IPL 2018: 3 South African all-rounders who need to feature in next year's IPL
The value of an all-rounder could not be emphasized on enough. It is an extremely pleasing feeling for any captain to have a quality all-rounder in his squad who he can turn to either for runs or for wickets.
One could almost view an all-rounder as being two players combined into one. Having abilities with both the bat and the ball makes a player very valuable to a side irrespective of the format which is being played. One only needs to think back to a player such as Ben Stokes who has been regarded as one of the best all-rounders in cricket at the moment. Stokes has proven himself to be an extremely crucial part of the English squad across all three formats and his staggering bid price at this year's IPL auction underlines just how highly sought after he is.
One cannot speak about great all-rounders without mentioning Jacques Kallis. Kallis is widely regarded as being the best all-rounder in the history of cricket and his performances with both bat and ball show exactly why he deserves this title.
South Africa have a good track record for producing some of the finest all-rounders which cricket has to offer. Who can forget the hard-hitting Albie Morkel or the destructive Chris Morris?
It, therefore, comes as a surprise that South Africa's all-rounders don't feature as heavily in the IPL as would be expected. In this article, we will take a look at 3 such all-rounders who should be considered for next year's season
#1 Jon-Jon Smuts
Jon-Jon Trevor Smuts is a name which might not be very well-known in the cricketing world yet, but this could be the opportunity that the young man from South Africa needs in order to make an impact on the international stage.
Smuts is an opening batsman and a slow left-arm bowler. This will provide any franchise who he plays for with something in both the batting as well as the bowling department, which should come in handy especially on slow pitches where spinners might thrive.
Some cricketing fans might consider Smuts to be a risky selection, especially due to the fact that he is relatively unknown. Then again, this might be the perfect reason to select the young man.