To watch Dhoni and Kohli captain is to observe two strikingly contrasting operators - a microcosm of the teams they represent. ©BCCI
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights," Muhammad Ali once said. And so it was in the IPL: in many ways the league was not won or lost on the field of play but in the air-conditioned function rooms of glitzy hotels that staged the annual player auction.
The divergent fortunes of Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore started at the first auction in 2008. Unbeknown at the time were how the rules on player retention would evolve, which allowed teams to maintain a core squad across a number of seasons. This placed a disproportionate influence on the first auctions, in which franchises formed the nucleus of their team. Franchises who misjudged their strategy in early auctions were left scrabbling around for the remaining quality players.
"When they got into the IPL, Chennai probably had an advantage over a lot of other franchises because their owners, India Cements, were already in the business of running cricket teams," explained Rahul Dravid, who had a legendary career for India before playing for RCB and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. "CSK was just the most high-profile team that they ran. So in a sense they've always had people on the ground and their scouting system was probably better right at the start than any other team."
The sagacity of India Cements contrasted with RCB's owners. The United Breweries Group, headed by the multi-millionaire businessman Vijay Mallya, had no prior cricket experience. Despite Mallya's naivety, he commanded great authority over RCB's team and its auction strategy. "Mallya used to sit in the meetings and had a veto on what could be done," explained Murali Kartik who played for four IPL teams, including RCB.
"It has to be left to the professionals. Just because you are owned by a big businessman or a film star they don't know cricket. You don't teach them how to run a business. Cricket should be run by cricketing professionals. The CSK team is handled by professionals."
It was upon these contrasting foundations that both teams were built.
Arguably the most significant auction signing in IPL history was Chennai's acquisition of
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