With the transfer window for the 2019 IPL shut, a total of 130 players have been allotted to the eight franchises. However there’s another lot of players – both young and experienced – who have been released by their franchises and will be up for grabs at the auction today.
One important factor that all franchises will keep in mind while forming their squads, is that the 2019 World Cup that begins just 11 days after the league’s final on 19 May.
Australia and England have restricted the amount of time that their players will be available to play this year in the IPL. The teams will be wary of this fact and could avoid picking up players from the two countries.
We take a look at five foreigners who could get the big bucks at the IPL Auction 2019.
Shimron Hetmyer – West Indies
The 21-year-old West Indies batsman showcased his hard-hitting talents for his team on their tour of India earlier this year, and IPL franchises would have taken notice of his skills which could set him up for a massive payday at Tuesday’s auctions. Hetmyer is no stranger to hitting big in T20 leagues; he scored 440 runs in the Caribbean Premier League in the build-up to the India ODI series in which he tallied another 259. He looks at ease playing both pace and spin, and will be an ideal candidate for franchises looking to add some muscle to their top order, particularly Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the latter looking to find a like-for-like addition to David Warner.
Sam Curran – England
The England seamer was India’s choice for Man of the Series during their Test tour of England, in which they were undone by his left-arm swing and lower order batting. The 20-year-old has burst onto the scene with terrific all-round performances, the ideal choice for franchises looking for players with similar skills, and his recent performances with the bat on the tour of Sri Lanka have also ensured his abilities on slow and low pitches, identical to the ones found in India. Despite a high base price of Rs. 2 crore, Curran would be high on the list for franchises like Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians (looking for a replacement for Mustafizur Rehman) as well as Kolkata Knight Riders, who let go of Chris Woakes.
Corey Anderson – New Zealand
Another player who has been released by Royal Challengers Bangalore is all-rounder Corey Anderson. Like McCullum, the New Zealander cricketer had a pretty disastrous 2018 season, scoring just 17 runs and picking 3 wickets at an average of 38.33 in matches.
After a 16-month break in his international cricket career, the 27-year-old batting allrounder made a comeback during New Zealand’s T20 series against Pakistan in October, where he scored an unbeaten 44. In the run-up to the series, he also returned with 2/34 and scored 38 runs for New Zealand A against Pakistan A in Abu Dhabi, and also performed well with the bat for Somerset in the England T20 Blast.
Anyone looking for an aggressive all-rounder, could invest in the Kiwi batsmen who has scored 2390 runs and picked 32 wickets in 31 T20 games.
Mohammad Shahzad – Afghanistan
Mohammad Shahzad is one of the best batsmen in the Afghanistan team at the moment. He is among those type of batsmen who like to smother the ball from the first over itself. In the recently concluded Asia Cup, Shahzad singlehandedly helped Afghanistan earn a draw against the formidable Indian line-up and hence proved his capability with the bat as an opener.
In 65 international T20s, Shahzad has scored 1974 runs at an average of 31.33 and strike rate of 134.74. Further, he has so far hit 72 sixes and has the highest score of 118 not out against Zimbabwe.
Hazratullah Zazai – Afghanistan
Zazai has been on a run-scoring spree of late. At just 20 years of age, he has shown some great skill and has excelled at the highest level. His tall, hulky presence in the middle itself is quite intimidating for the bowlers. In the recently concluded Afghanistan Premier League (APL), the hard-hitting batsman ended as the second-highest run-scorer with 322 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 194.
He struck 21 sixes and 34 fours in the league and was truly entertaining. Also, he levelled both Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle as he got to his fifty in just 12 balls. This is not all. He struck six sixes in one over to join some legendary cricketers in he list to achieve the feat.
