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IPL 2017 player auction: Which team did the best business?

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Image: How did reigning IPL champions Sunrisers Hyderabad fare in this year's player auction?

Which team did the best business in the 2017 IPL auction? Sky Sports' Matt Floyd takes a closer look at how each franchise is shaping up after their big-money moves...

The dust has now settled on the player auction, which saw six England players sold. They join Jos Buttler and Sam Billings, already attached to the Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils respectively.

While Billings, and Chris Jordan (Sunrisers Hyderabad), might struggle to make the regular starting XI's for their teams, they're still sure to get plenty of opportunities throughout the tournament as teams rotate.

Rising Pune Supergiants

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See the moment Ben Stokes was auctioned to the Rising Pune Supergiants in a lucrative IPL deal.

Did they get what they needed?

No. After releasing more players than any other team, the Supergiants needed to cover a fair few areas but spent most of their money on one player, Ben Stokes. While Stokes could well prove an IPL superstar, the Pune franchise still seems a bit unbalanced and lacking in fast bowlers, in particular.

Possible Starting XI: 1) Ajinkya Rahane 2) Mayank Agarwal 3) Faf du Plessis 4) Steve Smith (c) 5) Ben Stokes 6) MS Dhoni (wkt) 7) Ravichandran Ashwin 8) Rajat Bhatia 9) Adam Zampa 10) Ashok Dinda 11) Ishwar Pandey.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

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Mark Butcher and Rob Key give their tips for the 2017 IPL title.

Did they get what they needed?

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Possibly. With Mitchell Starc out, RCB needed a quick left-armer who can bowl at the death, so they shelled out £1.4m on Tymal Mills. The strength of their local bowlers needed addressing, and while Pawan Negi provides another spin option, they still look a little short. With that batting line-up though, it may not matter.

Possible starting XI: 1) Virat Kohli (c) 2) Chris Gayle 3) AB de Villiers 4) KL Rahul (wkt) 5) Shane Watson 6) Kedar Jadhav 7) Stuart Binny 8) Pawan Negi 9) Sreenath Aravind 10) Yuzvendra Chahal 11) Tymal Mills.

IPL auction podcast special
IPL auction podcast special

Click here to listen to IPL auction show special, also available as a podcast.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Did they get what they needed?

Yes. A specialist spinner was top of their wishlist and the reigning champions picked up two very interesting, if slightly left-field options, in Afghanistan's Rashid Khan and 45-year-old Pravin Tambe. Eklavya Dwivedi has also been signed as a back-up wicketkeeper. The one area where they could have strengthened further is the batting - last season they were very dependent on the incredible form of David Warner.

Possible Starting XI: 1) David Warner (c) 2) Shikhar Dhawan 3) Kane Williamson 4) Yuvraj Singh 5) Naman Ojha (wkt) 6) Ben Cutting 7) Deepak Hooda 8) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9) Ashish Nehra 10) Mustafizur Rahman 11) Pravin Tambe.

Mumbai Indians

Mitchell Johnson took 3-3 from his four overs to help Perth Scorchers into the BBL final
Image: Mitchell Johnson impressed enough for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash to earn another IPL contract

Did they get what they needed?

Possibly. The release of Marchant de Lange left room for another overseas pace bowler, and the return of the in-form Mitchell Johnson seems a shrewd move. Lasith Malinga too seems to be back fit and firing, so the fast-bowling department looks strong, though they perhaps could have done with another quality top-order batsman.

Possible Starting XI: 1) Rohit Sharma (c) 2) Parthiv Patel (wkt) 3) Ambati Rayudu 4) Jos Buttler 5) Hardik Pandya 6) Kieron Pollard 7) Krunal Pandya 8) Harbhajan Singh 9) Mitchell Johnson 10) Jasprit Bumrah 11) Lasith Malinga.

Gujarat Lions

Jason Roy of England hits out for six runs during the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 Group 1 match between England and Sri Lanka
Image: England's Jason Roy is one of a number of high quality openers in the Gujarat Lions team

Did they get what they needed?

No. Gujarat's main problem last year was their inconsistent bowling and they did not sign any marquee bowlers. The 33-year-old Munaf Patel was a cheap purchase though and could prove to be a canny signing. The batting is not short on power but has an imbalance between openers - of which they have plenty - and middle-order players.

Possible starting XI: 1) Brendon McCullum 2) Jason Roy 3) Suresh Raina (c) 4) Aaron Finch 5) Dinesh Karthik (wkt) 6) Ravindra Jadeja 7) Dwayne Bravo 8) Praveen Kumar 9) Dhawal Kulkarni 10) Munaf Patel 11) Shivil Kaushik.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Chris Woakes held his nerve in the final over to see England over the line (Credit: AFP)
Image: Chris Woakes has some big shoes to fill as he replaces Andre Russell for the Kolkata Knight Riders

Did they get what they needed?

Possibly. KKR had the smallest squad going into the auction, and just three overseas players, with Andre Russell currently banned. They've replenished their fast-bowling stocks with the acquisitions of Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile, while Chris Woakes as the all-rounder could have the unenviable task of replacing Russell.

Possible Starting XI: 1) Gautam Gambhir (c) 2) Robin Uthappa (wkt) 3) Manish Pandey 4) Chris Lynn 5) Yusuf Pathan 6) Suryakumar Yadav 7) Chris Woakes 8) Piyush Chawla 9) Sunil Narine 10) Umesh Yadav 11) Trent Boult.

Kings XI Punjab

Eoin Morgan of England
Image: Eoin Morgan joins his fourth IPL franchise after signing for Kings XI Punkab

Did they get what they needed?

No. While the likes of Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan and Matt Henry could freshen up an overseas contingent that massively under-performed last season, they failed to land a quality spinner. which could prove to be a problem. For some reason they still had around £1.5m spare to spend, almost enough to buy Stokes.

Possible Starting XI: 1) Martin Guptill 2) Murali Vijay (c) 3) Glenn Maxwell 4) Eoin Morgan 5) David Miller 6) Wriddhiman Saha (wkt) 7) Axar Patel 8) Thangarasu Natarajan 9) Mohit Sharma 10) Varun Aaron 11) Sandeep Sharma.

Delhi Daredevils

Pat Cummins celebrates the dismissal of Alex Hales
Image: Australia's Pat Cummins adds some much-needed pace to the Delhi Daredevils attack

Did they get what they needed?

Yes. Made a handful of big signings including Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins, who could form one of the most exciting opening attacks in the competition. You could argue they are short of a quality top-order batsman, and they haven't replaced Imran Tahir, but they seem to be well stocked with local talent in both of these areas.

Possible Starting XI: 1) Quinton De Kock (wkt) 2) Sanju Samson 3) Shreyas Iyer 4) Risabh Pant 5) Karun Nair 6) JP Duminy 7) Chris Morris 8) Jayant Yadav 9) Pat Cummins 10) Amit Mishra 11) Zaheer Khan (c).

Watch exclusive coverage of the 2017 IPL on Sky Sports, from April 5.

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