IPL 2019: 3 English all-rounders to watch out for
The IPL is the biggest and most popular T20 league in the world. The 12th edition of the tournament - IPL 2019 - will start on March 23rd, and will be played entirely in India. The complete schedule is yet to be announced.
This IPL, the highest number of overseas players are from West Indies and Australia, 12 each, followed by England (11). Out of the 11 English players, 6 are all-rounders and 3 are wicket-keeper batsmen. Rajasthan Royals, with 4, have the most English players.
England’s domestic circuit is very well organised, and they have always produced talented and dynamic cricketers. There are some new English faces who will make their IPL debut this year.
On the other hand, 7 English players remained unsold in the auction, including big names such as Alex Hales, Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes.
ECB and Cricket Australia have confirmed that most of their players have to return home for World Cup preparations, and that they will not be available in the IPL from May 1st onwards. With that in mind, we look at three English all-rounders who could set this edition of IPL on fire.
#3 Sam Curran
20-year-old Sam Curran is one of the most exciting all-rounders English cricket has produced in recent times. He made his first-class debut for Surrey at the age of 17, and in mid-2018, he made his international debut against Pakistan.
But Curran truly came into the spotlight when he was named England's Player of the Test Series against India. England won the series 4-1 with Curran contributing 272 runs with the bat and 11 wickets with the ball.
Curran is pretty good at generating swing with the ball and with the bat, he can score some quick runs in the lower middle order
He came into the IPL auction with the base price of 2 crore, and Kings XI Punjab bought him for 7.2 crore. He is expected to open the bowling for Punjab and will bat at No: 7 or No: 8.
A tournament like the IPL is a great platform for Curran to exhibit his talents in the shorter format of the game.