IPL 2020: 5 wrong player picks that could prove costly for franchises
The start of the much-awaited 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is now just over a month away. A total of 332 players came under the hammer in the IPL auction in December last year.
Some franchises made excellent bargains while others had to pay big sums to get their hands on desired cricketers. Several gun players and young prodigies have been either retained or picked afresh by different franchises.
There have also been transfers and selections of numerous player past their prime or ill-suited to the set-up who may not prove to be the wisest of choices for the franchises.
In this article, we take a look at five such players who may not be adequate options and who can, in effect, prove costly for their franchises in this year's IPL.
Kedar Jadhav to Chennai Super Kings (₹7.80 Cr)
Chennai Super Kings splashed a huge amount of money to acquire the services of Kedar Jadhav. In an already aged squad, the 35-year old Jadhav doesn’t possess that agility and dexterity that the team requires.
The right-handed batsman last represented India in T20Is back in 2017. He didn’t have a great IPL season last year - featuring in 14 games where he scored just 162 runs at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate of 95.85.
Although Jadhav can most certainly chip in with his handy off-spin, Chennai Super Kings will not encounter any trouble in finding other spin-bowling options this IPL with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner and Piyush Chawla already part of the spin department.
MS Dhoni will most certainly take the gloves himself, which will leave Jadhav to justify his price tag with the bat only. It's a matter of time before we know how Jadhav fares in this year's edition.
Ajinkya Rahane to Delhi Capitals (₹5.25 Cr)
Delhi Capitals made a surprising move when they pushed for the signature of Ajinkya Rahane last year. The Indian batsman, who is now 32, isn’t very well-known for his T20 prowess.
Although Rahane provides some sort of stability at the top of the order, his strike rate suggests that he often fails to get on with the game. Rahane’s T20I strike rate of 113 and IPL strike rate of 122 are concrete proofs of that.
Moreover, with the Delhi Capitals retaining a lot of top-order players from last year's squad, it is very unclear what role Rahane will have in the side.
The Maharashtra-born opening batsman will most certainly be overshadowed by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Prithwi Shaw and Jason Roy. It will be interesting to see how often the Delhi Capitals will require Rahane to play this IPL and he would need to do a fair bit to justify his seemingly exorbitant price tag.
Chris Morris to Royal Challengers Bangalore (₹10 Cr)
Over the years, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have had an awful lot of problems as far as bowling at the death is concerned in the IPL. In 2017, they slotted in the English pace prodigy Tymal Mills to mend these death bowling woes. However, it didn’t go to plan as Mills picked only 5 wickets at 30.60 a piece.
They have opted for the South African all-rounder Chris Morris this time around. Even though the tall Protea has enjoyed decent IPL numbers in the past, his role for RCB looks unclear. He is not the most ideal of candidates to bat at 5-6 nor is his death bowling expertise is renowned amongst the T20 fraternity.
Over the last two years in T20I cricket, Morris has an economy of 9.19, something that will send jitters down the RCB coaching staff. In an auction where all-rounders like James Neesham, Chris Woakes and Mitchell Marsh - who possess similar traits - were sold for relatively lower sums, Morris will consider himself fortunate to have bagged 10 crores but will need to prove his mettle when the action begins.
Nathan Coulter-Nile to Mumbai Indians (₹8 Cr)
Mumbai Indians were keen to get hold of the Australian paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile in this year's IPL auction. After an intense bidding war between arch-rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the former were able to attain Coulter-Nile for a huge fee of ₹8 crore.
The 32-year-old was the talk of the town when he initially made his T20I debut for Australia in 2012/13. The West Australian swung the new ball, and was handy with the willow in the lower order, too. This will, in fact, be a return to the Wankhede Stadium for Coulter-Nile who represented Mumbai in 2013 before moving to Delhi, Kolkata, and then Bangalore in the IPL.
Unfortunately, though, the pacer has been subject o several injuries throughout his career. Coulter-Nile missed last year’s IPL due to a stiff back and was replaced by Dale Steyn. The right-arm pacer also had a dry Big Bash season, where he could only scalp 10 wickets in 14 games.
His economy rate of 8.6 over the last two years in T20Is isn’t encouraging either. With an established pace battery boasting the likes of Lasith Malinga, Japrit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan, it is hard to imagine how many times Coulter-Nile will don the blue of Mumbai this IPL season.
Sunil Narine to Kolkata Knight Riders (₹12.50 Cr)
When you talk of T20 specialists and maestros, Sunil Narine is one of the first names that pops up in your mind. A T20 mercenary, Narine has been a loyal servant to the Kolkata Knight Riders over the years and done brilliantly for KKR.
However, the cunning off-spinner has struggled in the last couple of years mainly due to his action being deemed illegal and the necessary adjustments he has had to made. There have been some legitimate queries as to his dwindling impact because of the changed action.
Numbers don’t lie and since the remodeling process, Narine's IPL numbers have been far from great. The 32-year-old has only managed 27 wickets in 28 games over the last two years, and his economy rate of 7.75 differs tremendously from his career IPL economy - 6.67.
There is no doubt on the skill level that Narine possesses, but with his evident decline of form, a price tag of 12.50 crores does look a touch strange.