IPL 2018 Retentions: The team that made the smartest call

The first step towards an exciting eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a success and with that, the promises of it being bigger and better start to take shape in reality. This time, the battle between the franchises is not just confined on the field but off the field as well. The think-tank, owners and management will have to be at their A-game just like the players they will choose.

They have a huge task at hand to lay the foundation of a new team, decide whether they want a clean slate or to re-build the unit and then bring together around twenty players that match their vision and are best suited to get the trophy home.

While the retentions were mostly on the lines already predicted, with very few surprises and who among them cross the first hurdle best is not easy to figure out. Various aspects have to be taken into consideration, like, which franchise was able to gain players with minimum loss of money, how much money they have left in the purse after this decision, if their players are in accordance with the team’s vision and policy as well as the fact that the needs of their fan base are catered to.

Who aced it?

Taking all those factors into consideration, two teams, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad seem to have aced the retentions. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad have an upper hand here because of the amount of money they are left with. MI opted for retaining their skipper Rohit Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and the side’s leading wicket-taker of 2017, Jasprit Bumrah.

SRH went for only two players, their skipper David Warner and the purple cap holder for two consecutive seasons, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They kept it simple and logical, paving a smooth way for them in the auctions since they still have 59 Cr in their purse after making two spot-on retentions. Mumbai are now left with 47 Cr in their purse, and the 12 Cr difference between the two sides is what gives SRH the edge here.

Why their retentions are spot-on

Australian southpaw, Warner has been the star of the team ever since he joined SRH in 2014 and choosing the ‘pocket dynamite’ is a no-brainer. He was the highest run-scorer in the tournament last year, scoring 641 in 14 matches. In 2016, he was the second highest run-scorer behind Virat Kohli, with a stunning 848 runs at an average of 60.57.

He is also the fifth highest run-scorer in IPL history, with 4,014 runs in 114 games at an average of 40.45 with a strike rate of 142.13. He boasts of three centuries and has 36 half-centuries to his name.

On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar has proven to be one of the best pacers in the IPL, taking the most number of wickets in the last two editions and becoming the sixth highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Now that Ashish Nehra is gone, he will rightly be leading the pace attack which he showed glimpses of in the last edition when guiding Mohammad Siraj and Siddharth Kaul.

Kumar is a threat with the new ball in the power play and a force to reckon with during death. Add some swing, and there’s the recipe for destruction.

The road ahead: RTM and auctions

Now that SRH have retained one overseas player in Warner, they have the option to go after their own Rashid Khan via Right to Match (RTM). SRH opted for both the Afghan players in last year’s edition because they did their homework. Their faith was re-paid by both Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.

The former has grown as a player leaps and bounds since then and has a made a name for himself as one of the best leggies to be playing the game, especially in the shortest format. A lot of eyebrows were raised because SRH did not retain him in the first place, considering that he is performing well in the ongoing Big Bash League too.

However, unless something drastic happens, SRH will go after him as the first RTM  especially because they appear to have followed the strategy of saving a good sum by retaining only two players so that they can go big in the auction.

Shikhar Dhawan has been the perfect opening partner to Warner and he will be on the list of players to RTM. They may also opt for Deepak Hooda, an uncapped player, for the third RTM in order to invest in a player who is one for the future. He may not have been at his best in the last season but the all-rounder has shown glimpses of hard-hitting and economic bowling.

Whether they go after Moises Henriques remains to be seen because he is one to keep considering how his contributions have helped SRH, but he may be in demand in the auction.

The team they usually go in with

Apart from a few problems in the lower middle order, the team’s formula was sorted. The pair of openers, Warner and Dhawan that complemented each other’s style, a hard-hitting Yuvraj Singh and a consistent and steady Kane Williamson and a handy yet impactful Moises Henriques to follow. Their fast bowling unit was one to envy for other franchises. They kept rotating players but most of them provided results when asked for, be it Barinder Sran, Siddharth Kaul or Mohammad Siraj.

In all likelihood, they will build a team on the same lines because it has given them results, and will go after the players that bring similar skills to the table. They will aim to tweak their batting line-up and bring in players that will boost the spin department.