Published: Feb 17, 2015, 11:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 17, 2015, 01:16 PM (IST)
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made some smart moves in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 player auction. The auction was an exciting one, with quite a few surprising picks as well. Pramod Ananth sheds some light on the purchases made by the Sunrisers.
Number of players bought: 10
Money spent at IPL 2015 Auction: Rs 11.7 crore
Sunrisers Hyderabad already have star players like Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Dale Steyn, and Ishant Sharma in their team, as they were retained by the owners from last season. But the addition they made in the IPL 2015 player auction has just given them more firepower. New Zealand batting sensation Kane Williamson was the first player to be bought for Rs 60 lakh by SRH. He has been in great form lately, and is currently representing his country in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. This was the first of many scalps that SRH managed during the auction.
England captain Eoin Morgan and former England superstarKevin Pietersen were snapped up for Rs 1.5 crore and 2 crore respectively. It will be interesting to see if both can play on the same page. Pietersen has had a rift with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for a long time now, and SRH will hope that it doesn’t rub off on their performances. Full list of players bought by SRH
Ravi Bopara and Laxmi Ratan Shukla were the two all-rounders picked up by SRH. Bopara played for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in an earlier edition, and had a productive time with them. He went to SRH for Rs 1 crore, which was his base price. Bengal all-rounder Shukla too was sold at his base price of Rs 30 lakh.
SRH have made their bowling a little stronger with the addition of New Zealand pacer Trent Boult. There was heavy bidding for the left-arm bowler as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mumbai Indians (MI), and SRH got involved at some point. But RCB and MI pulled out with SRH adding Boult to their kitty for Rs 3.8 crore from a base price of Rs. 50 lakh. Boult will have the likes of Steyn, Ishant, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on his side to guide him through the season. It looks like an excellent bowling line-up for SRH which can trouble any opposition on a given day.
Praveen Kumar, who has played in the past for RCB and KXIP was purchased at Rs 2.2 crore despite having a base price of Rs. 50 lakh. After a brief bidding war with CSK, SRH eventually got their man. Siddharth Kaul and Prasanth Padmanabhan, who are the unknown quantities, were the other two picks for SRH.
Strengths: Perfect balance with bat and ball. Owners picked their targets well and stuck to them.
Weaknesses: Injury to a key player or two might find them in a spot of bother.
Strangest selection: Picking Ravi Bopara as one of the all-rounders. He has been going through a lean patch for quite some time now, and it comes at a time when his place in the national side is in jeopardy despite making it in the World Cup squad.
Dark Horse: Laxmi Ratan Shukla is probably one of the more underrated players in the IPL. He is handy with the bat and can chip in with a few quick overs, if called upon. He is also one of the most experienced players in Indian conditions, having played Ranji Trophy for years. He should not be underestimated.
IPL 2015 Auction: List of players to be auctioned in IPL 8
IPL 2015 Auction: Full list of players unsold for IPL 8
IPL 2015 Player Auction Live Updates
Indian Premier League 2015 schedule: IPL 8 match time table with venue details
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
