IPL 2014: Smart signings to end teams' woes

Yuvraj Singh – The costliest buy at the auction

A  lot of moolah has been spent this week by franchisees looking forward to strengthen their stake for this years IPL , and evidently a lot of thinking has been done by every team management in bidding for players that adds strength to their team structure. Considering the fact that a lot of matches will be played at home, each team has gone for the players that could suit their conditions at home.

Rajasthan Royals over the years have built a fortress around the Sawai Man Singh stadium and not many teams have gone back victorious over the past 6 years. They had an almost immortal home record last year, and taking cue from the Royals teams have made decisions in this years auctions to strengthen their team at home. Let’s take a look at some of the players that could end the woes of teams struggling over the years in areas where they were never considered the best.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

RCB has never been a power house of fast bowlers , and all that could end this year with the addition of Mitchell Starc. A lot of eyebrows were raised when there was intense bidding for Starc, but he is expected to end RCB’s bowling troubles. Over the years, RCB has always been a power packed batting team with players like Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers in its ranks.

They have added on Yuvraj Singh and further strengthened what they have always been good at, although in hindsight they might have ended up paying a lot more than RCB had hoped for. Varun Aaron and Ashok Dinda , capped Indian players have also figured in their scheme of things to add strength.

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

The Royals traditionally have always believed in utility players who adds value to the team, and they have stuck patriotically to that principle this year too- Steven Smith, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdullah , Kevon Cooper, Ben Cutting and Abhishek Nayar are all players who brings the all-rounder option to their table.

An area where they lacked the required talent was in the spin department. The Royals after the departure of Shane Warne has never been a team that boasted of quality spinners that could win them matches away from home. They seemed to struggle for wickets when they played on turning tracks outside the comforts of Jaipur.

All that might end this year after they retained Pravin Tambe, who showed some great talent towards the  fag end of last season and Iqbal Abdullah , another crafty spinner who can also bat a little down the order. Iqbal Abdullah at 65 lakh is a steal, and its surprising none of the other teams were keen to grab him.