IPL 2019: 5 players with surprising base prices
The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League will not begin officially until March 2019, but the excitement and anticipation surrounding the event will begin with the player auctions set to take place in Jaipur on December 18th, 2018.
All the franchises have retained a list of players and released others that they deem surplus to requirements, and will now look to participate in the auctions with gusto and fill out their respective squads with fresh blood.
The IPL governing council has also released the complete list of players available for the auction. A total of 346 cricketers, of which 227 are Indians, along with their base prices, have been included in the list.
Some key names include England's Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, South Africa's Colin Ingram, New Zealand's Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson, who all have the highest base price at 2cr., while players like Jaydev Unadkat (1.5cr), Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma (1cr each) are some of the "costliest" Indians to feature (all prices in INR)
We have definitely noticed the players with the highest base prices, and also those at the other end of the list. Let us now take a look at five cricketers who surprised us with their base prices - either being too high for their current form, or too low.
#5 Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies, Base Price: 50Lakhs INR)
The 21-year old cricketer from Guyana is a prospect set for a bright future. The batsman showed his skills in the recent ODI series against India, after which he batted well for the West Indies in their recent Test loss to Bangladesh. He made his mark in the Carribean Premier League, which in turn catalyzed his pathway to the national squad.
In 19 ODIs, the youngster has made 758 runs at an average above 39, and a strike rate above 107. He was the top-scorer for the Windies in the recent series against India, where he made 259 runs in 5 innings, at an average of 51.8, including a fine 106(78) and a 94(64), the former in a winning cause and the latter in a tied effort, the two games that went in favour for the visitors.
Hetmyer has set his base price at just 50Lakh INR, while we think he was worth more than what he has quoted. With that being said, he will now definitely attract a bidding war amongst various franchises on the big day.