Cameron Green, Quinton de Kock could rake in the moolah

Bengaluru: It’s the Christmas season when millions across the world love to loosen their purse strings and indulge themselves. And a whole bunch of rich men and women will go on a shopping spree in glitzy Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to fulfil their needs, albeit wisely, with the cricketing world set to watch every purchase of theirs with high anticipation as the IPL mini-auction promises to be another exciting affair.

. The spotlight will be on two heavyweight franchises — three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders and five-time champions Chennai Super Kings — who have the largest bank balances of Rs 64.30 crore and Rs 43.40 crore, respectively, after a majority of the remaining eight franchises chose to retain most of their players.

. After winning the IPL in rousing fashion in 2024 under the dynamic leadership of Shreyas Iyer, things went south quickly for KKR after they released their captain before the retention deadline. That decision backfired miserably as they struggled completely this season, finishing a lowly eighth in the standings. That forced the team management to release a vast majority of them, including a key player like Venkatesh Iyer; the Purple brigade hoping to rebuild a side from scratch at the mini-auctions.

. Explosive opener Quinton de Kock and Australian all-rounder Cameron Green could be potential targets considering their deep pockets. De Kock, a journeyman in the IPL having represented six franchises, played for KKR this year but following a poor return of just 152 runs in 8 games, he was promptly released. The 32-year-old South African, one of the most dangerous opening batters in the world, however, has regained his mojo, displaying his old destructive self in the limited-overs series against Pakistan and the ongoing one against India.

. Not just KKR, but Green could be the target of a majority of the franchises, including CSK. The 26-year-old Australian, one of the hottest cricketers in the world, missed the IPL this year because of a lower-back injury. In the two IPLs he’s been involved, he’s been an absolute beast, scoring 452 runs at a strike rate of 160.28 for Mumbai Indians in 2023 and then smashing 255 runs (SR: 143.25) for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2024. He was good with the ball too, bagging 6 and 10 wickets respectively for MI and RCB. With Green back to his best for Australia, he’s widely expected to rake in the highest moolah.

. CSK could also go strongly after Liam Livingstone after losing out to arch-rivals RCB at the previous auction. The English spinning all-rounder is exactly the kind of player MS Dhoni, who still commands a lot of attention despite being 44 years old at the franchise, would love to have on his side. He’s a destructive middle-order batter, a really smart spinner and a brilliant fielder too. Expect another waging war for Livingstone.

.D K Shivakumar says cricket matches at Chinnaswamy stadium allowed to protect Bengaluru's image. Among the foreign players who could attract a lot of bidding are: young Sri Lankan slinging pacer Matheesha Pathirana, the South African pace duo of Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee, the big-hitting David Miller (SA), and dashing England batters Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett.

. IPL is all about Indian players because franchises have to field a minimum of seven in the playing XI. And there are a bunch of them who could be laughing their way to the bank. Venkatesh had everyone stunned when KKR splurged Rs 23.75 crore at the previous auction. Such big money can put immense pressure on a player, and Venkatesh felt it as he couldn’t deliver as per the team’s needs. One poor season doesn’t make a good player bad, and franchises will be tempted to poach.

. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi could be the target of several teams given his wicket-taking abilities. Two players who will be watching the auction with great interest are Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw. Despite scoring a truckload of runs on the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz has been left out of the Indian team and hasn’t found much interest amongst IPL team owners after going unsold in the last two occasions. He has since shed a lot of the pounds that were considered to be weighing down his prospects, but whether he will elicit any interest remains to be seen.

. Another young talent stuck in a rut is Shaw. Following two below-par seasons (106 runs in 2023 and 198 in 2024), the opener went unsold last year. His fortunes were also impacted by several tales of indiscipline that came to light. The Mumbaikar has moved base to Maharashtra and is slowly finding that spark. But will franchises, who are extremely wise nowadays, take a punt on him? Tuesday will offer an answer.

Cameron Green, Quinton de Kock could rake in the moolah

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