Expect spin to dominate team strategy this season

All the franchises have loaded up on spinners of every kind with the home pitches set to dictate teams' composition

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA: On any given day, Kolkata Knight Riders are assured of eight overs of spin from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Opening the bowling, one change in the Powerplay, the middle overs or at the death—Narine and Chakravarthy have proven to be KKR's all-terrain master stroke in the IPL, season after season. Now factor in Moeen Ali, roped in this year, and KKR's spin attack looks to be as potent as it was when Shakib Al Hasan was with them. The investment in the three spinners alone stands at ₹26 crore, more than a fifth of champions KKR's salary purse for this season.

KKR aren't the only franchise invested heavily in spinners. To retain Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, Delhi Capitals have spent ₹19.75 crore. For Gujarat Titans, retaining Rashid Khan for ₹18 crore was a no-brainer. Punjab Kings breaking the bank to get Yuzvendra Chahal for ₹18 crore during the IPL auction showed how desperate they were for a matchwinner.

But quite spin-heavy has been the approach from Chennai Super Kings, retaining the multitalented Ravindra Jadeja for ₹18 crore but also adding home boy R Ashwin for ₹9.75 crore before buying Noor Ahmed, a 20-year-old wrist spinner from Afghanistan, for a staggering ₹10 crore.