The IPL Player Auctions were conducted with great fanfare. Outrageous amounts were spent by the entrepreneurs to get their hands on the prized catches. But just like End-Of-Season-Sales at malls, every team has inevitably ended up with some players who may not exactly be ‘value for money’. So here I present a team by team analysis of who might just flatter to deceive in the upcoming IPL. Part 1 is here

Kolkata GoodNighters.

Aakash Chopra - For those of you who don’t remember him, Aakash Chopra was once an opening batsman in the Indian Test Team. Ten matches with a dismal average of 23.00 were enough to send the Delhi opener packing in October 2004. He hasn’t a single ODI cap to his name, nor does he have any experience whatsoever in the T20 format. The KnightRiders’ website has labelled him as ‘The Comeback Kid’, who can ‘ward off the pace attack in the early stages’ and as ‘ a fielder with cat-like reflexes at silly point and forward short leg’. Chalo let’s hope he turns out to be a tiger and not a pussy cat!

Delhi Duds

Hmm, if you ask me, I’m not very skeptical about any of their players. From the looks of it, it seems Delhi on paper has a strong side, but will Virender Sehwag, the icon player deliver as per expectations is the biggest question when it comes to the Daredevils. Otherwise, I don’t think there’s anyone the GMR Group should lose sleep over.

P.S. I am not saying that the Delhi DareDevils are the strongest side in the IPL!

Deccan Need-Charging

VVS Laxman - The biggest worry here for me is captain VVS Laxman. Laxman has never been known for aggressive batting, so much so that he hasn’t been a part of the Indian ODI side since December 2006. Laxman almost always fields in the slips, which is something that’s not going to cut it in T20. He is also a shoddy runner between the wickets as well. Also noteworthy is that captain courageous has no experience in the T20 format whatsoever. One wonders then whether the Deccan Chronicle Media group will get value for the $3,70,000 charges that they paid the captain of the Deccan Chargers.

Nuwan Zoysa - Zoysa never really made a name for himself in international cricket for Sri Lanka and was always overshadowed by the towering presence of Chaminda Vaas who was the head of the bowling attack. The same can be the case this time around as well as the two of them are in the same side yet again. Zoysa, it must be noted hasn’t played any international cricket since February 2007 for Sri Lanka. As a result the fate of $1,10,000 depends on whether or not Zoysa is successful in making a name for himself in this new chapter in his career.

Rajasthan Royal-Mess

Munaf Patel - Munaf Patel came on to the Indian cricket scene with the reputation of being the fastest bowler in the country but has since long been left behind by S. Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh in the departments of pace, performance and fitness. He is a poor fielder to say the least and a specialist no.11 batsman so expect no wonders with the bat from him. He has also never played a T20 match to date. The responsibility of leading Rajasthan’s pace attack as well as the price tag of $2,75,000 rests on his shoulders. Will he be able to deliver or will he have a shoulder injury?