England's Alex Hales goes to Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL 2022 Auction
Kolkata Knight Riders gave a new lease of life to Alex Hales' IPL career on Sunday by signing him for ₹1.5 crore on Day 2 of the IPL 2022 auction. The opening batter went unsold in the first round but was picked up at base price in the second.
Alex Hales has featured in just six IPL matches so far - all of them for SunRisers Hyderabad in 2018 - with 148 runs at an average of 24.67, striking at 125.42.
He's brilliant against pace and can provide fiery starts in the powerplay. He has performed that role for years in the Big Bash League (BBL), having scored 1857 runs from 60 innings in the competition at a magnificent strike rate of 151.34.
The 33-year-old right-hander's record isn't too bad in spinning conditions either. In the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he's collected 770 runs from 22 matches at an average and strike rate of 36.66 and 148.07 respectively.
Despite being a proven white-ball globe-trotter, Alex Hales hasn't played for England since just before the 2019 World Cup. He was banned for three weeks in April 2019 after failing a test for recreational drug use.
Hales was withdrawn from the squad for the 2019 World Cup "to create the right environment" around the team.
Despite fulfilling his punishment and arguably taking his game to the next level, he hasn't even come close to making it to the national team, with Eoin Morgan openly saying that the team doesn't "trust" him anymore.
From Eoin Morgan to Alex Hales, KKR have moved on pretty quickly
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Morgan altered his stance last year to say that Hales "has a chance" of a comeback but also said that England are "spoilt with riches" for the opening spot. A section of former cricketers and fans have always found this stance harsh.
Interestingly for Hales, Morgan, who captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL final last season, went unsold despite putting the same base price of ₹1.5 crore.
Alex Hales' recent form
Teams with best Powerplay run rate since 2021
10.54 Nottinghamshire
9.86 Birmingham Pheonix
9.67 Islamabad United
9.36 Surrey
9.32 Sydney Thunder
Alex Hales opens the batting for three of these teams.
Hales is coming off a good season for the Sydney Thunder in BBL 2022 as well. He scored 383 runs in 13 innings at a healthy average of 31.92.
If Kolkata Knight Riders and Brendon McCullum want to go the adventurous way, they can get him to open alongside Venkatesh Iyer in IPL 2022.