File photo of India cricketer Sanju Samson.
An extensive process, that involves scouting, observing, analyzing, and evaluating several players, will see its culmination this weekend when the Rajasthan Royals, along with the nine other IPL teams, enter the IPL 2022 Player Auction to finalize the playing squads for the 15th season of the Indian Premier League.
Going into the auction, the Royals will have INR 62 crore in their purse, having retained three players in the form of Sanju Samson (14 crore), Jos Buttler (10 crore), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 crore).
"This auction is really important because we know we could very well be preparing our base for the next 5-6 years. So, we've made sure to track everyone and give the opportunity to as many players as possible during the trials. Our goal is to now target the ones we think align with our vision, can embrace our values, and help our team get back to the top," Sanju Samson said in an official release.
Known for being pioneers in technology adoption, across the IPL, the Royals have embraced several tools and technologies for monitoring and performance measurement purposes.
The technology comes into play both during the trials where select players are invited and when analyzing the data gathered from a larger global pool of players i.e close to 2000 - which means every single player who has played in any T20 league, either domestic or overseas, is monitored.
When the bell rings on the 12th, it won't just be for teams to be purchasing players and assembling teams, it will be done with the purpose to create a long-term impact, an impact that has a multiplier effect on everything - but in a positive way.
To bring to life the dreams of these individuals and create new stories to be written not just in GOLD, but in the pink and blue of the Royals.
Mega auctions have, in the past, seen some incredible picks, ones that may not have been the absolute superstars to the common eye but were vital in the larger scheme of things, with diligent analytical backing.
Something that has been the hallmark of the Royals franchise in terms of their recruitment, which the team and Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara feels could once again come to the fore, and provide the team with further clarity as they build for the potential with a view to the long-term.
"Our analytical assessments are detailed, right from the information we've collected on players to getting them integrated into a central database. We further filter the data, backed with a robust analytic process which enables us to arrive at the right metrics further refining our overall player identification process. It's really quite a comprehensive process," said Sangakkara.
This will be the 5th mega auction in the history of the IPL, and all previous ones have been extraordinarily surprising for very different reasons.
(Reported by ANI)
