe became the oldest player bought in IPL auction history.

The now 48-year-old made his IPL debut against Delhi Daredevils in 2013 and returned figures of 0-30 in 4 overs. Perhaps Tambe’s most memorable moment so far came against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014, when he snared a hat-trick.

With consistent performances over the last seven years, Tambe has proved that age is just a number. The leg-spinner is still going strong at 48. In fact, in a recent interview, he said that age is what one feels, and he does not think he’s a day older than 20.

Tambe will certainly look forward to playing for KKR in 2020.