Top 5 Overseas Players To Watch Out For In IPL 2017 Auction
Feb 19, 2017 at 6:45 PM
Tomorrow it’s the 2017 IPL players auction in Bangalore and the fans are buzzing with excitement. A total of 351 cricketers will be in the auction pool with 226 are Indian names and the remaining being overseas players. The list of 351 includes 122 capped, 223 uncapped and six Associates players.
While local talents gets acknowledged on this platform, the IP has served as the launch pad or acted as the claim for fame for overseas players. Promising names have never got ignored by the buyers and the franchise make sure to acquire them. So, who are the five overseas players which will rake in big moolah in the tenth season of the T20 league. Here’s a rundown on the big event.
Ben Stokes:
Ben Stokes is the biggest names among overseas players this season. The highly rated all-rounder, who is currently rated as England’s most valued cricketer, will trigger bidding war for sure. There is no second guess about this fact. He is one of the most destructive batsmen around and consistent wicket takers. All assures all these regardless of which format he playing. Since January 2015, his strike rate is close to 135 and has taken 32 T20I wickets so far in his career. Any team looking for a seam bowling all-rounder who can bat at No. 6 or 7 to fulfill the role of a finisher will fighting for him. The bids will start high as he enters with a base price of 2 crores. This obviously ensures that even a slight competition between a couple of franchise would see his overall value rocket up instantly.
Mohammad Shahzad:
Moving from England’s most valuable cricketer to Afghanistan’s most valuable cricketer – Mohammad Shazad. Anyone who has watched him would agree that Shahzad clearly doesn’t appear to have come up from an associate nation. The burly yet agile wicket keeper batsman has created a lot of noise in at the international level as well as in various T20 leagues around the world. This year, he gets an opportunity to press his dominance in India. Just like Stokes, Shahzad seems like an instant buy with no chances of him remaining unsold. The ‘Drunken Samurai’ starts at a base price of 30 lakhs and may fit into any team as the second wicket keeper –batsman. If given a chance in the first XI, Shahzad is capable of playing dual roles of that of an opener or a pinch hitter in the lower order.
Kagiso Rabada:
Everyone remembers his last over to MS Dhoni where he held his nerve and defended 11 runs off the last over in the Kanpur ODI in 2015. For the Indian fans, that was just a glimpse of the sort of fast bowling talent he possessed. Since then he has gotten better of a couple of high-quality international side including thrashing Australia in their own backyard. He is deceptively quick, is a level headed personality and capable of bowling searing yorkers in the death overs. All these qualities make him one of the most exciting talent in the auction pool. Any franchise looking for an addition of a wicket taking new ball bowler would definitely go after securing him.
Mohammad Nabi:
Another highly talented cricket from Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi is one of the best utility players in the world at the moment, especially in the shortest format. He is proven all-rounder capable of pulling off matches on his own. His description reading – orthodox off-spinner and a lower order batsman – might sound as simple but it isn’t. He carried the ability to get crucial breakthroughs with just his off-breaks and can play the role of a catalyst to build stands and bail his tea out from tricky situations or pilot a chase. His strike rate of over 175 along with a tally of 600 runs and 60 wickets speaks for his talent.
Imran Tahir:
Imran Tahir is arguably the best spinner in the limited overs cricket by a huge a margin. He currently holds the No.1 ranking in ODIs and T20I. The soon to be 38-year-old is becoming better and better each passing game. He has bee going through a dream run but finds himself in the auction pool after Delhi Daredevils and has a base price of 75,000 USD. While his previous season in the IPL has been fruitful for the seasoned campaigner. With 15 wickets in 10 matches in the 2015 edition, he was the joint highest wicket-taker for DD along with Nathan Coulter-Nile but he didn’t get many chances in the 2016 season and end up with just four matches in his kitty.
Catch all the live updates of 2017 IPL auction here