IPL auction 2022 | Pace for CSK, batters for Gujarat: A look at what teams need as bidding resumes

Both teams will look to buy some serious overseas pace today as CSK only have Chahar and Mumbai Indians have their lone pace retention in Jasprit Bumrah. Neither of their picks in KM Asif or Basil Thampi would be the first pick in any IPL playing eleven.

Also looking to bolster their pace attack will be Delhi Capitals. The top-ranked IPL side has, since the run-up to the auction, lost out on its fast-bowling champions in Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan. Let's face it: Mustafizur Rahman is no match for these names and Shardul Thakur -- can be erratic on an off-day usually bowls first-change. Some quality pace to share the new ball with Anrich Nortje is what the Capitals will be on the hunt for.

Lucknow Super Giants need pace too — Mark Wood isn’t the most versatile bowler made for T20s and Avesh Khan will need more support than what he gets from Jason Holder and Ankit Rajpoot.

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Gujarat Titans don’t have decent batters, yet. Hardik Pandya is woefully out of form and Jason Roy came at a bargain at the auction on Saturday. However such is the dearth of quality batters in this side, that the Titans think tank were forced to bid big for Rahul Tewatia, in the hope to secure his batting prowess when in reality Tewatia himself is more of a lower middle-order pinch-hitter. The Titans will desperately need to use the remainder of their Rs 18.85 crore to shop for quality T20 batters.

While the Punjab Kings did most things right at the auction on Saturday, the team seems to have missed a trick or two in bidding for good all-rounders. That’s understandable: most of the team’s big money was spent in buying Dhawan (Rs 8.25 crore), Rabada (Rs 9.25 crore) and big-hitting Shahrukh Khan (Rs 9 crore) that the team seems to have forgotten they need a quality all-rounder batting at number six or seven. Expect the team to go big for the likes of a Shakib Al Hassan, on Sunday.

Rajasthan Royals don’t have all-rounders either. Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin are all they have to show in the all-rounders’ slot and neither player is a genuine proponent of both trades to even be strictly termed all-rounders in the first place. Expect a bidding war between RR and PBKS for more all-rounders when the remainder of the auction gets underway.

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Sun Risers Hyderabad needs experienced batters to get to big scores, and right about now they only have Kane Williamson to show for themselves. Rahul Tripathi and Priyam Garg are good uncapped batters, no doubt. But they lack international experience that this team so desperately needs in the batting department. In fact, this requirement was so pronounced that the team went all-out to bid (successfully) for Nicolas Pooran, who ended up going to them at a steep price tag. However, many would agree that he is a gamble at best.

Royal Challengers Bangalore need just a few more bowlers after putting together a delightful batting line-up comprising Kohli, Du Plessis, Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik. This priority seems like it’s in the right place too, thanks to the successful bids they secured for Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga and 2021 purple-cap winner, Harshal Patel. It’s fair to say that RCB looks like the most complete team on paper, as things stand.

Kolkata Knight Riders have just one Indian spinner in Varun Chakravarthy. Their pace attack looks a tad bare too with Mavi and Pat Cummins (whose availability and fitness will be under a question mark). So, expect the men in purple to go big for bowling talent on Sunday. They need a wicket-keeper too and Sheldon Jackson doesn’t look like he will readily slot into the playing eleven of an IPL team.