WATCH: England's Eoin Morgan picks his best IPL XI
Sunday 6 May 2018 18:21, UK
Success in the Indian Premier League is not just won and lost on the cricket field, but in the auction room.
Since its inception in 2008, the IPL auction has seen major cash splashed, with each team having a budget in the millions to put towards a squad of around 20 players - England's Ben Stokes was sold for the most money this year, for $1.9m.
We've tasked his England ODI and T20I captain, Eoin Morgan, a man with playing experience of the IPL himself, to pick an ideal IPL squad and XI based on this year's tournament so far.
Click on the video above to see who made Morgan's team and read on below for his IPL auction strategy.
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MY TEAM
"This is all relative to the performances that have gone so far. I don't have any of my England mates in there - not out of preference.
"Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli are very strong openers - though Kohli, by his standard, would probably expect even more from himself.
"AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya form a pretty formidable middle-order, and then you're into the guts of your bowling attack with Sunil Narine and Adil Rashid as your spin threat and then Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah and Siddarth Kaul as your pace attack, with all of their variations.
"It's a pretty formidable line-up, a very strong squad. Though it's probably worth well over $25m."
IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING
"It is a huge industry. People forget just how big the tournament is. The moment the last ball is bowled in the final of the previous year, the planning starts again, and the scouting starts again - the intricate detail that every team goes about their business, the analysis, is on a completely different scale.
"There has to be absolute clarity, from the owner right down to the analysts, on the roles that you want within your 20-player squad - that is absolutely key.
"Teams like Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, with good infrastructure, base their teams and squads around roles, and not players - they have had the best results and shown the most consistency over the years.
"They've also held on to their players for longer than most other franchises do, showing faith and trust that the game plan will work. Evidently, it has."
ALL-ROUNDER ROLE KEY
"All-rounders are key for winning the IPL. That's where I would start.
"Preferably Indian, if you can, as it gives you an extra option of being flexible with your overseas players: someone like Hardik - a young, up and coming, vibrant T20 player.
"Look back in previous years; Shane Watson was MVP in the very first year, again a few years later, and Ben Stokes was MVP last year. He is worth every penny that he earns, everywhere he goes around the world."
SECURE A MYSTERY SPINNER
"The trend at the moment is around spinners, specifically leg-spinners - they dominated in the Big Bash. And, look at the T20 rankings of top 10 bowlers - it's full of mystery spinners.
"The quality of them has gone through the roof. Some of the outstanding bowlers of this year's IPL so far are young, up and coming spinners - Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, in particular, have been brilliant and are putting Afghanistan cricket on the map."
BUY INDIAN AND LOOK FOR VALUE
"Past your first three picks, you have very little control - the unpredictability factor and the emotion kicks in due to the pressure on the day of the auction.
"But I really do think the local guys are the guts of the team - they have such an influence on the changing room, and it's very powerful when they put in a performance.
"Plus, buys throughout the auction that you can get on the cheap really do hold you in good stead - not just for this year, but three years down the line.
"Look at Kolkata, who picked up Andre Russell for $80,000 and managed to hold onto him at threat price for a few years. His contribution has been worth every penny."
Sky Sports will continue to show every IPL game live, so fans from all over can enjoy the best of Indian cricket.
