Can Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik do justice to their price tag?

The IPL 2014 Auctions are over, and all eyes will be on the main event now.  The new team combinations for all the 8 franchises would be seen on the field soon. The focus will be on the players who were in the top bracket of bidding during the auctions. And, though the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Johnson,etc, will be grabbing some focus, major attention will definitely be attracted by 2 players: Yuvraj Singh (bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹4,00,00,000), and Dinesh Karthik (bought by Delhi Daredevils for ₹12,50,00,000).
1. Yuvraj Singh: The left handed all-rounder from Chandigarh has always been a thorn in the flesh for the opponent teams. Be it an ODI or a T20, Yuvraj has been the match-winner on many occasions. For a player who has been struggling to get back in the Indian side, Yuvraj has got a wonderful opportunity to show his mettle while playing for RCB. It has been noticed in the previous IPLs, that RCB’s batting performance goes below the expectations once star batsmen like Gayle, Kohli and DeVilliers are back in the pavilion. While adding Yuvraj in such a strong batting line-up is an added advantage for the RCB, this has also given Yuvraj, a chance to add confidence in his own abilities.
Though Yuvraj deserves a high bid, many people were surprised when he attracted the highest bid ever in the history of IPL Auctions. T20 has always been an area of expertise for Yuvraj Singh, and this all began in the innings where he hammered Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over, and in the process, hitting a half century off just 12 balls. The next performance from Yuvraj was equally entertaining, as he hit the Aussies all over the park en route to a knock of 70 runs off 30 balls. His economical bowling and charged up fielding performances cannot be overlooked, and all these factors would definitely add more weight to the already strong RCB side. There have been many performances which justify the price tag attached with Yuvraj, and everyone expects that he gets his magical touch back, and do justice to his price tag.

2. Dinesh Karthik: After going for the second highest bid of ₹12,50,00,000, Karthik has been another surprise in this season’s auctions. This ‘out of the blue’ bidding has raised a major question- Can Dinesh Karthik do justice to his price tag? The answer, can be given only by Karthik himself, and we have to wait for it till the end of the IPL 2014. IPL 2013 turned out to be pretty good for Dinesh Karthik, and he went on to score 510 runs at an average of 28.33. The 54 fours and 14 sixes he struck in the previous season prove that Karthik can be a devastating batsman. But, he needs to be more consistent in his performance. Merely the performance of previous season cannot help Karthik in justifying his price tag. The critics would definitely be targeting Dinesh Karthik. He is expected to do wonders for Delhi Daredevils, who had a tough time last year. And if he is able to put the DDs in a strong position in the IPL 2014, the critics would have to shut their mouths up.

It is quite clear that both, Karthik and Yuvraj have a lot of work to do in the next 3 months. If they live up to the expectations of their buyers, then IPL 2014 is surely going to be a thriller.