Who is Akash Sengupta? 5 interesting facts about all-rounder who could be picked at IPL 2024 Auction
The IPL 2024 auction, set to be held on December 19 in Dubai, is just a day away. The 2024 edition of the tournament will be its 17th season, having begun in 2008. Teams will be eager to find the final pieces to their jigsaws with their remaining purses.
All-rounders have always been hot property in mini-auctions. Be it Sam Curran, Cameron Green, or Ben Stokes in the previous auction, or the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Chris Morris in the auctions of years gone by, all-rounders have been the costliest players.
But, this may not be the case any more, due to the addition of the impact player rule. Teams are now giving more priority to specialist batters and bowlers instead. However, the role of an all-rounder can never be understated, especially in white-ball cricket.
With the Indian market for capped all-rounders looking bleak, uncapped players will have to be targeted by the teams. Assam's Akash Sengupta could be one Indian all-rounder who could find himself an IPL contract tomorrow. Here are five interesting facts about him.
#1 Akash Sengupta is one of four Assamese players on the auction list
Assam doesn't have a huge history of cricket. Even when it comes to the IPL, only a handful of Assamese players have played in the league. While Riyan Parag is the obvious name that comes to mind, Abu Nechim has also played in the IPL previously.
Four Assam players have made it to the final IPL 2024 auction list, including Akash Sengupta. The other players are Sumit Ghadigaonkar, Mukhtar Hussain, and Mrinmoy Dutta. All four players have a base price of ₹20 lakh.
#2 He has a rare skillset
Akash Sengupta is a fast-bowling all-rounder, which is a unique commodity in India. Hardik Pandya is the best Indian fast-bowling all-rounder in IPL history, but there is a clear gap in quality between him and the others.
Shivam Dube and Vijay Shankar's bowling performances haven't been up to the mark. On the other end of the spectrum, the likes of Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, and Harshal Patel are bowlers who can hit the long ball.
Akash is in the Shardul/Deepak/Harshal category. As those three players have fetched big bucks in previous auctions, Sengupta could also be picked up in the auction for a low amount.
#3 Akash is Assam's go-to wicket-taker
Despite being an all-rounder by trade, Akash Sengupta has been Assam's leading wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year.
He picked up 10 wickets in six matches in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. Meanwhile, he dismissed 12 batters in nine Syed Mushtaq Ali matches, with an impressive strike rate of 14.58, as Assam reached the semi-finals.
#4 He is an explosive lower-middle-order batter
Although his Vijay Hazare Trophy batting numbers were not too impressive, Akash Sengupta was impactful with the bat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 23-year-old hit 78 runs in seven innings with a strike rate of 205.26. More than 50 of his 78 runs came in the form of boundaries.
#5 Sengupta is somewhat of a late bloomer
Akash Sengupta was reportedly selected for the India U-19 team almost seven years ago for a series against England U-19. However, his name wasn't on the final list. The team included players like Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Abhishek Sharma, and Rahul Chahar, who have all become IPL regulars since then.
After the U-19 snub, Sengupta took a while to get his career back on track. Despite Assam not having a great squad, he only made his debut for their senior team in 2021, four years after almost playing for India U-19. He will be keen to make his mark in the upcoming IPL if bought by a franchise tomorrow.