IPL 2019 squads - Auction buys, retention and transfers

Chennai Super Kings

Squad strength: 25

Players bought in auction: 2

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 3.2 Crore

Having retained the bulk of the squad beforehand, CSK had a minor role to play during the latest auction. However, they did bring in a value addition to their Indian pace arsenal in the form of Mohit Sharma, who had essayed key roles for the team in the past.

Delhi Capitals

Squad strength: 25

Players bought in auction: 10

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 7.7 Crore

Having retained 14 players and acquiring Shikhar Dhawan during the transfer window, Delhi's auction outing was all about filling the gaps. They had let go of overseas names like Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy and Liam Plunkett, and to make up for it they roped in solid options like Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford and Colin Ingram, which blends well with the young Indian names in the set up.

Ishant Sharma's presence also provides an experienced lending hand to the pace department, which has talented domestic pacers like Nathu Singh and Bandaru Ayyappa along with big overseas names like Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult. Overall, a balanced squad which should hold Delhi in good stead to set their poor record in the IPL straight.

Kings XI Punjab

Squad strength: 23

Players bought in the auction: 13

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 3.7 Crore

Kings XI Punjab were heavily dependant on the top order in IPL 2018, especially KL Rahul, and their shortcomings with the middle order eventually cost them a spot in the playoffs. In order to address the imbalance, they chose to refurbish their squad by only retained 10 players before the auction - letting go several Indian names, including Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Axar Patel and Mohit Sharma.

Having secured Mandeep Singh via a transfer, KXIP concentrated on acquiring finishing options - Moises Henriques and Sam Curran being a couple of them. In Nicholas Pooran, an explosive batsman, they also got a 'keeping option and by getting Varun Chakaravarthy, they also went for an extra mystery element to complement Mujeeb. Hardus Vilojen and Mohammed Shami bring their experience to the pace department.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad strength: 21

Players bought in auction: 8

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 6.05 Crore

Kolkata Knight Riders had a lot of work to do going into the auction, lot of loopholes to fill - carrying forward from the disappointing returns of their last year's auction. Yet again, like they do in a lot of auctions, made some surprise buys. It is a testimony to their strategy team as to how they manage to deliver results with some surprising picks. While Shrikant Mundhe and Nikhil Naik were outright surprising picks, they managed some good foreign picks - a department that needed serious loading - in Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje and Joe Denly. Going for two outright quicks could also be an indication of how they could be planning for the upcoming season.

While they got most of their foreign picks easy and cheap, they got into an intense tussle for Carlos Brathwaite. Having paid INR. 5 Crore for the Windies all-rounder, it remains to be seen if he can find a place in the starting XI. While KKR strengthened their pace and all-round department, they probably missed a batsman, going home with saving more than INR 6 Crore.

Mumbai Indians

Squad strength: 24

Players bought in auction: 6

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 3.55 Crore

With the core retained, Mumbai Indians had little work to do at the auction. Two of their biggest investments were in the old warhorses - Lasith Malinga and Yuvraj Singh. While the Sri Lankan slinger slots in directly as the death bowling specialist for Mustafizur Rahman, who was released, Yuvraj might struggle to find a place in the starting XI.

All the other buys, barring Barinder Sran, are young players - most promising of them being Punjab's Anmolpreet Singh. As is the case with MI in the past, majority of the newcomers are unlikely to fit into the XI but Anmolpreet and Sran are good additions as backups. The squad didn't need much, and as such there will be no reason for them to feel disappointed.

Rajasthan Royals

Squad Strength: 25

Players bought in auction: 9

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 7.15 Crore

Jaydev Unadkat once again became the biggest buy of the auction, as Rajasthan Royals bagged him for INR. 8.4 Crore which was INR. 3.1 Crore lesser than what they paid last time around. Pace continued to be on their agenda even after that as they got Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron for a total of INR. 3.5 Crore.

While that makes for an impressive pace roster, in addition to the spin talent already in the team, some other gaps were not plugged as efficiently. With Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and possibly Jofra Archer available for only a part of the 2019 season, the lack of powerful back-up options could hurt the Royals. They will depend on their late picks such as Ashton Turner and Liam Livingstone to come good when that time arrives.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad Strength: 24

Players bought in the auction: 9

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 1.8 Crore

As with several other IPL auctions, RCB went after the flavour of the season, but this time managed to land Shimron Hetmyer and big-hitting all-rounder Shivam Dube at a combined cost of INR. 9.2 crore. This pair, they hope, will be key to answer one eternal question - Who after Kohli and de Villiers?

With a further INR. 9 Crore in their kitty, RCB went back into the action and made value bids. One such move gave them Heinrich Klaasen, the South African keeper-batsman at his base price of INR. 50L - down significantly from the INR. 2.8 Crore they paid last season for Quinton de Kock.

While RCB spent much of the auction picking up future prospects - teenaged leggie Prayas Barman (INR. 1.5crore), Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal (20L), Delhi batsman Himmat Singh (65L) and Akshdeep Nath at a curiously high INR 3.6 crore, they made no attempt to address their death bowling woes. Nathan Coulter-Nile, who missed last season with a stress injury, could only play a bit-part rule if he's called up for national team duties for the Pakistan series, leaving Tim Southee, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav to bear the burden of the Chinnaswamy once more.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad strength: 23

Players bought in auction: 3

Purse at the end of the auction: INR. 5.30 Crore

Sunrisers Hyderabad continued their prudent ways at the player auctions, picking up just three players to complete their squad. Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who fetched a winning bid of INR. 5 crore in last year's auction, went for just INR 1.20 crore this time around. SRH also added a foreign wicketkeeping option in Jonny Bairstow. The two can share wicketkeeping and top-order duties over the season as Bairstow is expected to be unavailable for the second half. Shreevats Goswami is the other option.

It was clear that SRH came armed with the idea of finding an able top-order back-up for the swashbucking David Warner, who like Bairstow, will leave midway for World Cup preparations. They went aggressively for the likes of Shimron Hetmyer - their highest bid INR. 3.80 crore; winning bid INR. 4.20 crore - and Colin Ingram - their highest bid - INR. 6.20 crore; winning bid - INR. 6.40 crore. Their next best option was to turn to Martin Guptill. Once SRH failed to secure their first-choice targets in Hetmyer and Ingram, they swooped for the New Zealand opener - getting him for his base price of INR. 1 crore.

There was no other particular aspect to address as they put a lot of faith in the Indian middle-order core via retention, while also bringing back all-rounder Vijay Shankar in player swap deal. That transfer also bolstered their spin department, with Shahbaz Nadeem's left-arm spin to complement leggie Rashid Khan, left-armer Shakib Al Hasan and offie Mohammad Nabi, which was probably why they stayed away from participating in the slugfest for mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Likewise, when Indian fast bowlers raked in the moolah, they turned mere spectators, considering the fast-bowling riches that they already possess.

(Note: * denotes players bought in auction)