IPL Auction 2020: 5 Players who could be the most expensive signings
The IPL auction is just a couple of weeks away, and franchises have started planning for the big event. It is scheduled to take place on 19th December in Kolkata. Player retentions were announced a few days back and there were plenty of surprises, with star players like Chris Lynn, Chris Morris, Sam Curran and Robin Uthappa being released by their teams.
The trade window saw plenty of deals taking place, and some big names were involved as well. Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin were roped in by the Delhi Capitals in a bid to have a good mix of youth and experience. Trent Boult moved from Delhi to Mumbai in another massive trade. Mayank Markande became the first player to be traded twice in a single trade window when he moved from Mumbai to Rajasthan via Delhi.
As many as 971 players have registered for the auction, including 258 overseas players. Players from 11 other nations have registered and the franchises must submit their shortlist of players by the 9th of December. The players included in the shortlists will go under the hammer.
The upcoming auction promises to be an exciting one and there are plenty of players who could receive massive bids. Here's a look at 5 players who could end up as the most expensive picks.
#5 Tom Banton
Tom Banton is one of the hottest properties in cricket right now as he is being targeted by teams in various T20 leagues after a phenomenal season in the Vitality Blast. He scored a staggering 549 runs in 13 games at a strike rate of nearly 162. He also scored a century and formed a devastating opening partnership with Babar Azam for Somerset.
He has won himself a contract in the Big Bash with Brisbane Heat and is pretty much guaranteed to be picked in the PSL draft. He had a decent outing in the T10 league and scored 80 runs in just 28 balls in one of the games. The 21-year-old has batted on 19 occasions in the T20 format and has scored 647 runs. His average of 35.94 and strike rate of 155.15 make for good reading.
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The wicketkeeper-batsman's performances haven't gone unnoticed as he has also been called up by the national team. At a base price of ₹1 Crore, he could be targeted by teams like MI, KKR, RCB and CSK as they need an opening batsman. Tom Banton is still an inexperienced player, but teams haven't been shy of splashing the cash on youngsters and he could end up receiving a fat paycheque.