There are still two days before the 10 franchises of the Indian Premier League lock horns to build the best possible squad at the Mega Auction. It’ll be a “big challenge,” described Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach Pravin Amre, but also asserted his team has done whatever it could to be ready for the gala this weekend.
A mock auction ahead of the main event in Bangalore was the best way to set up the Plan Bs and Cs in case proceedings didn’t go according to the script.
“It is done to understand the psyche of other owners, what they will go for, what they are missing, and ultimately it comes down to what we want,” Amre said.
“To be honest, what we want and how we are going to get it is the whole purpose of doing mock auctions.
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I think it’s all about the preparation. It is so essential to have a mock auction, where every team member who is involved in this mock auction, gets an idea of how to go about it. I think this is ultimately a good lesson for us, and this is where we can suggest to owners the possibilities and challenges. Yes, we want the best player, but can we afford it? So, that’s the question comes, and ultimately as coaches, we want a balanced team.”
With the addition of two new teams to the IPL roster for the coming season – the Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – the Mega Auction was called for by the league organisers to ensure talent is spread across the 10 franchises. As a result, the existing eight teams could only retain four players from their previous squads.
The Capitals’ opted to retain the services of Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and South African pacer Anrich Nortje.
“We always want a balanced team, we want that core. The best thing we have done is that we have kept four key players in our squad, we’ve got a top-order batsman, we’ve got a wicketkeeper-batsman, we have got an all-rounder, and a quick bowler, so we have done the basics right,” said Amre, who played 11 Tests and 37 ODIs for the Indian team.
“Now, we want to get seven players, who can give us more balance basically, that’s our important goal, and that’s the challenge.”
Preparation for the auction, he maintained, is important.
“A lot of study has to be done, it’s not going to be that easy. It’s really important to be prepared for all the challenges that are going to come, so these are very important factors, especially in a mega auction. We know that there will be a lot of competition, we know that some franchises (have) more money, and that’s when all the expertise and all the auction experience will count.”
However, despite the levels of preparation, with an auction of the magnitude of the one coming up this weekend, there is always scope for proceedings to not go to plan.
“What little knowledge I’ve gained from five-six auctions, which I’ve attended is, sometimes unexpected things happen,” he added.
“We might think that things are going to be very expensive, but then you get it at a cheap price, or sometimes cheap becomes very expensive, so that’s the beauty of auctions. Everything is possible, it’s like cricket, so you have to take a chance.”
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