The IPL 2024 auction will be held on December 19 in Dubai – here’s ranking how each team is placed ahead of the event on Tuesday.
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1. Mumbai Indians
Arguably the best-placed side ahead of the auction, Mumbai Indians have a formidable top six, led by their new skipper Hardik Pandya, who has won the IPL as captain previously. Although the opening pair from the team have struck at only 130.72 since 2022, Mumbai have an aggressive middle order that can make up for the slow starts. In Jasprit Bumrah, they have a lethal quick, who can be effective in any stage. They need pace back-ups for Bumrah, although they have young sensation Akash Madhwal and Jason Behrendorff and Hardik can be a useful seamer too. Mumbai need to strengthen their spin bowling department but they have a purse of INR 17.75 crore to make the side even more threatening.
2. Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan won four of their first five games in the 2023 IPL, but faltered thereafter and failed to make the playoffs. However, they have most of their bases covered, starting with a fiery opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, followed by Sanju Samson. Riyan Parag has had an excellent domestic season while the emergence of Dhruv Jurel last year made waves. Rajasthan Royals picked up Avesh Khan in the trade this year and he will partner Trent Boult along with Prasidh Krishna. Rajasthan arguably also have the best spin bowling attack among all sides, led by Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin and Adam Zampa.
They have a purse of INR 14.5 crore to procure an all-rounder and a middle-order batter, and Rajasthan will be a team to watch out for.
3. Sunrisers Hyderabad
SRH, purely on paper, look dangerous, with world-class players who have the skill to excel in Indian conditions. They have the South Africa trio of Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen in their ranks, all of whom did well in the 2023 World Cup, with New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips to follow. Rahul Tripathi had a poor IPL last year but has been an underrated performer previously, as has Mayank Agarwal. A bowling attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, an IPL great, yorker-specialist T Natarajan, the quick Umran Malik along with spin all-rounders Shahbaz Ahmed and Washinton Sundar could make them a force, if the franchise can manage their off-field woes.
4. Lucknow Super Giants
Reportedly, KL Rahul will bat in the middle-order in the upcoming IPL, which lends experience to the batting line-up. Quinton de Kock at the top is unstoppable when he gets going, while the recently traded Devdutt Padikkal is in red-hot form in domestic cricket. The top six, also consisting of Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis, looks strong, while Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya will combine with Ravi Bishnoi as the spinners.
They will need fast bowling reserves to aid the inconsistent Mark Wood and Naveen ul Haq, which could be tricky considering they have the lowest purse among all sides, of INR 13.9 crore.
5. Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR released 12 players before the auction, but have managed to retain their core. Their biggest strength is the Indian batting core of Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh and they are also always known for the spinners in their ranks. But, other than that, KKR have huge gaps to fill. They need aggressive openers, a backup for inconsistent and injury-prone Andre Russell and need to build their pace bowling attack from scratch. KKR do have exciting youngsters, but they need experience in various departments to make 2024 a success.
6. Gujarat Titans
Letting go of Hardik hurts their team balance, with not many players on the auction list having the same skill set as their former skipper. They will also miss the services of Hardik the leader, who took arguably the weakest team on paper ahead of the 2022 IPL and turned them into champions. Shubman Gill, the newly appointed captain, has no prior experience and how he manages the pressure will be interesting.
Overall, Gujarat have several players who have been the surprise performers in the last two seasons but could struggle this time, including Mohit Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar and Wriddhiman Saha. Mohammed Shami does not have a reliable fast bowling partner and Gujarat have a purse of INR 28.85 crore to fill out the holes.
7. Royal Challengers Bangalore
The same old issues continue to plague Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have beefed up their batting resources by trading in Cameron Green, but continue to be reliant on Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli. With three overseas batters, the bowling is under-cooked, with Mohammed Siraj prone to inconsistencies. They have released Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga while letting go of premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal a few seasons ago has made their bowling even weaker. RCB have players like Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik but the reliance on superstars could be their downfall again.
8. Delhi Capitals
Delhi missed their captain Rishabh Pant last year, without whom their batting lacked aggression and their team any direction. The batters averaged less than 20 in the 2023 season at a strike rate of 124.72, with only David Warner crossing 300 runs. He too struggled with his strike rate, however. No other middle-order batter made more than 220 runs for Delhi, which is their main area of concern. Delhi have a strong bowling attack comprising Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Marsh and Anrich Nortje along with Ishant Sharma but the batting is in shambles.
9. Punjab Kings
Punjab continue to be inconsistent, finishing eighth in 2023 with the players unable to perform as a unit. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan is no longer at his peak, having last played for India over a year ago, while the other young India batters Prabhsimran Singh, Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia and Jitesh Sharma shone in phases. The bowling seems to be heavily reliant on Arshdeep Singh, with big buy Sam Curran and lead spinner Rahul Chahar proving to be expensive in 2023. Overall, they have too many bases to cover at a purse of INR 24 crore.
10. Chennai Super Kings
CSK have always pulled above their weight in the IPL, all courtesy of their maverick skipper MS Dhoni. But with the wicketkeeper struggling with fitness, Chennai could be in a spot of bother with limited leadership experience in the side. They also carry several underperforming and aging players, who have found ways to succeed in the franchise, but the failure to turn up regularly will prove disastrous with poor bench strength. Overall, Chennai have regularly struggled with experience in the fast bowling and spin departments, but you get the feeling that, without a fit Dhoni, they are a failure away from collapse.
