Sourav Ganguly names two teams who have their work cut out the most for IPL auction 2021

The IPL auction is just a couple of days away and franchises must be busy planning and strategising for the event. The teams will look to bolster their benches and fill the loopholes at the IPL auction that is set to take place on Thursday. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently revealed the names of the franchises that need to be at their best at the IPL auction.

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Sourav Ganguly points out two franchises who need to work the most at IPL auction

While speaking to Star Sports, Ganguly said that out of all the IPL sides, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are the two franchises that will have to do the most work at IPL auction. Both sides put on disappointing performances last year at IPL 2020 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The two sides do not look as formidable as some of the other teams on paper, which is why they will hope to strengthen their squads and cover all the bases ahead of the cricketing extravaganza.

Ganguly also stated that the BCCI is looking into the possibility of having the presence of fans in the stadiums during IPL 2021. International cricket resumed in India as recently as January with the India-England Test series. While the first Test was played behind closed doors, the second Test saw 50% crowd being allowed to watch the game. With things gradually improving in the country and the fear of COVID-19 subsiding in people due to the several Made in India vaccines, it is likely that IPL 2021 will be played in the presence of fans in India itself.

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Chennai Super Kings analysis ahead of IPL auction

Despite having a dismal IPL 2020, the MS Dhoni-led Chennai defied expectations and has retained most of its squad. After a poor show by the three-time champions in 2020, the squad was expected to head for a complete revamp this year. The franchise has retained most of its players including Ambati Rayadu, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar. The squad will be led by MS Dhoni as in the previous editions of the IPL so far.

Chennai has also retained young Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made an impact in the last leg of the tournament in 2020, with some brilliant innings as he opened the batting for the team. Ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran along with Mitchell Santner have also featured in CSK list of retained players 2021. On the other hand, Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay have been released in a bid to increase the franchise's purse amount for the mini-auction. 

CSK list of retained players 2021

N Jagadeesan, R Gaikwad, KM Asif, R Jadeja, MS Dhoni, J Hazlewood, K Sharma, A Rayudu, S Raina, I Tahir, D Chahar, Faf du Plessis, S Thakur, M Santner, D Bravo, L Ngidi, S Curran, S Kishore.

CSK list of released players 2021

Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, S Watson, M Singh.

Kolkata Knight Riders analysis ahead of IPL auction

Similar to most of the franchises, Kolkata has also opted to not hinder most of its squad. However, the franchise has persisted with the captaincy change introduced midway during the IPL 2020 as Eoin Morgan will continue to lead the side in 2021. Incidentally, Kolkata has decided to let go of Tom Banton who failed to feature in the KKR list of retained players 2021.

KKR acquired Banton last year, who has been projected as a power hitter. The franchise has also reposed its faith in Andre Russell, who failed to make an impact with the bat during the IPL 2020

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KKR list of retained players 2021

Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert.

KKR list of released players 2021

Tom Banton, Chris Green, Nikhil Naik, Siddharth M, Siddhesh Lad (and Harry Gurney, Ali Khan).

IPL auction 2021 date and time

After a lot of curiosity around the IPL auction 2021 date and time, the BCCI on January 27 revealed that the IPL 2021 auction will take place on February 18 in Chennai. The IPL auction live streaming will begin at 3:00 PM (IST).  Fans in Indian can tune in to the Star Sports Network to catch the live telecast of the program. The IPL auction live streaming will also be made available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website as well as on JioTV.

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SOURCE: AP