EXCLUSIVE: Venkatapathy Raju feels Gujarat Titans support staff should help captain Shubman Gill

A day before the Indian Premier League 2024 auction to be held in Dubai, former India left-arm orthodox spinner Venkatapathy Raju spoke to ETV Bharat's B Venkat Kumar in an exclusive interaction. Raju, who has played 28 Tests and 53 ODIs, aired his views on a host of topics including appointment of Shubman Gill as Gujarat Titans skipper.

Hyderabad: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction is set to take place on Tuesday, December 19 in Dubai. 333 people are going to test their luck in this auction. What kind of strategies does a franchise move forward with? Former India cricketer and IPL Expert, JioCinema Venkatapathy Raju believes that the Australian players always fetch good price. Excerpts from the interview.

Q: Who are the key players in the auction?

Raju: It has been 15 years since IPL started. This year, all the franchise owners released those players who were unable to perform well in Indian conditions. Everyone has a lot of money. Well, it (the auction) is going to be very interesting. There will always be demand for Australians. New Zealand cricketers have also been showing good performance in white-ball cricket recently. In my view, what the franchises need are Indian all-rounders. Last time, a lot of money was spent on Sam Curran. Mumbai Indians also spent a lot on Jofra Archer. All attention is on left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who bowls with a good pace. (New Zealand batter) Rachin Ravindra can bat and can also bowl spin well. It suits ideal Indian conditions perfectly. In retrospect, (England batter) Harry Brook could not maintain the trust placed in him and failed to meet expectations.

Q: On whom are the franchises likely to spend more?

Raju: Experience in Indian conditions is more necessary. Franchises are likely to show more interest on (Mitchell) Starc and Rachin (Ravindra). Chennai Super Kings have shown good performance in the past. (Pacer) Harshal Patel, (Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu) Hasaranga, and South African bowling all-rounder Gerald Coetzee are also expected to attract good bids.

Q: What are the expectations of the franchises from uncapped players? What are you predictions on players like Shahrukh Khan, Karthik Tyagi?

Raju: How to use uncapped players has attracted everyone's interest. I have seen all these youngsters very well. The role of finishers should be clearly stated. Seven Indian players and four overseas are required in each team. So Shahrukh Khan and Karthik Tyagi are in the race and hence the franchises could get attracted towards them.

Q: What impact are the captaincy changes expected to have on the teams?

Raju: Captains should be given enough time. All teams will not be like Chennai Super Kings. Whatever decision (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni takes there, it will be final. It is not like this in other teams. Hardik (Pandya) came to Mumbai. This may have happened due to the poor performance of their team in recent times. All these (developments) can be considered as part of (the team's future plans.

Q: Who has the most chances of becoming the captain after MS Dhoni in Chennai Super Kings?

Raju: People like Ruturaj Gaikwad have good chances. As long as (MS) Dhoni was playing, there were conditions that did not allow anyone else to imagine. We have seen their past experiments also failing.

Q: In the case of Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain. Can we think that captaincy will have an impact on his batting?

Raju: I think captaincy has an impact on batting. He showed good performance in all formats. The support staff should also provide assistance to Gil. Indian players are future players, so give them enough time.

Q: How can franchises with more purses build a strong team?

Raju: The main players are all sorted. They want all-rounders. We hope that the franchises will show more interest in all-rounders. Fast and spin all-rounders are the ones I think the franchises are most concerned about.

Q: IPL streaming rights were acquired by JioCinema in 2022 for the first time. What kind of experience audience has been getting?

Raju: Commentary will be given in all languages. The experience of live streaming will be new. Viewership is also expected to increase. There is a chance that the fan base will also increase.

Q: What kind of experience will you, Hanuma Vihari are going to share with the Telugu audience as IPL commentators?

Raju: We are already in commentary. We know all the conditions in the game. I will speak on pressure handled by players on the field, and talk about team combinations. I will see to it that I fulfill audience's expectations. We will have fun watching the matches with the phone on our forehead.