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Scene from 2024 IPL Mini Auction (Image: IPL)
Is there a method to the madness or is the auction a world in itself, which is governed by its own laws and rules, where every plan and strategy is shunned after a while? Do the franchises go by hope and expect that they will be lucky or is there logic behind every buy? Are some of the buys justified? In an auction can there ever be a pattern to the spending? Finally, have the owners moved away from being emotional with their buys and learnt to take hard business calls keeping in mind the huge spends associated with the tournament?
In sum, every auction is a day of madness which throws up some strange bids and some baffling decision-making, but in the end there is a tad of emotion as well. For example, when Cheteshwar Pujara was picked by Chennai Super Kings it showed there is more to the IPL than simple demand and supply and that’s why we continue to celebrate this tournament in the manner that we do.
How do franchises approach an auction? “We come in with a very conscious strategy,” said Venky Mysore, the CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders. “We want to add particular skillsets to the side and not simply go by names. Team balance is the key and that’s what we will aim to do again at the forthcoming auction.”
This auction will be like no other. A mega auction of this scale hasn’t happened and with two new teams adding to the spectacle (this is their first proper mega auction), it has got cricket fans from across the world to talk about it. Interestingly, every franchise owner you speak to at the end of it, all will tell you the very same thing. Each one of them is happy with their buys and each one of them feel they have done the best. Yet, at least two of them will end up ninth and tenth and will have a disastrous season.
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Also, the auction build-up has yet again proved that the IPL continues to be robust as a brand and continues to surprise one and all. To see the amount of money spent is startling to say the least. Indian cricket, or more specifically the IPL, can face any crisis head-on.
Getting to the auction itself, we could see some of cricket’s best brains masterminding it for some of the franchises. If it is MS Dhoni for CSK, it will be Zaheer Khan for Lucknow Super Giants.
That’s the best part of an auction. Not every buy will go the way a franchise wants. With 10 teams now in the fray, that’s more the norm rather than being an aberration. How do you keep nerve in such a situation? How hard is it for a franchise to back off when you know the need is serious? You want a player but you are also conscious that your kitty is fast getting depleted. Does panic set in? Do you then get desperate and make a mistake? How do you deal with a situation like this when one more raise of the paddle could decide the team balance?
At the end of the auction, some buys will continue to baffle. But that’s the point of it all. It is not simply logic that determines things. Timing and need, demand and supply, are key issues at an auction and this one will be no different. Each team will end up with match-winners in their ranks and then it will be all about which team plays the best. You can only do that much at the table. The final act is always on the 22 yards and that is where things will eventually get decided. So the jury will always be out.
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[[{“value”:”Is there a method to the madness or is the auction a world in itself, which is governed by its own laws and rules, where every plan and strategy is…
The post Complexities of a mega IPL auction, going beyond demand and supply appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.”}]]
