IPL 2024 squads released ahead of auction - How are the teams shaping up and who needs what at the auction?
All 10 IPL franchises released their list of retained players ahead of next month's mini-auction in the UAE.
The big news (which actually occured shortly after the formal squad releases) was that Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya is returning to Mumbai Indians for the 2024 season. Hardik had been released by Mumbai ahead of the 2022 mega auction, joining newly formed franchise the Titans who he captained to the championship in their debut season and final in 2023.
In order to free up a position and indeed funds, Mumbai traded Cameron Green to RCB. The big Australian who went for a massive sum this time last year had his moments in his debut IPL season but Hardik's experience and suitability to conditions in India surely has to see him as a big upgrade.
This is how the squads now line-up and what each side needs to focus on in the auction in a few weeks time.
CSK
With the retirement of Ambati Rayudu and the decision of Ben Stokes not to play in this season's IPL, CSK already knew that they'd have to do an element of rebuilding in the auction but the basis of their winning side from 2023 remains and they have a substantial purse at their disposal (31.4 CR) to fill in gaps where required and potentially to bump up the price of some other players that their competitors need more than they do!
Ambati Rayudu gave the batting line-up great flexibility which is another trait of the Dhoni/Fleming model for success. The right-hander was regularly shunted up and down the order and CSK will be keen to find another domestic player who can offer them the match-ups that they love to exploit.
Stokes played just twice last season and particularly when playing on the slow turning tracks of the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium CSK already have the perfect bowling attack to exploit home advantage. However, they could still do with a fast bowling all-rounder to provide options away from home.
Delhi Capitals
The Capitals opted to retain Prithvi Shaw despite rumours that he may be cut from the squad after an underwhelming season and what looks like ongoing problems between him and coach Ricky Ponting who also stays.
Meanwhile, Rovman Powell has been ditched as was Rilee Roussow. Both are powerful strikers of a cricket ball but looked ill suited to their middle order roles last season, particularly on a slow pitch at the Arun Jaitely where their weakness against spin was regularly exposed.
With Safraz Khan and Manish Pandey also cut it goes without saying that DC will be in the market for multiple middle order batsmen. The Capitals will of course hope that Rishabh Pant's recovery can continue and that he will be available for the start of the IPL 2024 season.
With Sakariya, Mustafizur and Nagarkoti also released, Delhi will need to strengthen their fast bowling options too particularly given concerns over Nortje's fitness in recent times.
Gujarat Titans
The loss of Hardik Pandya is a massive blow for the chances of the Titans making a 3rd consecutive final. The first question to answer is who will captain the side now that he's gone? From within the squad the most obvious candidates are Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson. Rashid has increasingly looked to take on leadership roles across global franchise cricket in the last couple of years, albeit with mixed success. Kane Williamson of course has plenty of captaincy experience but is he a guaranteed starter for the Titans?
The real strength of the Titans has always been in their bowling attack and the loss of Hardik in that respective is not quite as damaging given the frailty of his body. Still, a seam bowling all-rounder would be a more than useful addition, it's just that there aren't many around with the profile of Hardik in order for GT to look for a straight swap.
That might mean that they need to reexamine the balance of their side more generally. Wriddhiman Saha's form was patchy at times last season and with Hardik going as well, there is a need to look at top order candidates who can lay the platform for the Titans hitters to come in and do the damage later in the game.
KKR
The Knight Riders were certainly an entertaining team to watch last year with the pitch at Eden Gardens serving up some very big scores indeed not to mention a few nail bitting finishes. However, their fast bowlers in particular struggled to offer Kolkata any control and perhaps it's no great surprise that they've decided to ditch Southee, Umesh Yadav, Ferguson and Shardul Thakur.
The return of Shreyas Iyer is a major boost for a franchise which chopped and changed their top order a lot last season as they sought a winning formula. His availability might also allow the team to better balance their side with the inclusion of an overseas quick which will surely be one of the main areas they invest their 32.7 CR.
KKR's big strengths continue to be their middle order and spin bowling options. If they can fix the top order and pace bowling departments in the auction then they could prove to be a good squad in 2024.
LSG
The Super Giants have largely kept the core of their squad together for the 2024 season with a few fringe players and youngsters being let go. The biggest name to leave was undoubtedly Avesh Khan who suffered a difficult 2023 and was traded to Rajasthan.
The Super Giants batting line-up felt a little top heavy at times last year with KL Rahul, Mayers and QDK all vying for an opening spot and the likes of Hooda, Pooran and Stoinis being very hit and miss throughout the tournament. It therefore comes as a surprise that LSG traded in Devdutt Paddikal, a player who burst onto the scence with RCB a few years ago as an opener but struggled to fulfil the middle order role given to him in the last couple of years at Rajasthan.
LSG's lack of changes means they are left with the smallest purse in the upcoming auction of just 13.15 CR. Most of that money is likely to be spent on fast bowling back-up options particularly when you consider how injury prone the likes of Mark Wood and Mohsin Khan are.
Mumbai Indians
The big story as noted above is the return of Hardik Pandya to a team that he enjoyed incredible success at earlier in his career. Pandya's role at the Titans was different to that at MI the first time round and with Cameron Green leaving for RCB, it looks likely that he could be used higher up the order again.
What it does mean is a return to MI having an incredibly strong looking top order of domestic players with Rohit, Ishan, Sky and Tilak Varma to slot in around the returning Hardik. We saw last year that when chasing, particularly at home at the Wankhede, no score is big enough to be out of reach for this line-up.
However, the main problem that MI faced last season and will continue to do so next season too unless they can fix it via the auction, is their over-reliance on Bumrah with the ball. MI have cut the likes of Archer, Jyhe Richardson, Riley Meredith and Chris Jordan from their squad so the main aim will be to get in some quality quicks. That being said, with just 17.75 CR available to them, they'll need to be cautious and will perhaps be priced out of some of the really big name buys that will undoubtedly take place at next month's auction.
Punjab Kings
PBKS choose to retain the incredibly expensive Sam Curran despite it looking at times last season like the England all-rounder's change ups at the death had been worked out by some of the top finishers in the competition. Instead, Punjab decided to cut Shahrukh Khan who had looked as though he was just starting to grow into his role as a finisher at this level.
PBKS also decided to retain England duo Livingstone and Bairstow and they will hope that both of them are fit and firing for this season given their lengthy absences of late.
PBKS have a decent chunk of change to play with in the auction (29 CR) and they'll almost certainly be looking to buy a middle order finisher and ideally a domestic one too or else they may just opt to try and buy back Shahrukh Khan at a cheaper price - a few other franchises may have something to say about that!
Otherwise, the one real area that PBKS are struggling with is a spin bowler that can win them matches. Rahul Chahar is steady but not spectacular and while Liam Livingstone's bowling continues to improve, he is still very much a 6th option rather than a frontline pick for any side with serious aspirations of challenging in the later stages.
Rajasthan Royals
After an excellent start to IPL 2023, the Royals faded badly to miss out on a playoff spot altogether. Despite that, they've largely kept the same team for the upcoming 2024 season.
Devdutt Paddikal never looked comfortable as a middle order batsman and so it's no great surprise that he's been traded out. Jason Holder has also been released with the big West Indian failing to deliver in the way that the Royals had hoped last year.
Rajasthan's major problem last season was an over-reliance on their top order to score the runs. Therefore the main priority will be to find a middle order batsman (preferably left-handed) who can come in at number 4 and deliver while also finding a seam bowling all-rounder that can add runs in the later order and not expose what a times felt like a very long tail!
Rajasthan will of course hope to have Prasidh Krishna back fit for this season and his ability to bowl at all stages of the innings was a massive loss for them last year. In that regard, Rajasthan have also brought in Avesh Khan who despite having struggled at LSG last season does have a happy knack of taking wickets. It means that the Royals bowling attack is looking exceptionally strong once again and all of their efforts and resources can go into strengthening the batting and balance of the team at next month's auction.
RCB
Royal Challengers have decided to go for a complete overhaul of their bowling options ahead of the 2024 season. Out go Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, David Willey and Wayne Parnell while Shahbaz Ahmed has been traded back to the Sunrisers.
In their place, RCB have already made one substantial signing by trading in Cameron Green from Mumbai. It will be interesting to see where the Aussie all-rounder fits into this XI. RCB's problem for many years has been a top heavy batting line-up and you'd say that Green is ideally suited to batting in the top 4. RCB will also need to consider how they can reintegrate Rajat Patidar into their XI and yes, he too is a top order batsmen.
With just 23.25 CR to spend and only Mohammed Siraj a certainty to start as far as bowlers are concerned, it probably means that they are going to have to use the likes of Maxwell and Green later in the order as they simply don't have the funds to chase a genuine middle order player. Dinesh Kartik has been retained but it felt at times like it was a season too far for the 38-year-old who spends as much time these days commentating on the game as he does playing it.
Of course the real difficulty for any bowler that RCB bring in is that the M. Chinnaswamy is such a difficult ground to contain batsmen on. Bangalore seem to have thrown their bowlers under the bus when other problems with the balance of their side persist.
SRH
Last and well, last, the Sunrisers endured a torrid IPL 2023 finishing rock bottom and some way off the pace of the rest of the league. Despite having been more active than any other side in the auction 12 months ago, SRH failed to build a squad with the relevant balance to compete and I would question whether the back room staff and coaches are really up to the required standard to envisage a way forward for the Orange Army.
Harry Brook scored a century and not very much else on his IPL debut but SRH were always going to ditch one of their many right-handed overseas batsmen and Brooks' price was undoubtedly a factor as they opted to stick with Markram, Klaasen and Phillips for the coming season. A left hander to compliment those excellent ball strikers is a must.
Sunrisers have plenty of slow bowling all-round options with Washington Sundar, the returning Shahbaz Ahmed and captain Aiden Markram all able to fill in overs. However, what they are sorely missing, and have done since losing Rashid Khan in 2021, is a spinner that can win them games. Despite having 34 CR to play with in the coming auction, those kind of players are hard to come by so they'll need to spend big to fill that void.
All info graphics and squad lists from Cricinfo
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