When the World Cup final ended in a dud, everyone was wondering if there would be a period of lull.
A lot of us even had withdrawal symptoms post the final as it took forever to recover from the heartbreak in Ahmedabad. But Indian cricket is never short of drama, intrigue, and all that. They provide us with plenty without even realising that they are doing so.
In the past four days we have had the best version of a 'Hollywood meets Bollywood' potboiler in the garb of an Indian Premier League (IPL) trade window that had us all captivated. When the deed was finally done on Monday morning, everyone heaved a sigh of relief because the drama was getting too intense.
It all started with a simple story in a daily and from thereon there was speculation galore. Gujarat Titans’ erstwhile captain Hardik Pandya apparently began talking to Mumbai Indians a few months ago and wanted to return home. Mumbai was apparently even keen to elevate Pandya as captain on his return ahead of their champion skipper Rohit Sharma. The timing may have been a bit off for Sharma had just played a valiant role for India in the ODI World Cup.
Hence the speculation died down only a bit, only to rise again. But when the final list of retentions and releases ahead of the Sunday, November 26 deadline, there was another twist.
Everyone thought that the deadline was missed and that it was indeed a red herring.
But only to be told by those in the know that there was a twist in the tale.
It was a perfect storyline with twists and turns as promised when the story made its first appearance. We had only heard of such twists in football trade deals, but we finally had it in cricket as well.
We got to know that the deadline for Sunday was only for releases and retentions. The trade window was open till 12 December and all possible trade can happen till a week before this year’s auction.
Finally on Monday morning the news was made official by the IPL, through a press release, with Pandya moving to Mumbai and as part of a side deal Cameron Green was traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore. This was all part of one deal but happened with two separate players.
Mumbai now have the core of their champion squads of the past back together. Sharma is still there, Pandya is back, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav are around. To add to this cast Kieron Pollard is the batting coach and the star bowler of the champion Mumbai side, Lasith Malinga is back in the mix as bowling coach.
Mumbai can very well announce the launch of their latest movie and happily call it ‘The Homecoming’. If the cast and crew is anything to go by it sure appears to be a winner.
But there could well be another twist in the tale if you look at the other squads in the competition.
Gujarat is a new franchise in the mix but with two heady seasons thus far will have to start afresh with Shubman Gill as captain. This is a big move for Gill and marks the rise in stature for the young man in Indian cricket. Larger honours await him in the coming months as India will surely head into a transition phase at least in terms of leadership in Tests and ODIs. Gujarat have also released some of their key fast bowlers like Alzarri Joseph, Shivam Mavi and Yash Dayal which means they will need a new attack or will have to buy them again.
Defending champion Chennai Super Kings have a lot of cash to burn with the exit of superstar Ben Stokes. They also need a couple of overseas fast bowlers to complement their young Indian quicks. Their leadership is secure and does not like to tinker much, so the rest of the clan is safe and sound.
For Delhi Capitals it was time for a clean up once again after a disappointing last season. They have let go of a lot of players as you would expect. But they would have some young Indian quicks along with a few overseas batters to complete the mix. Their big hope is that their regular skipper Rishabh Pant is ready to fire again.
Kolkata Knight Riders have a new mentor, rather their former skipper, Gautam Gambhir back in the dug-out. It is very clear that he has played a big part in deciding on the releases and retention this time around. Their poor last season in the absence of their skipper Shreyas Iyer has meant that they have let go of a lot of their bowlers. The decision to let go of Lockie Ferguson is surprising, even as they have retained the underperforming Andre Russell. Kolkata needs a complete reset as always with some Indian and overseas quicks, an Indian wicket-keeper and a few all-rounders to challenge Russell in the XI.
Gambhir’s former side Lucknow Supergiants are playing it safe this time under a new coach, Justin Langer. They have just released players who may have been superfluous to their requirements. With skipper Lokesh Rahul expected to be available unlike last season when he got injured, the side looks good to take on the best.
Mumbai have reassembled their star cast but the support cast needs an overhaul. They need a new pace attack with the likes of Joffra Archer being released alongside Chris Jordan, Duan Jansen, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith.
Punjab Kings is usually the franchise that does spring cleaning every year and has surprised everyone this time by being conservative in their approach. But they have managed to keep things simple this time though there is still time for some changes. The big let down has been the fact that Shahrukh Khan has been released from the squad. He was meant to be this big Twenty20 hope, but Khan has failed to live up to the hype unlike his namesake.
As you move towards the Pink city of Jaipur you realise that they have also retained the core of their squad from the previous year. They will need some support pace bowlers which they will get in plenty at the auction. England’s talisman Joe Root has opted out which means that they will need a top-class international batter in the wings. Otherwise, the Royals have covered all their bases.
Now fans of Bangalore wonder why their franchise has still not won the title. Well, the answer is simple if you look at their list of players released. They have let go of their entire bowling attack; how do you hope to rebuild the set once again? They are hoping to lay their hands once again on Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, if they are available. But they will need a lot more to recover lost ground.
Surprisingly, Hyderabad too have played it safe and have preferred not to make too many changes to their line-up. This is a good sign, but they will need more than that to reclaim the title that they won back in 2016.
This has been a good exercise overall by all franchises as they have looked to build a core rather than be reckless as some have been in the past. But in getting to this point they have given all their key supporters a lot of heartaches.
It is typical of Indian cricket to keep us all occupied. After all, more cricket drama is the only solution to recover from heartbreaks on the biggest possible stage.
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