Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey
Opinion: 5 Mid-Season Trades That Should Happen In IPL 2020 | 5 Mid-Season Trades that certain teams should look at doing in IPL 2020
The mid-season transfer window of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence at the end of the double-header on the coming Monday.
Players who have turned up in two matches or less for their respective franchises can opt to shift bases and acquire a new lease of life in the current campaign. Several teams might feel the necessity of acquiring reinforcements. Some might do it due to injury concerns whilst others will look for a change from their present personnel.
Anyways, it looks improbable for international stars to be traded in the middle of the tournament as most of the teams already have exhausted their limit of foreigner quota of players in the squad.
Hence, if the teams decide to delve into this window, the focus will arguably be directed towards the domestic cricketers. Here, CricBlog proposes five mid-season transfers that should take place in IPL 2020.
5. Mayank Markande to Delhi Capitals
It’d be amusing if this deal actually happens, considering Mayank Markande was initially transferred to Delhi Capitals from Mumbai Indians in the window between the 12th and the 13th editions of the IPL. However, Capitals exchanged him in a deal that involved Ajinkya Rahane joining the Ricky Ponting-coached side.
However, Markande is yet to debut for Rajasthan Royals. They have been quite content with the likes of Rahul Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal turning up in the XI. Markande had a breakthrough season at Mumbai in 2018, following which he made earned the national team cap too. However, he played only three matches last season and delivered rather underwhelming performances.
The lad will be edging to make a mark, something he cannot do whilst being benched constantly. Amit Mishra was ruled out of the ongoing season due to a finger injury. Sandeep Lamichhane might not get a look-in the squad as the four foreigners who will take the field for Delhi is pretty much certain by now.
Mayank Markande will be an ideal replacement. Having quality spinners in the ranks will be instrumental as the pitches dry up ahead in the season. This could be an ideal deal for all parties involved, provided that Royals allow their player to leave the camp as their run deteriorates furthermore.
4. Prasidh Krishna to Royal Challengers Bangalore
Prasidh Krishna had become one of the key starters for the Kolkata Knight Riders since 2018. However, the franchise has shifted their focus to Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi for this campaign as the exciting duo are finally fit for the sustainable run.
In the meanwhile, the Royal Challengers Bangalore seem to be working around their pace-bowling alternatives for now. They shunted out Umesh Yadav after a few discouraging outings. Mohammed Siraj was tried out recently, whilst Navdeep Saini continues to definitely feature in the playing XI.
Prasidh Krishna didn’t live up to the expectations in 2019 for KKR. However, he will offer RCB abundant control with the new ball – something that they were relying on Yadav for initially. With Washington Sundar keeping things tidy from the other end, Krishna’s accurate lengths and line will enable the Virat Kohli-led team to gain an advantage over the opponent in the powerplay overs.
The pacer will also probably find comfort in his home city’s franchise, whereas RCB can extract Prasidh Krishna’s utmost potential by appropriately utilizing his strengths in the correct phases of the innings.
3. Vijay Shankar to Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals’ experiment with Robin Uthappa didn’t yield the expected results as the veteran now finds himself out of the playing XI. Despite all his promise, Yashasvi Jaiswal might require time to get adjusted to the demands of the sport at this level. Furthermore, Sanju Samson hasn’t managed to sustain the peerless touch that he was in at the start of the campaign either.
On the other hand, Vijay Shankar has played only a solitary game for SRH so far in 2020. Once Ben Stokes comes back, RR will have a sorted top-four in Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Stokes. During his spell with the Delhi Daredevils, Shankar played in a lower middle-order role and earned accolades for his ingenuity with the willow at the backend of the innings. He had scored 212 runs at an average of 53 and strike rate of 143.24 in 13 matches back then.
He can even come up in case there is a sudden fall of wickets, and thus lay the foundation for Stokes to capitalize on later on. Anyways, Hyderabad see certain to have zeroed on the likes of Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad for the middle-order. It could be an appropriate time for Vijay Shankar to join Shane Warne’s side and add an important dimension to their batting order.
2. Dhawal Kulkarni to Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ouster from the tournament has significantly weakened Sunrisers Hyderabad’s pace arsenal. Kumar’s guile at the start and the end of the innings are invaluable and somewhat irreplaceable at this stage for the franchise.
They replaced him with Prithvi Raj Yarra, but the number of caps that he earns for the team is quite uncertain. Dhawal Kulkarni is quite under-utilized at Mumbai Indians currently. The medium-fast bowler’s influence in T20s might have dwindled in recent years, but his skills in the field restricted overs could still be of good use for SRH.
They can possibly look to bowl him out in the first 10 overs of the game. Or, rather Kulkarni can bowl three overs in the first six and come back later on or not depending upon the situation of the game. The 31-year-old could be encouraged to maintain the incisiveness and zeal in his approach that can enable the team pluck wickets with the new ball.
1. Ajinkya Rahane to Chennai Super Kings
Ajinkya Rahane has been a definite starter in the IPL for whichever franchise he played since 2011-12. However, that isn’t the case at Delhi Capitals as the veteran batsman is benched for six consecutive games so far. On the other hand, the Chennai Super Kings have been adamant on playing an extra batsman so far that has seen Dwayne Bravo having to come to bat at number eight.
However, Kedar Jadhav’s regular insipid returns with the bat have disrupted their momentum in the middle phases of the innings. If CSK manages to lure Rahane from DC, they can make the batsman from Mumbai open the batting with Shane Watson. This will result in Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni occupying the number four and five spots in the batting order with the all-rounders to follow them.
Rahane had scored 393 runs at an average of 32.75 and strike rate of 137.89 in 2019. Rahane can be a force to reckon with if he bats with a positive outlook, something that the overall CSK setup can enable him to do. His addition to the squad will ensure an upgrade in quality to the 2018 champions’ batting order and a stimulus that they dearly require at this critical stage of the tournament.
Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.
