It is not the name that sells in IPL: Anshuman Gaekwad

05 February, 2013

The IPL 6 auction, held in Chennai, witnessed 108 players going under the hammer. Only 37 players were purchased by the nine franchises competing in the auction. Some claim that the auction was disappointing, but one has to look at the broader picture, where the franchises got players of their choice only. Anshuman Gaekwad, former Indian coach and cricketer said, 'It all depends on the need of the franchises for their respective squads. They go all out for the player they want in their squad.'

One has to agree with Gaekwad, as Mumbai had targeted Maxwell in their wish-list and they got the player for a whopping sum of USD 1 million. With it, he also became the most expensive player of the IPL. The player's base price was only USD 200,000 but it multiplied five times after the bidding war in which Mumbai went all out for the Australian all rounder, known for his big exploits with the bat.

On the contrary, there were a number of top players such as Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, who plainly went for their base price. Karsan Ghavri, former Indian cricketer told this citizen journalist, “Ponting and Clarke both deserve better deal. There may be some reasons for it, may be due to the financial constraint for the franchises.”

The players like Nathan McCullum, Ryan McLaren and Jacob Oram also met the same fate. Next year, the IPL is going to have fresh auction, so it must have been for this reason that these franchises did not overspend their budget as these players, who have been purchased are only going to be with them for a year only, unless teams decide to retain few players, as per the rules of the auction.

Parag Ekka, a cricket fan from Bihar, said, “T20 is not for every cricketer, especially not for the older generation that played ODI and Test cricket primarily. It is not easy for these players to adapt to the slam bam form of cricket.”

The auction witnessed unknown and young players such as Nathan Cutlier, Chris Morris and Sachithra Senanayake fetching better money than many experienced and established players. It was the trend during this IPL auction.

“It is not the name that sells in the IPL, but the effectiveness and the in-form players that primarily sell in the IPL,” said Gaekwad. So, if one takes this into consideration, the players of the older generation may find it difficult to get a deal. The number of players that remained unsold like Gibbs suggests so. “Everybody is watching their performances all over the world,” Gaekwad added.

The Indian Premier League is said to be a league for Indian players which helps them shape for the future, but given the number of Indian players picked up in the auction, it suggests otherwise. Ekka said, “One of the biggest disappointments of the IPL 6 auction was that Indian players did not get good money, but it was primarily players from down under that got the best deals. It is a league for Indian players.”

But the scene is not that dull for Indian cricketers as Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni have bagged huge money in the past from auctions. It is all about the class of the player. Abhishek Nayar was brought for USD 675,000 by Pune Warriors, RP Singh for USD 400,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Manpreet Gony for USD 500,000 by Kings XI Punjab etc.

Irrespective of the number of players who remained unsold in this auction and those who have made the cut at lesser price, the competition is always going to be top class. Ghavri added, “The tournament will be a big hit. The glamour will be the same and the game is not going to be dull anytime.”