Thrust on specialists, not all-rounders
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Jan. 9: From its inception, the shortest form of the game was tipped to be the hunting ground of all-rounders. And the inaugural IPL auction only strengthened that belief.
But after three seasons and with more experience, the teams appear to have shunned the idea that all-rounders form the core of the team. The third IPL auction witnessed the teams opting for specialist batsmen and bowlers over the players who can bat and bowl a bit. On the second day, players like Dwayne Smith, Jacob Oram and Justin Kemp, who were in the first list of the all-rounders, failed to arouse any interest among the franchisees. Of the 10 players in the list only two were picked up. Over the next three only one – Scott Styris – was picked up by the Chennai Super Kings.
Of the top earners, only Irfan Pathan bagged a big purse of $1.9 million for his genuine all-round abilities, while others were purely chosen only for their abilities with the willow or with the cherry.
Apart from Irfan, David Hussey ($1.4m) was the only all-rounder, whom was chased by the teams, while genuine all-rounders like Stuart Broad and Shakib-al-Hasan despite being sold, generated very little interest. Of course, Jacuqes Kallis netted $1.1m, but he has the ability to get into any of the teams on his batting skills alone. A look at the team composition gives us a clear picture – only two teams have pinned faith in all-rounders with Delhi Daredevils and CSK having four each in their squad.
A hint of what was to come was evident on Saturday itself, when the England T20 skipper, Paul Collingwood was picked up for a mere $250,000 by the Rajasthan Royals.
But worse was in store on Sunday, when only Daniel Christian, Thissera Perera and Styris were the only buys among the four sets of all-rounders. This is a remarkable change in the strategies of the teams considering that there was intense competition for players like Andrew Symonds and Oram in 2008, which saw them emerging as one of the highest earners.
Symonds had commanded a price tag of $1.3m and was only player after M.S. Dhoni to go past the million mark in the first IPL. Shahid Afridi ($675,000) and Oram ($675,000) also had returned with fat cheques. This may well please the pundits, who had lamented the doom of specialists in the T20 format.
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