IPL Auction 2020: 3 biggest buys for Delhi Capitals
The JSW Group-led Delhi Capitals have given away a very positive and refreshing outlook (as compared to the GSW-owned Delhi Daredevils previously) and the same professional and intelligent approach continued at the 2020 IPL Auction in Kolkata yesterday.
The Delhi Capitals set forth their intentions even before the auction took place by bringing in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane during the trade window. However, there was a lot of work still left to done as the franchise had let go of nine players from their roster.
This meant that Delhi had a total of eleven (six local, five foreign) slots to fill with a purse of Rs 27.85 Crores. The luxury of having such a huge financial backup helped the franchise as the management went all out for the likes of Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 7.75 Crores), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 4.8 Crores), and Alex Carey (Rs 2.4 Crores). Apart from the above-mentioned trio, Delhi also added Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Mohit Sharma, and Lalit Yadav to their roster.
While Stoinis and Woakes could be seen as able replacements for Chris Morris and Trent Boult, the swashbuckling Hetmyer would be expected to do much more than what Colin Ingram managed to do last season.
So, with the Delhi Capitals investing in quite a few big names, let us have a look at the Top 3 buys for the team this year.
#3 Shimron Hetmyer
If you ask us, the talented Shimron Hetmyer was the biggest buy for the Delhi Capitals in the 2020 IPL Auction. Released by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the auction, Hetmyer bagged a contract worth Rs 7.75 Crores, which is almost double of what he received in 2018.
This exponential rise in his price tag doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who saw his fireworks in the 1st ODI against India recently. Interestingly, it was his performances against the same opposition last year that helped him get a hefty contract for the previous edition of the league as well. However, Hetmyer went through a rough patch that time, barring the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in RCB's final league game wherein he scored an attacking 75 off 47 deliveries.
While he struggled to get back to his best in the World Cup and the CPL that followed, there were some signs of him getting his rhythm back during the West Indies series against Afghanistan in Lucknow a month ago.
He carried this form on to the T20I series against India, topping the run-charts for WI with 120 runs. The icing on the cake, perhaps, was the majestic 139 off 106 balls he struck in the first ODI against India, with the knock making him a favorite amongst IPL franchises once again.
Although the Capitals had to part away with a huge sum of money to acquire him, they will be more than happy to get Hetmyer on board as he could be a fantastic replacement in the middle-order for Ingram. His association with Rishabh Pant will also be one to watch out for as the duo possesses the ability to take bowling attacks apart during the middle overs.
Just like Pant, Hetmyer is brutal on spinners and his game against pacers is also on the up. So, it won't be surprising if the West Indian seems like a massive bargain at the end of the 2020 IPL season.