What's next after IPL 2024 auction? A T20-heavy year ahead with an eye on the World Cup

Fans of fantasy football games will be aware of the 'wildcard' option - in which twice in the season, fantasy team managers get an opportunity to freely revamp their full fantasy line-up without having to pay a hefty penalty. This option ostensibly helps the intelligent fantasy manager to make wholesale changes in his or her team line-up, depending on how marquee players have contributed as per form.

As the IPL mini auction unfolded yesterday in Dubai, IPL team owners and strategists could, however, only wish they had a wildcard option with them to reset their team composition this year. For that, they need to wait for the next mega auction in 2024. Till then, it has turned out to be a game of mostly tactical buys, with a few record-breaking blow-out deals to spice things up.

The build-up to this year's mini auction has been tepid by its own lofty standards - even as a slightly stunned nation took some time off to recover from the loss to Australia in the ICC Men's World Cup final. The players, however, had no such luck, as Indian white ball teams quickly faced off against Australia - yes, them again! - and then moved off to sunnier climes in South Africa for a full winter tour of ODIs and T20s.

The Hardik Pandya ghar wapsi to Mumbai was the first firecracker set off yesterday. And Rohit Sharma's future as a T20 player suddenly became the biggest dinner table conversation piece as the nation gleefully engaged in the biggest sport after cricket - cricket gossip. However, Mumbai Indians played this by the book and have since then managed the seismic shift quite well across their own social media handles, with the players themselves handling this with a lot of grace.

So as 330-plus cricketers put their hats in the ring for yesterday's auction, without many of the biggest marquee names of world T20 cricket, the spotlight firmly fell, unsurprisingly, on two of Australia's biggest and best fast bowlers who very calmly set the stage on fire.

Pat Cummins stepped up by breaking the IPL record at ₹20.5 crore, as Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to go big first. And this was the caffeine hit needed to jolt the team owners, with KKR and Gujarat Titans then going toe to toe before the Kolkata franchise picked up Mitchell Starc for a whopping ₹24.75 crore. So, that's the IPL record getting shattered twice in the same session.

Unsurprisingly, the ICC World Cup performance yardstick has had its effect on the team think tanks. Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand), Gerald Coetzee (South Africa) and Travis Head (Australia) found multi-crore homes, along with West Indies T20 power performers Alzarri Joseph and Rovman Powell. The all-rounders set at the auction were fully subscribed, and Indian players like Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi, Shubham Dubey and Umesh Yadav also found new homes to ply their trade.

So, what next as the focus shifts to IPL 2024? Next year is already looking to be T20-heavy, as IPL will be followed almost immediately by the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies, which will keep the T20 bandwagon chugging along for the better part of the first two quarters.

In a crowded calendar, almost all cricket boards, keeping an eye on the World Cup, have allowed most, if not all, of their players to be available and IPL-ready. We also have at least four other T20 leagues that will see their new season coming up in the beginning of the year across South Africa, the UAE, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Teams, therefore, need to figure out their playing 11s, and also manage player workload, as national selectors will be keeping an eye out for their World Cup squads. As T20 always throws up a few surprises, some of the IPL 2024 top performers will push their way into quite a few T20 national squads by the middle of next year. And, in the same breath, you may also see some of the ageing marquee names quietly slipping away and relinquishing their place to tomorrow's giants.

Another key aspect will be how the Indian national team develops as a cohort out of the IPL madness. The talent is unmistakable, and the pipeline is robust. But IPL's visibility as the biggest platform also means that coaches and team analysts all over the world are going to pore over each and every individual performance to test their strength and exploit their weakness. India has not won a T20 World Cup since 2007, and the clamour for a full and outright victory will again make itself heard quite loudly.

As the sun set over Dubai last evening, players, coaches and team owners will revel in their successes - but with an eye out for the busy T20 season next year. After all, wildcards are still available only in the domain of fantasy gaming.

The writer is vice-president, and head of India and South Asia, media, IMG