Since the IPL has come to an end and we now completely know how the teams and individual players have fared in this season, we can now look back at the mega auction that took place on the 12th and 13th of February 2022 and make out which strategies of the franchises paid off handsomely and which strategies backfired.

Here in this article, we will discuss the 5 best and worst picks at the IPL Mega Auction 2022 based on the performance of the recently concluded IPL.

5 Worst picks

There were a lot of picks that made little or no sense, there were instances where a lot of money was poured in for some players with a lot of hope but which only resulted in disappointment. Let’s look at the 5 worst picks according to us one by one.

5. Tymal Mills

MI was very quiet on the first day of the auction, they didn’t pick any out and out gun T20 bowler who would play the perfect foil to Bumrah. They did break the bank for Jofra Archer but his unavailability for this season meant they needed someone else to support Bumrah this time and their choice of Tymal Mills just wasn’t the right option.

Bought for 1.5cr, the left-handed fast bowler played only 5 games where he took only 6 wickets but gave away runs at an economy of 11.40 which is way too much! Moreover, he got injured and was ruled out. Had MI made a better choice, they could have found themselves winning a few more games, to say the least.

4. Manish Pandey

Brought by LSG at 4.60cr, Manish Pandey was expected to play the perfect supporting or anchoring role which could have allowed the likes of KL and Quinton to play with a lot more freedom. But the experienced batsman from Karnataka was far from doing so as he managed to play just 6 matches as scored a paltry score of only 85 runs averaging at 14.1 and at a strike rate of 101.50. This happened to be the worst season for Manish Pandey and had that money been spent on someone else, LSG could have gone further into the tournament.

3. Romario Shepherd

Touted as someone who can bowl in the pressure overs and hit hard with the bat, SRH picked Romario for a whopping 7.75cr. Unfortunately, his season has been very disappointing as he just played 3 games where he took only 3 wickets at an average of 32.7 and an economy of over 10. With the bat, he didn’t get much opportunity, scored an unbeaten 26 runs in the last match vs PBKS which happens to be his best show with the bat this season. It won’t be a surprise if SRH releases him before the next mini-auction.

2. Shivam Mavi

KKR pulled out at 6cr for Mohammad Shami and then later bought Shivam Mavi at 7.25cr! This didn’t prove to be a wise move as Mavi was often in and out of the team due to his poor show. He picked only 5 wickets in the 6 matches that he donned the KKR jersey and gave away runs at an economy of 11.11 and even conceded 5 sixes in an over versus LSG. Should KKR release him and unlock 7.25cr? Will they get a better prospect in his place at the mini-auction? KKR management has got a lot of thinking to do on their way!

1. Odean Smith

There were a lot of murmurs and talkings before the auction regarding Odean Smith as this Jamaican brute force with the bat and who can also bowl at a rapid pace made the headlines during the CPL and India-WI series just before the IPL.

PBKS showed a lot of faith in him and picked him for as much as 6cr but unfortunately, Odean Smith couldn’t live up to the expectations. He conceded almost 12 runs per over economically and touched almost 30 as the average with the ball in the 6 matches in which he got his chance.

With the bat too he was disappointing having managed to score just 51 runs at an average of 17 and strike rate of 115.91. He was quite understandably dropped from the playing 11 and may well be released given the fact that the likes of Sam Curran and Ben Stokes might be available for next season.

5 Best Picks

There were a lot of masterstrokes seen in the auction where franchises picked players after some brilliant scouting or showed faith in certain players who were written off by many which only paid dividends later in the tournament. Let us see the top picks from the auction one by one.

5. Umesh Yadav

Picked for just 2cr at the very end of the auction by KKR, Umesh has been a revelation for KKR this season as he has reinvented himself as a powerplay specialist bowler. Umesh consistently took wickets in the powerplay and gave KKR good starts with the ball. He took 16 wickets in total at a healthy average of 21.19 and an impressive economy of just 7.06.

4. Tilak Varma

MI and great scouting go hand in hand and Tilak Varma is another prime example of it. In an auction where known and established Indian batsmen were high in demand, MI quietly went about their business and picked this left-handed youngster who can bat anywhere for just 1.70cr. Tilak repaid the faith shown by MI in his debut season and scored 397 runs at a very good average of 36.1 and a healthy strike rate of 131.0. Rohit Sharma reckons he is an all-format future prospect for India!

3. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav didn’t get to play a game in IPL 2021 and hardly played a few games in IPL 2020. His form was also on the downslide and hence there was curiosity as to who would pick him and for how much and the answer is DC for only 2cr. The change of environment did the trick for the left-arm wrist-spinner as he impressed one and all and picked as many as 21 wickets, even bagging 4 man of the match awards. We all hope that after this season, Kuldeep has got his confidence back.

2. Dinesh Karthik

DK raised quite a few eyebrows when he was picked up by RCB for 5cr given his poor shows in the last 2 seasons for KKR and now he is a part-time commentator as well. But DK has been an inspiration in this year’s IPL as long story short, he has exceeded everyone’s expectations, and rescued RCB from several tricky and losing situations like ABD used to do. In the process, he has scored 330 runs at a super impressive strike rate of 183.33 and at an average of 55.00. This performance has earned him an India call-up as well. Hard work does pay off!

1. David Miller

The comeback of David ‘Killer’ Miller has been one of the stories of IPL this season! He was one of the very last players bought during the fag end of the auction. GT picked him for 3cr and showed immense faith in him and gave him a sense of security in the team which amazingly paid off as he scored as many as 449 runs at an average of 64.14 which is the highest overall this year at a brilliant strike rate of 141.19. Miller won several matches for GT and his heroics vs CSK in the league stage and RR in the Qualifier 1 are the most memorable ones.

Hope you liked this article and that we are on the same page. Since in both the cases, we had a good number of players to choose from, we may have missed a few names. Let us know if you want to add/remove any player from any of the 2 lists or both. See you in the next article, take care.