IPL Mega Auction: Three pacers who could start a bidding war
After weeks of deliberations and plenty of theories, as many as 27 players were retained by the eight existing franchises ahead of the IPL Mega Auction. The eight franchises spent ₹269 crore to retain these 27 players. The list includes 19 Indians (eight uncapped) and eight foreigners.
While retaining a few players was an absolute no-brainer, questions have been raised over the decision to hold on to the likes of MS Dhoni and Umran Malik.
The release of a few players have also been surprising. Rashid Khan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Yuzvendra Chahal and Deepak Chahar are on the list of players released by the teams.
In this article, we will take a look at three pacers who could go for big bucks at the IPL Mega Auction:
#3 Deepak Chahar
The Chennai Super Kings retained MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad as the three Indian players and let go of Deepak Chahar. The seamer is a proven performer for the franchise and his country.
Chahar showed his big-hitting abilities lower down the order in the recently concluded series against New Zealand. He is a smart customer with the ball who can bowl at either end of the innings. Chahar has added great variety to his bowling arsenal in the death overs. It will make him a lucrative option for all franchises.
MS Dhoni and CSK have invested a lot in Deepak Chahar's development. We could see him head back down south, but other franchises won't let him go back to Chennai on the cheap.
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#2 Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel was the standout performer in IPL 2021. He picked up 32 wickets in 15 matches in the recently concluded season. Patel equalled Dwayne Bravo’s record of most wickets in an IPL season. His good performance in the IPL earned him an opportunity to make his India debut against New Zealand.
He has not been retained by RCB. Given that his price in the last auction was ₹20 lakhs, Patel's stock is expected to plummet in the Mega Auction. He grabbed the purple cap last season and it will be interesting to see if RCB go back for him next year.
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#1 Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins was bought by the Knight Riders for ₹15.5 crore (US$ 2.2 million approx.) in the IPL 2020 auction. He has been a key member of the side since then. He was instrumental in the Kolkata-based side's performance in the India leg last season. Hence, his release comes as a surprise.
He is Australia's new Test captain and this could well mean that other franchises will also turn to him for a leadership role. Cummins' precision bowling and hard-hitting batting skills could start another bidding war.
IPL 2022 will see two new teams come into the fold. These new franchises could look at Pat Cummins as a captaincy option.