The drama around the players retained and released ahead of the IPL auction doesn’t speak of too much cricketing logic at first glance. In some cases, they don’t make complete financial sense either. Teams seem to be going against what they had claimed to be aiming for over the last couple of seasons, sometimes acquiring players they had let go while releasing some who had done well for them or could have played a key role for them in the future.
Hardik Pandya’s return — or, as Mumbai Indians communicated in their press release, his ‘homecoming’ — has been the most high-profile deal. He was released when two new franchises entered the fray two seasons ago, allowing Gujarat Titans to get hold of him and make him their captain. Gujarat won the title in their inaugural campaign and came agonisingly close to doing it again earlier this year.
But the all-rounder, who led the team in such impressive fashion that he was anointed the future India skipper in the T20 format, was allowed to return to the Mumbai Indians fold. It was said that Hardik wanted a move back to the franchise with whom he first made a name and with whom he won four IPL titles.
The IPL, and the Indian cricketing establishment in general, scoffs at player power. The top cricketers are superstars and sometimes demigods, but everyone knows that it’s the top guns in the BCCI who call the shots. If it was Hardik indeed who pushed for the deal, one needs to remember that Ravindra Jadeja was banned when he tried to force a move from Rajasthan Royals without their consent in the nascent years of the IPL.
Mumbai Indians may have wanted a readymade captain to succeed Rohit Sharma — indeed there was some speculation that the India captain would be released ahead of the auction — but it’s more interesting to delve into the reasons why Gujarat Titans would let Hardik go. They have appointed Shubman Gill as skipper, even though the batting superstar doesn’t have a whole lot of leadership experience.
Star system
In the star-driven ecosystem of Indian cricket, only a few become the first among equals. Titans may have assessed that for a franchise that’s just two years old, losing Hardik wouldn’t impact their fan following or brand value that much. In the IPL of today, there are only two franchises that are inherently identified with two individuals — Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Everyone else is a possible candidate for a trade.
Even over the decade and half of the IPL, the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag — despite being big names in their own right — could be let go of by their ‘home’ franchises, with whom they began their IPL journey as ‘marquee’ players, but it was inconceivable to see Sachin Tendulkar with any team other than Mumbai Indians, even after the legend had hung up his bat for good. The loyalty that Tendulkar, Dhoni, and Kohli arouse in the faithful goes beyond results on the field, titles or the lack thereof. Have them around and the profile of the franchise would rise by itself. This is the battle half won for the owners already.
The adulation that Dhoni — Thala for the CSK faithful — and Kohli — despite no IPL title in 16 years — generate is the envy of the other franchises. MSD could hardly move by the end of the last campaign and needed knee surgery subsequently, but his mere sighting was enough for his loyal legions.
Tickets for matches, regardless of the venue, went like hotcakes, and fans in Chennai were ready to wait overnight and suffer police action to get a chance to watch their idol in action. The only other team that comes close in this regard is Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) — but the loyalty it enjoys has more to do with their co-owner.
Debatable decisions
When it comes to the next IPL season, Mumbai Indians have cut their losses and let Jofra Archer go. His acquisition was a big gamble when everyone knew that there was no immediate possibility of him being ready for action. The prospect of a bowling partnership between Archer and Jasprit Bumrah — the franchise had earlier fielded the opening batting pairs of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, and later Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. Those combinations garnered eyeballs without resulting in sustained success, and the dream fast bowling pairing also didn’t come to fruition.
To finance the Pandya trade, Mumbai Indians also sent Cameron Green, who was a success story in his first IPL season, to RCB. The latter franchise, always struggling to keep opposition batting line-ups in check, chose to let go of three quality operators in Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Harshal Patel. They may intend to get back one or more of these players in the auction, at a lower price, but that’s never a certainty given the dynamics of the auction as well as the situation with their money at hand or the formation of their squad at any given stage.
KKR have decided to persist with ageing T20 stars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, who would be on big heavy pay packages but are past their best days.
No tension
Apart from die-hard IPL fans who follow every development of their franchise(s), not many critically analyse these moves and decisions. It’s because the IPL is largely stress-free entertainment compared to international cricket, which prompts a lot more scrutiny.Whichever team wins or loses in the IPL, India is never defeated, and there’s always some or other Indian player to be celebrated or eulogised. It’s the great festival of Indian cricket, and everyone is invited to have a good time without much anxiety. Despite many of the best overseas talent on show, the IPL is a stage largely for the Indians, of the Indians, and set up by the Indians. Foreign stars perform for Indian team owners and fans.
If dodgy decisions, be they before or during the auction or in matches, don’t result in an Indian defeat, not many would care too much; especially if it’s not their money at stake.