Auction Game for Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings for IPL 2023
The batch of 2022 for Chennai Super Kings
Both Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings have one thing in common, apart from having the title 'Kings' in their names. Both of them could fare well in the last edition of the Indian Premier League and failed miserably despite having a strong core.
Ahead of the IPL 2023, both the Kings will look to tick a few major boxes in the mini-auction scheduled for Friday. Here's what we think should be their auction game on the big day.
Chennai Super Kings:
The most celebrated IPL team with the most celebrated IPL captain were down on their knees in the last season as they finished at the bottom of the table just above Mumbai Indians.
It was a rollercoaster ride for the franchise in terms of their captaincy as MS Dhoni stepped down and handed over the baton to Ravindra Jadeja, but the constant defeats, timid performances and injuries led to the management bringing back MSD at the helm.
With a moderate performance at last year's auction, they have got seven spots to fill up, two of which have to be overseas.
Current CSK Squad:
MS Dhoni, Devon Conway (NZ), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali (ENG), Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwaine Pretorius (SA), Mitchell Santner (NZ), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana (SL), Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana (SL).
Auction Mathematics for CSK:
Purse remaining: 20.45 Crores
Overseas slots remaining: 2
Overall slots filled: 18
Players/Areas to Target:
The captaincy ambiguity: CSK has had the best captain over their lifespan, but the rumours of MSD retiring seemed true when Jadeja was named captain. However, it went down as an undercooked decision and now they are going to look for a new captain to take over in upcoming seasons.
Express Pacer: Deepak Chahar’s injury did dent CSK’s success which compels them to have an express pacer to tag along and act as a backup as well, wherein Shivam Mavi, Joshua Little or Jhye Richardson may be the apt choice.
Fast Bowling Allrounder: CSK is suffering from both batting and bowling woes, a fast-bowling all-rounder is the best remedy for that. Sam Curran, who was released by CSK, has now become the best choice for fast bowling allrounder for all the teams. They might try to retort to him or go for Jason Holder or Romario Shephard, and even Jaydev Unadkat or Prerak Mankad as well.
Sam Curran last played for Chennai in 2021
Designated Backups:
CSK suffered vividly from injuries in the last season, therefore, the need to have designated backups is imminent-
Top-order overseas backup: Devon Conway enjoyed success while opening in the second half of last season but was compromised on the cost of team composition. Having his backup might help with batting woes.
Backup wicketkeeper: They already have Devon Conway as a wicket-keeping backup, but CSK might need a permanent replacement for keeping, wherein KS Bharat can be their pick.
Indian backup batters: With Robin Uthappa’s retirement, CSK might go for Manish Pandey or Samarth Vyas as a regular and backup, respectively.
Probable XI and Substitutes
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Devon Conway ✈️
Moeen Ali ✈️
Ambati Rayudu - Subhranshu Senapati
Ravindra Jadeja
MS Dhoni (C) (WK)
Shivam Dube*
D Pretorius - M Santner ✈️
Deepak Chahar - R Hangargekar/Simarjeet Singh
Mukesh Chowdary - T Deshpande
Maheesh Theekshana - M Pathirana ✈️
Chennai Super Kings’ success may hugely depend upon their team composition as the same composition may carry on for the foreseeable future as CSK does not shuffle many. Their auction committee has a big task up its sleeves. With a little bit of management and smart choices, they can achieve efficacy.
Punjab Kings:
Punjab Kings finished in sixth place for the fourth consecutive year and have not been able to make the playoffs since 2014. For Punjab, it has been a bucket full of problems and inconsistencies.
Punjab released a lot of players before the mega-auction last year, and the new squad seemed balanced and did not suffer personnel-wise, but the inconsistent form hurt their playoff chances instead.
Mayank Agarwal was released after IPL 2022
Punjab has released their former captain Mayank Agarwal before the upcoming season.
Current PBKS Squad:
Jonny Bairstow (ENG), Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (SL), M. Shahrukh Khan, Atharva Taide, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone (ENG), Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis (AUS), Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada (SA).
Auction Mathematics for PBKS:
Purse Remaining: 32.2 Crores
Total slots remaining: 9
Overseas Slot remaining: 3
Overall Slots filled: 16
Players/Areas to Target:
Top-order Batters - Overseas: Looking at the available players in the auction, the England Test Captain and all-rounder, Ben Stokes is the best choice for their number 3 spot. If need be, Manish Pandey can also be opted for the top order, let alone being an Indian player.
Overseas Fast Bowling Allrounder: Sam Curran is going to be the hottest-selling property in this auction as far as fast bowling all-rounders are concerned, and with the money PBKS have, they can win the race to grab him. If not him, they can also go for Jason Holder or even David Wiese.
Specialist Off-spinner, Preferably Indian: However, Liam Livingstone impressed with his spin bowling in the last season and proved to be a worthwhile buy for Punjab, but at the end of the day, he is a part-timer and Punjab lack one specialist off-spinner who can be fulfilled if they go for Pulkit Narang/Vaisakh Chandranor even Balu Surya as a mystery spinner.
Designated Backups: Arshdeep Singh’s backup with Indian pacers – Arshdeep could not finish among the top wicket-takers in the last season; however, he had a good stint at the Indian team later on, but a backup in terms of Shivam Mavi or Yash Thakur may result in crucial during the season.
Success for Punjab led Arshdeep to Indian team
Backup wrist-spin option: Pinning in Piyush Chawla or Mayank Markande with the team as a backup wrist-spin option may make their spin department formidable.
Backup for pacers: Kagiso Rabada has not been in the form of his life lately, though he has been a consistent performer but keeping Tymal Mills or Reece Topley as a backup can be a wise decision.
Probable XI and Substitutes
Jonny Bairstow ✈️
Shikhar Dhawan (C)
Bhanuka Rajapaksa ✈️
Liam Livingstone ✈️
Jitesh Sharma (WK)
Shahrukh Khan
Rishi Dhawan - Raj Bawa
Harpreet Brar
Rahul Chahar
Kagiso Rabada - Nathan Ellis ✈️
Arshdeep Singh - Baltej Singh
Punjab have ticked their major boxes as their team looks balanced and most of their overseas players are actually delivering, but they do need to find a stable captaincy choice. The captain and the team management have to extract the performances out of their players to break the jinx of not crossing the group stage for the last 8 years.
 "Bhawna")
