CHENNAI: For the first three or so hours in Jeddah, the people at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru table kept rising their paddles.
Unsuccessfully.
They started the mega auction by bidding for Kagiso Rabada but Gujarat Titans went higher and bagged the South African pacer.
There were similar stories elsewhere. Mitchell Starc, Rishabh Pant, Yuzvendra Chahal, KL Rahul, David Miller, R Ashwin and Marcus Stoinis came and went. At the RCB table, fronted by Mo Bobat and Dinesh Karthik, they had clearly identified some of these players as part of their first XI plans but they weren't prepared to push the envelope.
They had a set figure for all of these players and once that number was hit, the franchise pulled out.
In theory, most of these players would have walked into their first XI. But they came armed with elaborate plans and processes, a marked difference from some of the other auctions. Those plans included some must-have buys. One of those players at the top of that particular wish-list was Phil Salt.
In a scene straight out of Moneyball, the management prioritised his signing because he tended to hit a lot of boundaries in the powerplay. "Salt...," Karthik had said in a video since released by the franchise, "28% of the times gets 6-8 runs/over, and 30% of the times gets 12-15/over. So, one in four overs, he will hit 16 plus. Are you serious? One in two overs, he goes 12 runs or plus. How is that physically even possible?”
From the beginning of January 1, 2023 till October 31, 2024, Salt was third on the list of openers for fours and sixes (255 and 124). He was also one of the few openers available at the auction with a strike rate of over 160. The management was sold so they wanted to buy him at all costs.
At the auction, they were clear, uncluttered. They engaged in bidding wars with multiple franchises (Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders) before getting him for `11.5 cr.
Retaining Virat Kohli meant they needed an ultra-aggressive powerplay basher. Salt was one of the many pieces of the jigsaw.
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This next era of T20 cricket will undoubtedly give birth to the rise of the super coach, if it already hasn't. A few cricketers have already remarked about it, including Harshit Rana. A few days ago, Rana admitted he was missing Gambhir's 'aura' in the KKR dugout.
Andy Flower comes with a similar sort of street cred. For one simple reason: he's a guarantee for wins.
Since leaving the England team and becoming a gun coach in T20 set-ups across continents and teams, the former Zimbabwean batter has built an enviable portfolio of work. In five years, he has worked in as many leagues and won with teams in three of them. He, at the very least, takes teams to the playoffs, gives them a fighting chance.
Hence, it's no surprise that Bengaluru are on the cusp of qualifying for back-to-back knockouts under him. In fact, Flower is on course to become one of the very few coaches to taste four playoffs on the spin (he led Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023).
“One thing," he had remarked in an RCB in-house media programme, "that I have learnt over the years is certainly that working with the person is as important or perhaps more important than just working with the athlete, if you like, or the competitor. If you are not looking after that person, it’s very hard for him to be that outstanding competitor. You realize the game is not quite that simple.
"Our job as coaches is to try and help our players play somewhere near their potential. They have all got a potential of 100% and we have got to help them understand themselves, understand their game, understand the game, understand things like how they react to pressure.”
For years, RCB had raw materials. But they were always lesser than their parts. These days? A sum greater than their parts.
Nobody emphasises this more than Krunal Pandya who has quietly emerged as one of their most important players. Flower had already said Pandya was somebody they targeted at the auction.
He was intimate with why in a press conference after their game against Rajasthan last week. "Krunal was a very important pick for us in the auction," Flower said. "We liked his all-around capabilities, but also his experience. He has experienced winning the IPL, he has experienced captaining in the IPL and he has played international cricket. He also has got fire in his belly, and I really like that. Obviously, both brothers do. So he was an important pick for us in the auction."
In Jeddah, when the auctioneer pulled Krunal's name from the hat, the RCB table was the first to lift their paddle. They bullied Rajasthan and got their man. Again, that thing about clarity.
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In the past, RCB had three gun batters but batting depth was lacking. In the bowling department, there was a lack of across-phases specialists. They have addressed both of those issues in the auction.
It's a team filled with finishers, all-rounders and a bowling unit designed to be comfortable across phases.
It's helped them in constructing an imposing unit. Is it their time now?