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A game of brain and numbers – DC’s Auction Strategy ft. Sriram Somayajula

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Last updated on 01 Mar 2022 | 10:52 AM
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A game of brain and numbers – DC’s Auction Strategy ft. Sriram Somayajula

Cricket.com caught up with Delhi Capitals’ chief analyst Sriram Somayajula, analyzing Delhi’s Auction strategy

Delhi Capitals were the second-most active franchise during the 2022 IPL Mega Auction, raising their paddle for 49 players ahead of the ten-team season. But how did they go around building their squad? 

Cricket.com picked DC’s chief analyst Sriram Somayajula’s brains on their different moves, starting from the retention, picking three left-arm pacers, the move for the U-19 talents, the Auction dynamics and the overall composition of the playing squad.

Here is the entire transcript of the interview: 

What was the thought process behind the retentions?

The idea was to have the Indian core, in view for the future. It was decided the Indian core was to be retained, that has been the strength of the Delhi Capitals in the recent years.

There is no talent better than Prithvi Shaw at this stage, we all feel that at DC. It is not just in T20s but across formats, if we left him, someone would have picked him at Ishan Kishan or Shreyas Iyer’s price range. There was no way we could have got him, so we had to retain him.

Similarly, with Axar Patel. Given the fact that Axar has done so well for us, is a brilliant fielder, great team man and can bat in different positions, it was a no-brainer. We always contemplated of giving him a more comprehensive role. So Axar was one of the premium all-rounders for DC’s future. 

Naturally, Rishabh and his captaincy, batting prowess coming at death, doing his best as a batter. There was no second-thinking.

On the overseas front, Anrich Nortje is one of the quickest pace bowlers in world cricket and that breed of players are very rare. If we leave Nortje and we will never be able to get him back in the Auction.

What changed from having no left-arm pacer in 2020 to picking three left-arm pacers this year?

If you look at the numbers, predominantly at the death, more than 70% right-handers have struggled against left-arm seamers. If you go back in time (2020-21) with Rajasthan Royals, their spine of the attack was made of Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya, they had great success doing it with the new ball and the death.

We didn’t really plan both Fizz and Sakariya to come to us. Sakariya was our Plan A and we desperately wanted him. But we were unsure of whether we would get Sakariya, hence, we had to jump in for Khaleel Ahmed earlier in the auction.

Sakariya’s performance not only with the Royals but also with Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was a package that we wanted. With Nortje bowling at high pace, Sakariya can come from the other end, using all his skills trying to outsmart the batters.

Mustafizur, a much-improved bowler now, adds impetus to our overseas bowling unit. The idea was to have minimum two left-arm pacers looking at the match-up of the opposition (one Indian and one overseas). Getting him at that price point (INR 2 crores) was a steal for us, something that we were not expecting.

How big a loss were the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Avesh Khan, Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin?

It was a loss but there are 10 teams this year as opposed to eight, right? So, we should also understand the auction dynamics.

We were very much prepared for whom we are going to lose and what we are going to have as a composition at the end of the day. We did a few mock auctions. We knew, realistically we won't get either of Shreyas or Dhawan.

DC bid second-highest this time, going head-to-head with other franchises for 49 players at the Auction. It speaks volumes about what we actually wanted as a core back at the franchise. So, whether it was Ashwin, Shreyas, Avesh or Dhawan, we went for them but the price points were not in our favour.

Shikhar was definitely in our options. Every season, he has been a consistent performer for us, with 500+ runs in the last three years. What was going to stop us from not bidding for him.

What about Avesh Khan, one of the stars of IPL 2021?

Yes, we put a price cap for Avesh Khan, very unfortunate that we could not get him, we fought for him, till INR 8.75 crores but our budget didn’t allow to pick him. Avesh is a jackpot if we had got him but that’s how the Auction dynamics work. We couldn’t afford him at INR 10 crores, given the budget constraints.

Why did Delhi not go after an overseas spinner?

We all know the quality of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, how many spinners will you play in a game? From a strategy point of view, these two were the most sought after, from our perspective. We really thought getting Kuldeep for INR 2 crores, was a good buy.

When we got these two, we did not worry about anything else. We didn’t go after a foreign spinner because then we had to shuffle around with our composition when there was no real need for it in the first place. 

It was a simple idea that we would not go for a foreign spinner unless we could feature them in the playing XI. Unless we had an all-rounder, like Wanindu Hasaranga, there was no real possibility of us featuring an overseas spinner in the setup.

Was the price range for both Mitchell Marsh and Shardul Thakur surprising for you guys?

Definitely, Mitchell Marsh at INR 6.25 crores, is a great buy. But why people did not bid for him beyond that, I don’t know, they might have been concerned about his availability.*

We eventually might miss him for games but we want to take that punt. With no Marcus Stoinis, we had to target Marsh, who could offer a similar package and his form in the T20 World Cup was phenomenal.  

Shardul Thakur has time and again proven his calibre. If you look at what he has done for India and CSK. Obviously CSK managed him so well, skipper MS Dhoni got the best out of him. Although, Thakur has been expensive, he bowls the toughest overs and has the knack of picking up wickets, there is no real substitute for that. 

This is a new composition, how come they come together is in our hands. But when we see it on paper, it looks like a great squad.

For people unaware, explain the Auction dynamics that you have to keep in mind?

The success of Auction to me is that 85-90% of the picks that you wanted, at a price you wanted to pick them. We never expected Shardul at INR 10.5 crores but we didn’t want to give up on a special Indian talent. 

So, reading independently, every team when they finished their auction, probably they would have felt that they built a good squad, or probably had some gaps. Predominantly every team would've had this thought that they probably missed a plot somewhere.

How long did the franchise scout Yash Dhull and what were the first impressions?

Yash Dhull was part of the DC academy ever since 2018-19. The academic coaches have worked hard on not just scouting Dhull but also bringing the best out of him in the past few years.

It's been a long run for him. And we somehow wanted to get him, not just that, you know, he's played for India U-19 and they won the title. But if you actually look at all our DC academy boys, they have been magnificent. 

So, the DC academic talent pool is such that you will keep producing so many good players year after year. It's just that, you know, that the timing was so good for Dhull. He’s done exceptionally well in the U-19 World Cup, playing the tough knocks in the knock-out stages.

Especially, his knock against Australia, where he showed his class, was outstanding to watch and is an exceptional leader. Dhull is so flamboyant to see and is genuinely a high-quality cricketer. We are happy to have him in the mix and eager to see how he could contribute to success of our future. 

Obviously in 2008, somebody would've felt that, you know Delhi missed Virat Kohli in the auction.

Talk about David Warner’s return to Delhi, what was the talk in the camp?

We all know how detrimental and destructive David Warner can be on his day. For us, we wanted someone to compliment Prithvi Shaw’s batting, that was exactly why we looked at Warner’s profile, who is also a left-hander.

Warner’s performance in the T20 World Cup was something that was there to see for everyone. We could not ignore that and he was in our plans with conditions in India similar to the Middle East. I think he’s still best at that given role and he could be a great mentor for the boys, this is relatively a very young side, with a lot of experience but still Warner is invaluable. 

Explain the move for Kamlesh Nagarkoti, was it to have a depth?

Absolutely. I mean, Nagarkoti, we all know what he has done in the past. Yes. he has had his share of injuries but I think, you know, he’s one Indian fast bowler who can still clock that 140 at will and can swing the ball both ways. 

I mean, the fielder that he is, lot of them as a fast bowler, the athleticism that he shows on the field as a fielder, I think it is gun. And, and he is a great team-man. Obviously, we all have scouted (watched) him through the season, see what he has done. DC followed him closely to understand him and his play-style more closely. 

Personally, I feel that he is a good pick and wouldn’t call him a back-up, he’s a potential starter, who is ready to go on the field from the first game.

How about Ashwin Hebbar, a player who has been there in the domestic circuit for some time now?

Ashwin Hebbar to me, is that one talent who can spring a few surprises, he has been the highest run scorer at domestic levels. And if you look at the SMAT, the way he can hit sixes, I mean, oh my god, I've seen him myself. So, I personally feel that, you know, he's a talent that is untapped. 

And he's going to spring in a few surprises this year for sure.

How would the makeup of the playing XI be this time? Two overseas pacers, an all-rounder and a finisher?

We'll have to wait and see (chuckles). Yeah. That's something that the coaching staff will decide. Obviously, we'll do a lot of number crunching and then do those match-ups individually. We do a lot of probability checks in terms of the percentage of win ratio, et cetera, et cetera.

So, it's about what combinations we play and what we arrive at the end of the day. The coaching staff have to believe that this is the right combination for us to play. So, it's not something that we can answer today.

Yes, I can predict. I can say this is what my XI is going to be. But on a given day, we don't know what is going to be the weather or the conditions and it is up to the coaching staff to decide. So, we'll have to wait and see that.

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