IPL 2023 Auction: 3 reasons why Lockie Ferguson going back to KKR is a bad move
One of the biggest moves made ahead of the IPL 2023 Auction was Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) securing Lockie Ferguson's services from the Gujarat Titans (GT). This marks the second stint between the Knights and the Kiwi bolter, who represented them for three seasons from 2019-21.
Ferguson was snapped up by GT at the previous auction and was in and out of their playing XI. He did play the final, which the Titans went on to win against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), though, and also clocked the fastest delivery of the season at 157.3 kmph in that game.
Along with Ferguson, KKR also drafted in Afghan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz from the Titans.
Attention Knights! The flight from Ahmedabad to Kolkata has landed 💜💙
#LockieFerguson @RGurbaz_21 #AmiKKR #GalaxyOfKnights https://t.co/Opde5yZlKy
As the saying goes, 'pace is pace yaar' (there's nothing like pace). Given his ability to crank up speedometers, it is hard to find bowlers who are as threatening as Ferguson in today's era.
That said, a deeper inspection of this deal makes you wonder if the Knight Riders made the right choice with this trade.
Let's look at three reasons why this decision is a bad one from KKR's perspective.
#1 Ferguson's entry eats into a huge chunk of KKR's purse
Ferguson was acquired by the Titans for a sum of ₹10 crore in the previous IPL player auction. His trade to KKR now automatically has an impact on the funds they will have to spend at the next mini-auction.
Mind you, the Knight Riders have also onboarded Shardul Thakur from the Delhi Capitals (DC). With Thakur fetching a sum of ₹10.75 crore in the previous mega auction, that's close to KKR splurging ₹21 crore on two seamers alone.
Clearly, they will have to offload a lot of their other players in order to generate sufficient funds to plug their loopholes at the IPL 2023 Auction. This makes this particular deal involving Ferguson a bit of a gamble on the part of the two-time champions.
#2 Doesn't solve their glaring issues
KKR's major issues in IPL 2022 were on the batting front, especially against searing velocity. While the giant trades made by KKR don't address those, one would think it would tick off a few boxes in the bowling department. A closer look though tells you that this isn't quite the case.
Death bowling remains a huge area of concern for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. While they have Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to fall back on, none of their other options are reliable enough as far as bowling at the death is concerned.
Ferguson can let it fly at the Eden Gardens with his thunderbolts, but does tend to leak runs on certain days and isn't the most consistent death-overs option. The same can be said about Thakur's inconsistencies at the death as well, while Umesh Yadav is best used in the powerplay.
Clearly, despite buying back one of their former players, KKR still have problems to address across departments ahead of IPL 2023.
#3 Issues with consistency and fitness
Lockie being picked by KKR seems to be an attempt by them to try and fix their middle & death overs bowling. Seems a good move on paper, the only problem is, and KKR should be knowing is, is that Lockie is very high variance. He could give a 2/20 spell one day and 0/50 next.
That Ferguson has been prone to injuries has been well-documented over time. In recent times, however, he has also had issues with his consistency while sending the ball down.
While one can rub it off as a bad run of form, the fact that he was dropped from the GT playing XI during this year's IPL and also endured a lackluster T20 World Cup 2022 campaign poses enough reasons to worry about.
The Knights have invested heavily in him and for someone who has had his run-ins with fitness, that is a lot of money. Couple his recent inconsistencies with it and you'd think that the Kiwi pacer would have to have a big IPL 2023 campaign to repay that faith.
What do you make of the Lockie Ferguson trade from GT to KKR? Let us know in the comments section below!
Also read: IPL 2023 Auction: 3 best trades in the league's history