IPL Teams Full Squads after Auction - 2

The second round of IPL auctions are over and a clear picture is emerging about the strengths and weaknesses of the squads. Like after the first round, TOI sizes up the options available for the skippers
HYDERABAD

Far and away a dream Twenty20 line-up when it comes to batting firepower. Spoilt for choice when it comes to openers, with Gilchrist, Afridi and Gibbs around. With the likes of Symonds, Styris, Laxman, Sharma and Silva shoring up the middle order, this is one team which can pack a mean punch. Hyderabad, unhampered by the presence of an icon player, pulled out all the stops in the first auction and didn’t have much to do in the second. RP Singh and Chaminda Vaas offer quality seam options, although the presence of an additional pacer wouldn’t hurt because the seam options lack variety. Pragyan Ojha (if he gets a look-in), Afridi and Symonds will bolster the spin department. Probably the best fielding side around, too, with Gibbs and Symonds leading the way.

SQUAD: VVS LAXMAN (CAPT), Andrew Symonds, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rohit Sharma, Adam Gilchrist (wicketkeeeper), Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Chaminda Vaas, Scott Styris, Nuwan Zoysa, Chamara Silva, Halhadar Das (wicketkeeper), Pragyan Ojha, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Paidikalva Vijaykumar, Arjun Yadav, D Kalyankrishna, Venugopal Rao; Coach: Robin Singh

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

The definite winners in the second auction. Warne’s captaincy will be tested to the hilt in spite of the valuable presence of Mascarenhas because of the lack of good local players. Unnecessarily stacked up in foreign talent, given only four players can take the field. Appears a bit too reliant on Smith and Pathan for providing the big-hitting punch, while Munaf’s presence makes the fielding appear shoddy. The middle-order has good nudgers and pushers, busy players like Younis who can keep the scoreboard ticking. Akmal will be expected to rise to the occasion. Kohli, Pankaj and Jadeja offer an exciting mix. Initially, though, all eyes will be on Watson.
SQUAD: SHANE WARNE (CAPT AND COACH), Yusuf Pathan, Graeme Smith, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Younis Khan, Justin Langer, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shane Watson, Morne Morkel, Sohail Tanvir, Taruwar Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Pankaj Singh, Anup Revandkar

Panaji: Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff became the costliest players in IPL history as the two were each sold for $1.55 million (Rs 7.35 crore) at the IPL auction on Friday.

The beleaguered Bangalore Royal Challengers successfully bid for Pietersen, while last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings bid the highest for the England all-rounder which set the new record, overtaking the $1.5 million bid last year for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Only 50 players, for 17 slots, were on sale at the IPL auction here on Friday, and fewer were bid for. But the presence of England stars made for frantic bidding.

With the teams's spending limit set at $2 million each, teams were cautious in their bidding. Pietersen's appreciation was only a fraction of his base price of $1.35 million, as was Flintoff's $900,000.

Jean-Paul Duminy thus became one of the prized catches of the auction, as Mumbai Indians' $950,000-bid for the South African batting sensation raised his value over three times.

Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza's bid at the closing round of the auction made for an intriguing duel between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab with the Knight Riders finally securing him for $600,000, an astonishing 1100 per cent appreciation on his base price of $50,000.

Mortaza's captain Mohammad Ashraful, though, remained unsold during the auction, only to be bought by Mumbai Indians to fill their last slot for $75,000. Bangladesh's player of the season, Shakib-Al-Hasan, however, wasn't bid for.

The first round of auctions saw Shaun Tait, the Australian speedster, being sold to defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000, before Duminy, Pietersen and Flintoff went under the hammer.

The second round of the IPL auction had another England duo up for sale, and Delhi Daredevils bought both Owais Shah and former ODI skipper Paul Collingwood, each for $275,000. The previous year's semi-finalists didn't go for any other player, after having already bought Australian opener David Warner a few months ago and had retained pacer Ashish Nehra from Mumbai Indians.

The Deccan Chargers, who had a miserable outing in the first season despite having a star-studded line-up, purchased the West Indies duo of pacer Fidel Edwards ($150,000) and all-rounder Dwayne Smith ($100,000).

Defending champions Rajasthan Royals, whose representatives also included new co-owners Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, added South African all-rounder Tyron Henderson to their squad for $650,000.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians, after securing JP Duminy, added New Zealand bowler Kyle Mills, while Bangalore, who had already spent a fortune on Pietersen, snapped up another Kiwi Jesse Ryder for $160,000. Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, bought Sri Lankan paceman Thilan Thushara ($140,000) and Australian George Bailey ($50,000).

Kings XI Punjab bid successfully for England all-rounder Ravi Bopara for $450,000. But after the end of all six rounds of bidding at the auction, Kings XI and Mumbai Indians had a slot each left for an overseas player. The Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia-owned franchise pocketed West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor at his base price of $150,000 to wrap up the player auction.