Top 5 Overrated Buys In The IPL 2017 Auction

Feb 21, 2017 at 8:07 PM

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Top 5 Overrated Buys In The IPL 2017 Auction

The much awaited VIVO IPL Auction 2017 finally has come to conclusion with a total of 66 players sold including 27 overseas players to eight competing franchise. Like every season, the bidding was exciting and had its share of ‘bidding wars’ which saw teams compete fiercely to get hold of the best talents which were required to complete their respective squad. Eventually, as anticipated, Big bucks soon began flowing and most of the sought after cricketers ended raking in millions of rupees.

However, like it happens every year, a few players ended up being luck and got a price way above their actual worth. We don’t to downgrade the players by saying so as every cricketer made it to the auction pool after proving his capabilities. 

But, many the franchise perhaps bid a bit too much on players who did not promise to add value to their teams.

Pawan Negi – 1 Crores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore made only five purchases. The best of them being English fast bowling machine Tymal Mills. They did a fantastic job in making sure a worthy candidate was bought to replace Mitchell Starc in the team. The others who made it to the squad were Aniket Chaudhary (2 Crores), another left-arm fast bowler, Billy Stanlake (30 Lakhs), Praveen Dubey (10 Lakhs) and Pawan Negi (1 Crores). The player for whom they seem to have agreed to pay too much here clearly is Pawan Negi. In a team full of quality spinners inclusive of names like Iqbal Abdullah, Tabraiz Shamsi, Yuzvendra Chahal and Samuel Badree, it was needless to go after Negi and get him for 1 Crores. His stocks came down dramatically from 8.1 crores. However, he proved of no use for the money that was shelled out on him. He is a good utility player who can be a handy lower order batsman apart from being a left arm spinner. But, in no can justify a hefty price tag of 1 Crores.

Karn Sharma – 3.2 Crores:

Since the very beginning of the league, if there has been one franchise that has shown very keen eye on promising talent, it has to be Mumbai Indians. They judge the player’s capability perfectly and seldom make strategic mistakes. But spending a whopping 3.2 crores on leg-spinner Karn Sharma was one of those occasions when they make an error of overrating a player. The deal looks no different to that of Kishore Kamath, the leg spinner from Karnataka who was bought for 4 Crores last year and played no games before being released this season. Karn may also find it difficult to get into the starting XI in the presence of the like of Harbhajan Singh, Krunal Pandya and Shreyas Gopal. Buying him for such a huge price tag certainly look bit unnecessary.

Ben Stokes – 14.2 Crores:

The discussion could be more about the franchise than the Ben Stokes himself. With 17.5 Crores in the purse, Rising Pune Supergiants perhaps being smarter that overly aggressive in their bidding process when going after Ben Stokes. The English all-rounder was one of the star players to watch out for and obviously adds a lot of value to the team. But, 14.2 Crores for a star all-rounder seems too much in a team which had many voids to fill. Stokes’ is no joke and has the reputation speaks for his quality. The RPSG could have been wiser in spending more than 80 percent on a player who will be only filling a seam bowling all-rounder’s place in the team. KKR or MI snapping him for the same amount would have been great. But the Pune side perhaps made an overrated buy and clearly lost out on getting some really good talent in their side as consequence of making such decision.

Varun Aaron – 2.8 Crores:

Varun Aaron is easily one of the fastest bowlers in the country at the moment. However, being fast alone doesn’t guarantee success and same is the case with Aaron. The right arm fast bowler from Jharkhand can call himself lucky about the fact that despite having performed way below than his reputation, he was able to snap a price of 2.8 crores at the auction. The franchise which won the bid was Kings XI Punjab. The KXIP side definitely needed a genuine fast bowler in the line-up which was full of medium pacers and swings bowlers. But, Aaron looks like ‘not so promising bet. The only factor that adds some positivity and could have been a reason for the KXIP to bet on him could be his recent bowling performances at the domestic level. But, let’s not forget IPL is a whole different level where he has achieved the very limited amount of success in the past.

Nathan Coulter-Nile – 3.5 Crores:

Andre Russell’s ban ahead of the season was a shocker for the Kolkata Knight Riders. They had the most balanced core and would perhaps plan a chilled day out at the auction had the West Indian being available. But circumstances became such that they were left to find a suitable replacement – a fast bowling all-rounder – to fill Russell’s place. Gambhir and Co did a great job and by snapping Chris Woakes for a sum of 4.2 crores. Woakes, with his combination of wicket taking bowling and hard hitting skills, fitted in the bill perfectly. They later got West Indies promising 23-year-old Rovman Powell as a second option. This was a smart buy at 30 Lakhs. However, it seemed bit unnecessary when the KKR outfit began aggressively going after Nathan Coulter-Nile and eventually signed him for 3.5 Crores. While he is player of good quality but it was quite visible that the buy was certainly overrated.

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