Set the ball rolling for IPL 5
Friday, January 13, 2012 10:40:00 AM
IPL 5 is still more than three months away but the things are getting really interesting with the transfer window and the player auctions coming up. Few teams have already made the first move. Mumbai Indian has swapped Dinesh Karthik from Kings XI Punjab for Rajgopal Sathish. This seems an excellent buy for Mumbai Indians. Karthik is an excellent wicket keeper batsman probably the best in the country after Dhoni. As for Kings XI it is probably a financially motivated decision because otherwise it just does not seem likely that KXIP would part ways with such a key player.
Other major move was that of Kevin Pietersen from Deccan Chargers to Delhi Daredevils. A very good buy for Delhi, considering that they struggled a lot due to lack of experience in their middle order. Also it would be interesting to watch a team which has Sehwag, Warner and Pietersen in their top three! Andrew McDonald also moved from Delhi to Bangalore. McDonald who has played for Australia in test matches is a very good all-rounder who played very little for Delhi in the four years he was with them.
The Auctions set on 4th February 2012 would be very interesting. Some new players and Players of now dissolved franchise Kochi tuskers will be put on auction. Every team will have USD 2 million purse. There are some players who may fetch a high price while others may have no takers. Ravindra Jadeja is one such player in whom most of the franchises will be interested. The Saurashtra all-rounder is a great asset for the team with his tidy left-arm spin and strong middle order batting. Others who may elicit strong interest include the likes of Brendon McCullum, Parthiv Patel, Mahela Jayawardene, RP Singh, Vinay Kumar and Sreesanth.
Indian fast bowlers especially would be hot picks for the teams. RP Singh would be on the wish list of most of the franchises as he has an admirable IPL record. Vinay Kumar is another candidate who may get a few franchises vying for him especially with his recent performances for India. In all it would be very interesting to see how the franchises decide to splurge their available purse of USD 2 million on few quality players.
Halla bol!!
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