IPL Auction 2024

‘They will go for Sam Curran’ – Former Indian cricketer feels Chennai will target English allrounder in upcoming auction

The Kolkata franchise is looking for a complete overhaul of their team as they have released 16 players from their squad, heading into the Indian T20 League 2023 auction on December 23. Out of those 16, at least three of them were forced as Australia Test captain Pat Cummins and England’s Alex Hales and Sam Billings had made themselves unavailable for the next season. However, the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Aaron Finch were all let go by the franchise to build a new team under new head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

During the transfer window, they acquired the services of all-rounder Shardul Thakur, wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Girbaz and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson. Kolkata doesn’t have a wealth of money remaining in their purse (₹7.05 crore) heading into the auction. To complete their squad former India batter Robin Uthappa feels the franchise needs a wicketkeeper, preferably an Indian, a backup for Andre Russell, who has a tendency to attract injuries and a fast bowling backup to Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav.

“Kolkata would be looking for three players in this auction – one would be an Indian backup wicketkeeper for Gurbaz. In case they want flexibility in playing both Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson, Gurbaz is the one who would have to sit out as they are not going to drop Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. The second player is a backup to Andre Russell. Indian T20 League is going back to its original format. So, it is not going to be just one or two venues. There will be a lot of travel. Kolkata is one such team that travels the most,” Uthappa, who had played a pivotal role the last time the Kolkata franchise won the Indian T20 League in 2014, said on Jio Cinema.

“Kolkata is really far away and they travel at least 2-3 thousand km more than all other teams. So, keeping those things in mind, you will have to have a backup just in case, Russell pulls up or he has not recovered due to back-to-back matches. Third would be an Indian fast bowler who would be a backup to Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav. They have a couple of youngsters in their group, but they would like to get somebody like Jaydev Unadkat,” he added.

Chennai, they need an all-rounder to replace Dwayne Bravo: Robin Uthappa

The former batter also shared his thoughts on the Chennai franchise and added that the MS Dhoni-led side would look to get the services of Sam Curran back.

“Chennai, they need an all-rounder to replace Dwayne Bravo and they need a solid India middle-order batter as a backup for the players that they already have. In that, I think they will look for the likes of Sam Curran because he has already played for Chennai in the past, he’s done well for them and has contributed to their success so they will definitely try and go for him,” Uthappa added.

“The second one would be an Indian batter in the middle order and the ones that are available in this auction seem to be like Manish Pandey, he has done exceptionally well in the Indian T20 League and is also someone who is experienced and would really enjoy playing in the Chennai culture. These are the two players they will go for but in case they don’t get them – I am certain there are other options that they already have,” he concluded.