IPL 2022 Auction: 3 teams that could target Riley Meredith
Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Punjab Kings (PBKS) during the IPL 2021 season.
In a short stint, he played five games, claiming four scalps at an average of 42.25 and an economy rate of 9.94. It was quite a disappointing effort by the fast bowler, who was picked up at the auction for a whopping INR 8 crore.
Meredith did not turn up for the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE. While he did not have a memorable IPL debut, the 25-year-old has an impressive record in the T20 format.
In 50 matches, he has claimed 64 wickets at an economy rate of 8.43 and a strike rate of 16.7. Meredith has also played five T20Is for Australia, claiming eight scalps.
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The pacer plays for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL). Meredith has done a good job so far, claiming nine wickets in six games at a strike rate of 11.3 in this edition of the competition.
IPL 2022 Auction: Riley Meredith could be a much sought-after player
While Riley Meredith had a forgettable initiation to the IPL, his impressive showing in the BBL could rekindle the interest of franchises. Here are three IPL teams that could look to purchase Meredith:
#1 Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who finished last in IPL 2021, retained captain Kane Williamson, all-rounder Abdul Samad and tearaway young pacer Umran Malik.
To be fair, SRH struggled in all departments in IPL 2021. Their batting was completely out of sync, and their bowling was pedestrian at best, barring some good spells by Rashid Khan and Jason Holder.
However, the inclusion of Malik for the last few games infused some life into SRH’s campaign. Although it did not change their fortunes much, the J&K pacer unsettled quite a few opposition batters with his fiery deliveries. For the first time during the tournament, it seemed like SRH were competing, as Malik regularly bowled at 150 kph.
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Meredith is also known as someone who can constantly deliver at speeds of 140 kph in Australia’s domestic circuit. If SRH can have Malik and Meredith bowling in tandem, they could be quite a handful for opposition batters.
#2 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked up Australian speedster Pat Cummins for a whopping INR 15.5 crore at the IPL 2020 auction. Cummins was with the franchise for two years, and did a decent job, particularly in 2021, chipping in with the bat as well. However, he did not do enough to justify his humungous salary.
So it wasn’t surprising when KKR did not retain Cummins ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Instead, they preferred to retain all-rounders Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore) and Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 8 crore) as well as mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 8 crore) and Sunil Narine (Rs 6 crore).
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Nevertheless, KKR will need the services of a fiery pacer in IPL 2022. They tried quite a few fast bowlers in the previous season, including Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna and Shivam Mavi.
However, none of them made enough of an impact to be retained. Could KKR look to someone like Meredith, who has proven skills in the T20 format, during the IPL 2022 mega auction?
#3 Rajasthan Royals (RR)
If KKR purchased Cummins for INR 15.5 crore at the IPL 2020 auction, Rajasthan Royals (RR) went one step ahead, and bought Chris Morris for a record INR 16.25 crore during the IPL 2021 mini-auction.
The South African all-rounder did a decent job in the first half, claiming crucial wickets and chipping in with handy cameos with the bat. However, he lost his mojo in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Morris failed with both ball and bat, forcing the franchise to drop him from the playing XI.
On expected lines, RR released Morris ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. They only retained captain Sanju Samson and openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. Apart from Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman and Kartik Tyagi were some of the other pacers in the team. While Sakariya and Rahman did a decent job, neither of them was retained by the franchise.
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RR suffered in IPL 2021, as they lacked a genuine quick fast bowler. They had young Tyagi in their ranks, but he only featured in four games. Rajasthan could thus keep a tab on Meredith at the IPL 2022 auction.