SRH, KKR splurge; CSK, MI play smart

Sunrisers rope in Cummins while Kolkata go all out for Starc; Chennai and Mumbai make valuable additions

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

Living up to their reputation as the smartest operators in IPL auctions, defending champions Chennai Super Kings came up with the best buys in Dubai on Tuesday to bolster their already strong line-up.

CSK had a good purse of ₹31.4 crore and they made the early moves to end up satisfied with their planning and execution. While Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad made the headlines, CSK made precise picks to get New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra as well as Shardul Thakur for less than ₹20 crore. And they were quite happy to add Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman at his base price of ₹2 crore during the accelerated bidding process at the end.

SRH were also pro-active to snap up big names in Australia's skipper Pat Cummins and dashing opener Travis Head. For a limited budget of ₹17.75, Mumbai Indians did good work to build a lethal pace attack by getting South Africa's exciting young fast bowler Gerald Coetzee and Sri Lanka's impressive left-armer Dilshan Madushanka while KKR got their No.1 target Mitchell Starc.

CSK'S shrewd picks

CSK's main aim was to find a replacement for Ambati Rayudu in the middle-order. That was achieved with the acquisition of Mitchell. A hardworking batter, he fits into the CSK mould. In the World Cup, he proved he has the game for subcontinent conditions with two hundreds against India.