What's Cooking in the IPL Auction 2022


What's Cooking in the IPL Auction 2022

The official date has been scheduled for the IPL auction 2022. It is going to be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. Same dates were making the rounds on social media, but it has been fixed now. The auction will be publicized live on the Star Sports network from 11 am across the two days. The ownership has shifted from Vivo to Tata, and it will be called the Tata IPL from the 2022 season.

15th season to have a ten-team battle with two new teams, which has been added this time. A total of 74 matches are anticipated to be played. Several reputed overseas batsmen are a part of this auction. Already few of them are established captains in the IPL. With many franchises exploring for a potential captain, the stocks of a few of those players might rise the mega auction.

BCCI has a list of 590 players for the IPL 2022 mega auction. The list consists of 370 Indian players and 270 overseas players. The overseas players are from countries like Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. So far, the ten franchises have selected a total of 33 players in their squads.

ACCORDING TO THE REPORTS, the IPL Auction 2022 is probably the last mega auction. There are a few franchises on the lookout for captains, while others are skimming for specialist players in different game departments. The two new franchises have assigned their captains as well. KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise, Hardik Pandya will lead Ahmedabad. Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals,  Chennai Super Kings,  and Sunrisers Hyderabad have also assigned their captains. The likes of KKR, RCB, PBKS are looking for potential captains.

Indian U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Yash Dhull is on the list as well

All the players from India and across the globe have already registered their names for the two-day event in Bengaluru. There are many budding cricketers among those names, and they would be exhilarated to be a part of the tournament for the first time. Now, it remains to be seen how many of them would get sold and who would go unsold.

The Indian U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Yash Dhull is on the list, but the question is which of those ten teams would be excited to have him on board this weekend. Dhull had led the India colts well from the front in the recently-concluded ICC U19 World Cup 2022 in West Indies as the Boys in Blue won the junior competition for a record fifth time. The good batter also mattered when it mattered the most with a match-winning 110 against Australia in the semi-final.

The future of Indian cricket would be going in with a base price of INR 20 lakhs, the amount could increase if the bidding war getting intense and he could be sold for a much higher price.

Who will be the most expensive player in the IPL 2022 auction?

Shreyas Iyer

IPL teams prefer an Indian player as a long-term captaincy option. Age, batting talent, brand potential, and success as a leader have made Shreyas Iyer such a compelling choice that franchise officials believe he could end up being the most expensive buy at the auction. Shreyas Iyer handed his captaincy midway through IPL 2018. Iyer showed character and led the Capitals to two successive play-offs, including their first final (in 2020). But once the franchise had decided to retain Rishabh Pant as the captain last IPL, Iyer opted to head to the auction this time.

Moreover, Iyer is also part of the bunch, Pant and KL Rahul, who are looked at as future India captains. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders could look for captains. Even the preferences of Chennai Super Kings will look for a replacement for MS Dhoni, who is likely to be playing his final IPL this season. Don't be surprised if the Capitals, too, express interest as that would help them nearly retain the core from the past few seasons.

David Warner

Warner is an IPL legend, and he is the most successful overseas player in the past leagues. Between seasons 2014 to 2020, Warner collected 3819 runs at an average of 52.31 and a strike rate of 144.98. Virat Kohli was next on the runs tally, with 3605 runs, but at a strike rate of 135.27. But the truly amazing thing was that Warner achieved his tally despite missing out entirely on IPL 2018. He won the orange cap twice and led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title in 2016. Warner's biggest strength in the IPL is his ability to play spin and consistency.

Warner scored over 500 runs in six successive seasons and scored them at a healthy strike rate and average. His fortunes changed one bad IPL season in 2021 and a few off-the-field events. Nevertheless, Warner was back among the runs as he won the tournament award in the T20 World Cup that took place immediately after IPL 2021. Being an IPL-winning captain, Warner could easily slip into the leadership group, if not the leading role itself. Warner still has a lot to offer as an overseas opener and a seasoned IPL player. Some teams might not be keen on Warner in the set-up, but there will be more teams that want him, and all of them will have to budget well to get him.

Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan has a powerful CV as a wicketkeeper-batter. In the last two IPLs, Kishan scored 757 runs for Mumbai with six fifties, averaging over 40 and striking over 140. In IPL 2020, Kishan clubbed a record-breaking 30 sixes, which played a huge role in ending up as Mumbai Indians' highest run-getter in their title run. Kishan had shown he was well worth the INR 6.2 crore Mumbai had paid him at the 2018 auction, nearly 35 times the price Gujarat Lions had bagged him for in IPL 2016 after he emerged a young talent having led India to the Under-19 World Cup final that year.

Last IPL, he smashed the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack on the way to a 16-ball half-century, the fastest last edition and quickest ever for Mumbai. Kishan's greatest success has come as an opener at Mumbai. Still, he showed he could bat in the middle order, too, something he has also done in red-ball cricket for India A. Kishan is an allrounder that virtually every franchise would covet as a power-hitting wicketkeeper-batter. Consequently, despite not featuring in the opening rounds of the auction, franchises are likely to dedicate a massive sum for him.