Top 7 Lessons from the IPL 4 Player Auctions

Top 10 Lessons from the IPL 4 Player Auctions

1.Old is not always gold :
Sourav Ganguly,Brian Lara have been supreme forces in their times & even greater leaders but you will only be rated as per your current market value.Both are well past their prime and into the twilight post retirement.That explains why both who started at a base price of $400,000 USD went unsold.(Shockingly though)Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who went to Rajasthan Royals and Team Kochi just about managed to save face.When there is money there is no scope for emotions or any loose strings. Cold Corporate Logic as they call it.

2. If you get something right then do everything to keep it right. Never disrupt a winning combination
Chennai Superkings retained 4 of their marquee players in Dhoni,Raina,A Morkel & Vijay but made a beeline to retain most of the players who were part of the team that won IPL3. That explains why they astutely got back bollinger,hussey,badrinath loosing out on murali but compensating with ojha.

3. Life seldom gives you a second chance but when it does grab it with both hands:
KKR were on a mission. They paid a wee bit extra for Gautum Gambhir but each player They have picked has some intrinsic value.Add Sourav Ganguly to the current team and everything will look good.
Good Revamp
Gambhir-batsmen+ captain
Pathan-Allrounder
Kallis-Allrounder
Brett Lee- amazing buy at $400,000 USD
Eion Morgan and Manoj Tiwary were optimum price vs value decisions.
Even after this things can go Wrong but its a commendable start.

Delhi Daredevils have really bled if you ask me with some of their choices. Gambhir,Nannes,Vettori,Karthick,Collingwood were all good buys which they let go.

4.Cricket & Life are great levellers and every one has a destiny
You could still be India's most successful captain who just missed picking up a world cup. You could be the reason for India's current success but today even in club format nobody wants to pick you.-GangulyJP Duminy and Ishant Sharma were sold at hysterical sums based on their one season performance last time round but life stood corrected for both them as both got sold for modest sums almost half their last IPL Cost of around $900,000 USD.Irfan Pathan may not find his stars favourable to be in the Indian cricket team but got most surprising sum of $ 1.8 million USD which is a windfalll by all means.

5. Being at the right time at the right place matters:
Why else would Yuvraj only go for lesser than Robin Utthapa who went for an astronomical $ 2 billion, just as he is out of favour with the Indian selectors. For that matter Cheteswar Pujara had just got a place in the Indian team and is yet to prove himself but is picked for close to $700,000 USD.Most English players would have sold for more than 4 times their current value-specially pieterson ,collingwood and swann but as their board doesnt seem too keen to make their players fully available most franchisees have backed out by taking them onboard.Sad thing if you ask me.

6.India indeed is the developing economy:
Jokes apart all the young Indian players have been sold for astronomical sums even without being regulars in the Indian cricket team. Such is the CAGR growth of the "Indian Premier League" without being worried about any vagaries of recession
Gautam Gambhir - $ 2.4 Million ,Rohit Sharma-$ 2 Million, Robin Utthapa- $ 2 MillionPiyush Chawla $ 900 million , irfan pathan- $ 1.8 million, Trust me the average salary in USA for a 24 year old MS (Post Graduated ) Engineering student is around $80,000 to 125,000 per annum. These guys are making almost 8x to 20x that average yearly amount in a window of 45 days.Ghosh why aint I an Indian cricketer.

7. In the corporate arena maintain good relations and be diplomatic:
(You never who will come where into your life once again)Who would have thought that the monkey gate monkeys- harbhajan singh and Andrew Symmonds will be sharing the same dressing room in Mumbai for the same reason- astronomical sums of money. So always be cordial to everyone even if you dont mean it.

8. You can earn more than your boss but both must learn how to handle it:
Rohit Sharma $2.1 Million USD will earn more than Sachin Tendulkar who was retained for $1.8 Million USD. Robin Utthapa who does little than trotting his chest apart from being left out of Indian ODI,Test & T20 will pump it over Yuvraj who got a wee bit less. Man o Man..turns out Irfan Pathan is going to be paid more than Sachin,Dhoni,Sehwag.

9.Corporate Egos can cost you sometimes:
Thats exactly what explains why Saurabh Tiwary gets picked for $1.6 Million when he got amidst two IPL Teams that of Kings X1 Punjab and RCB's. Both outbid their ego's pumping a huge ransom to Tiwarys modest bank.
Gautum Gambhir was the most sought after in this round as he was an Indian with leadership skills and thus he was the eye of corporate egos and that is what fetched him his astronomical sum.

10. Even with all the planning & plotting life will always spring up surprises:
For me Brendon McCullum was the steal of the IPL 4 as he is going to be available for the whole season. He was picked up for just $425,000 USD. He can keep the wickets and is a game changer if you ask me.
Dwayne Bravo for $200,000 USD & Keven Pieteson fo $ 650,000 are also steals but depends on their availability.

KKR Reloaded or Sourav Ganguly Reloaded

The new KKR Reloaded ad is more abt Ganguly and about KKR:
You can love him,you can hate him but you cannot ignore him : For me he shall always be the eternal prince of Calcutta Sourav Ganguly.SRK and Coach Buchannan were aware of the backlash in Kolkata that would arise if Sourav Ganguly were to be replaced for the Kolkata Knight Riders by a new captain like Rahul Dravid was by Kevin Peterson for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Being Indias best former captain and the only celebrated player from Bengal for close to a decade,the repercussions were more than just expected.Bengalis being so passionate and cricket loving,removing Ganguly from KKR’s captaincy was like removing Bengali Rosogulla from a Bengali thali.
So SRK the marketing genius and shrewd coach John Buchanan announced that they would have multiple captains to create a different kind of flurry within the Indian media and basically I knew what was coming cos the multiple captaincy formula was never going to work any which ways.
Days before the DLF IPL officially began on 18 April,KKR then announced Brendon McCullum would replace Sourav Ganguly as their captain.After creating the hype around the multiple captains this announced was delivered effectively from a media stand point.The decision to replace Ganguly sunk in slowly and the aftershocks were more subtle.
Blog protests and effigies of SRK burnt in Kolkata are still happening but the decision was taken way before to remove him from the total control of KKR.The roots lay in the last years edition of DLF IPL.Umar Gul dint really get along well with Ganguly.KKR’s performance was a huge setback after their huge expectations. Reportedly SRK and Ganguly did have a few arguments over selecting a few players.
KKR has a good mix of International players but what they lack are a good bunch of Domestic players from Bengal compared to the other teams,the swapnil ashnodkars,Karan Goel,Manpreet Gony .Randadeb Bose was outsed who joined the Kings eleven Punjab and is rumoured to be the Fake IPL Player who is blogging giving away dressing room strategies of the KKR.
Ganguly for all matter played some swashbuckling innings last year when they won chasing against Kings eleven Punjab.Count Ganguly out and he gets back more stronger in character and wiser by his dedication. After the captaincy debacle ,and his poor performance in the first match versus the Deccan Chargers where he was found wanting for the short pitched deliveries,he came back once again.
The 2 for 24 againts the Kings eleven Punjab in 4 overs with the momentum breaking wicket of Irfan Pathan was all about immense passion.His 46 of 27 balls in the tied game vs Rajasthan Royals was an astute example what dedication ,passion and talent for a dedicated servent of the game could do when written off.His urge to fight gets sweeter like wine as he ages.
I agree technically he may not be sound,his short ball play may be severely challenged and running between the wickets and fielding could well do a makeover.But for sheer passion,dedication and the hunger to play makes this man a cricketing legend who should be revered and respected like anyone else from the cricketing fraternity.
The man who took India to the 2003 world cup final who breathed life into the Indian team when he took over after the match fixing debacle.The main man who nurtured youngsters like Virendra Sehwag,Yuvraj Singh,Harbhajan Singh ,Zaheer Khan and the captain who stepped down for Virendra Sehwag to open for the benefits of the team is no ordinary man. These four are the players who form the crux of Mahendra Singh Dhonis new India.
More than KKR ,being beaten and dismissed yet coming back strongly in the advertisements with the theme KKR Reloaded where a young boy throws a dart at a body-builder thus getting beaten up and yet gets up and throws back the dart at that guy, applies aptly to the career of Sourav Ganguly.For me and Rahul Dravid he shall always be the king of Offside and a passionate captain who deserved more.

Harsha Bhogles favourite DLF IPL Moment of last year.

Set Max is looking at the entire Indian Family and targetting the middle class Indian Diaspora as its viewer so it is understood they would be having Hinglish for their commentary team.That explains why we have Arun Lal for the prematch analysis.Last years Mano-ranjan advertisement campaign was brilliant.I wonder if they could get it back.

But we do have Sunil Gavaskar,Ravi Shashtri ,surprise surprise even Harsha Bhogle.Simply brilliant ar'nt they.I also think Robin Jackman,Simon Doull and Mark Nicholas are really good commentators on air.I miss Michael Holding,Tony Greg and Geofrey Boycott.Wonder what they are upto.I spotted Geoffrey with Shipla Shetty the other day,which did set lot of eyeballs rolling for the fact that Geoffrey has been such an avid Shilpa shettys supporter.

The Max preview show has a mix of Hindi-english with Arun Lal.Wonder if they could get Navjot Sidhu or Mohinder Amarnath to add a bit more spice to their preview show.Mandira bedi seems to be upto no good.Shonali Nagrani the co-host for Max during the ICC World Cup 2007 was some real good eye candy.I wonder where she is right now.

Harsha Bhogle today was urging SRK to smile while on air with lot of anxiety on his face.His favourite moment for DLF IPL Season 1 was when 80,000 fans were singing along with SRK Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo le in a fully packed ground at Eden Gardens Kolkata.I am sure that is one sight I love to behold specially if you have our beloved Dada Sourav Ganguly coming down the track and hoisting some leftarm spinners for huge sixes over long-on or simply caressing the quickies through the offside of whom hes the God as per Rahul Dravid.

Match 6 :DLF IPL Its the Gayle and McCullum show for KKR.

Match 6 of the DLF IPL:
Kings 11 Punjab had their moments.After loosing an early wicket Irfan Pathan who seems a much better batsmen than bowler did do good for their cause.But KKR kept taking wickets at crucial intervals.
Well you can love him,you can hate him but you cannot ignore the prince of Calcutta.With two wickets in one over and match figures of 4 overs 24 runs for 2 wickets Sourav Ganguly just proved us all wrong when people had started to write him off.
After the 10 overs and into the strategy break Kings 11 Punjab were 67/3 of 10 overs.

After the break Yuvraj Singh played really well with those flamboyant super sixes.His wicket was the most important wicket of the day when you look at the result.With him finding his feet a score of 200 was looming over KKR.
Towards the end of the match it was Mahela Jayawardenas late flurry that got them to a score of 158/6 which seemed power for the course.

Then came the Knights:
Brendom Mccullum and Chris Gayle started causiously and Karan Goel dropped a sitter of Gayle which is another turning point of the match.Like all good players Gayle took it in his stride and phew Irfan Pathan and the others were sent chasing Leather all over Kingsmead Durban.

Within the first 5 overs Kolkata Knight Riders had screamed past the 50 mark and were 76/1 in 7.2 overs when rain interrupted play and hasnt stopped since for the next match.

SRK expressed his gratitude to Duckworth and Lewis and wished he could meet them.He was extremely tensed and being a good actor in emotional movies he too could not control the anxiety and tension that was so evident on his brow.

It seems KKR might simply be the best team one day if their openers and Ganguly get going or disasterous if they loose their first three wickets.It was a change in strategy with Ganguly slated to come 2 down.Early days though but the day all three get going it will be a treat to all our eyes.

As for the Kings from Punjab ,all the pep talk and eye candy in the form of Priety Zinta wont do as they seem to have a really weak bowling line up without Brett Lee ,Shreesanth.

The cut-off time for the Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals match is 10:45 pm IST and if rain doesnt stop we wont have a 5 over a side match.I dunno but if I were in either team I wouldnt be gearing up for that small a match.

Prisoners at a Jail in Kolkatta are demanding to watch the IPL.Wonder if KKR's woes will continue today.

Well prisoners of a jail in Kolkatta are really keen to watch the IPL.They have gone on a hunger strike until they get to watch their favourite cricketers all over the world.I wonder though if if their support for Kolkatta Knight Riders has dimished a little after their dismal performance from the last game.
They have consistently been 30 odd for 3 or 4 wickets over and over from the last years season.
Srk's dream is becoming a nightmare as he exulted after KKR's loss to Deccan Chargers.

But if you look at KKR's team composition they seem to have a long tail and are missing good allrounders of the likes of Jacob Oram,Scott Styris or even a Freddie Flintoff(if they could afford it).And a middle order stable batsmen like Ricky Ponting or Dravid is solely needed.Akash Chopra doesnt seem to fit well.

Ajit Agarkar has never been economical though the fastest to reach 50 wickets in one-dayers.Ishant Sharma is the only cricketer from the present Indian team to be playing in all three forms of cricket Test,One dayers and T20.This is a significant difference as India is one of the top one-day and the test team if not the numero uno and that is benefitting the other teams in the DLF IPL.

Pakistani fast bowlers like Umar Gul and a fully fit Shoaib Akhtar would have been idle for the conditions at South Africa.Salman Butt is another decent player to miss out.

I guess choosing a team can be such immaculate strategizing that who would have thought that relations between India and Pakistan would sour and players banned from that country.SRK should have hedged by choosing some South Africans.After all the IPL has taught a lesson or two in Business hedging and strategizing.

Manchester United of IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders and some reasons why I like it

The Manchester United of IPL: The Kolkata Knight Riders:
My allegiance hasn’t changed and I still love the Mumbai Indians. But if you look at their team composition of KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) which is somehow weak on paper and their performance last year you may not have a world beating team. Nor would you expect them to challenge the Mumbai Indians ,Bangalore Royal Challengers ,Delhi Daredevils who seem to be my pick for the season as favorites after the first round of the IPL2.
But if ever you wanted to look at the euphoria or the pre-match buzz generated by any team in terms of promotion, marketing glitz and having the ability to be in the news its KKR.Be it the multi-captaincy row involving John Buchanan and Sourav Ganguly which seemed to be a played up phenomenon so as to gradually break the news that Sourav Ganguly the prince of Kolkata was not going to be captaining Kolkata Knight Riders. What their performance over the last couple of years also taught was though the essence of the team and local flavor was important ,performance in the game is a key metric of success and with so much money at stake tough decisions would be taken.
Or the reality TV Show on Knights and Angels the hunt for cheerleaders for KKR on NDTV Imagine SRK managed to get the new cricket viewer the Indian Female/Women into the game. I guess I know why STAR Tv has signed on to support the KKR.Now being a little cheesy going by their performance in the first match there doesn’t seem to be much cheering for them to do.I guess a reality TV Show to select the best cricketing talent would be a better bet next year.
However I salute the marketing acumen of Shahrukh Khan who is really witty with his words and has so brilliantly capitalized upon his global popularity and rubbed it upon his team.So even though Andrew Flintoff may be worth 1.54 million as the most expensive player while leading the charge brigade in capetown,SRK Stole all thunder.
If there was a Manchester United of Cricket its already Kolkata Knight Riders. With brands like Nokia,Tag Hueur Reebok and Sprite and one of the coolest looking jerseys in black and golden apart from the delhi daredevils who look ubercool in Blue and Red they seem to have euphoria going for them. With the only team having a tiger mascot for them and a catchy jingle Korbo Korbo Jeetbo le ,compared to say Chennai Super Kings whose Hindi song may not be even understood in Chennai,the team has it all.
There is a case in point where allocating Shahrukh Khan an IPL Team for abroad called London NRI’s Eleven, Durbans Indian Riders or Aussie Indo Juggernaut would have created even more global euphoria and sponshorship for his team,simply going by the euphoric popularity SRK has abroad.I was watching this interview on NDTV where the sports anchor Sonali chander quipped why does the Reebok KKR jersey Khan 12 sell more than any other jersey in IPL even though it was of SRK an actor and owner of a team rather than say a Sachin Tendulkar or Mahindra Singh Dhoni.Well the answer is unanimous SRK the brand is much bigger than KKR the team.
His sense of humour is at its best when he was asked with Shipla Shetty and Priety Zinta in South Africa don’t you think most guys would be interested in watching the two beauties to which he replied I don’t know about the others but the two would be watching only me.
Also as acknowledged by SRK himself his team may have everything from Dada to controversies,from brands like STAR Plus to sprite what’s lacking is a good middle order batsmen like Ricky Ponting .Akash Chopra seems like a misfit and they seem to have a long tail.They could so very well do with a Jacob Oram or an allrounder who could bat really well and bowl.
Till then lets leave you with all the Kings men and his wit.