BackIPL 2019 auctions: 4 Indian cricketers who can earn big
Here's a look at four players who may spark a bidding war tomorrow
Premium
Base prices at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions are not necessarily the best indication of a player’s worth. At every auction some players have caused a bidding frenzy. While some have gone on to justify their bids, many others have failed to live up to their inflated price tags.
Here’s looking at four players who may spark a bidding war come Tuesday.
Shivam Dube
Fast bowling all-rounders are a rarity in India. Dube has caught attention this year with some sparkling displays in the domestic season and is likely to go for a fair bit more than his base price of ₹ 20 lakh. The 25-year-old was in the limelight earlier this year for smashing Praveen Tambe for five sixes in an over in a Mumbai T20 match. His other notable knocks include a 139-ball 114 as well as 128-ball 110 in the Ranji trophy. Dube’s six first-class matches have yielded 22 wickets, including a 7/53 against Karnataka.
Starting at a base price, Dube may just light up the auctions this year.
Varun Chakravarthy
Varun has garnered attention with some sparkling performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), helping Madurai Panthers to the title. The 27-year-old, who had quit cricket and studied architecture before returning to the game in his mid-20s, has earned accolades as a mystery spinner capable of bowling seven variations. He had an astonishing 4.7 economy rate in the TNPL and gave away just nine runs from his four overs for two wickets in the final against Dindigul Dragons.
Varun proved his wares would work on the bigger stage as well with a haul of 22 wickets in nine matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy to finish as the top wicket-taker in the group stage. Having bowled in the nets for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders and inviting a trial from Mumbai Indians, Varun is definitely on the radar. It will be a surprise if his base price of ₹ 20 lakh doesn’t get a significant hike come Tuesday.
Hanuma Vihari
Vihari’s first-class average of 59.48 is the highest among current cricketers. Modern batting greats Steve Smith (57.27) and Kohli (54.19) both trail in his wake. His phenomenal numbers in domestic cricket ultimately earned Vihari his first Test cap on India’s tour of England earlier this year and he is currently a part of the Indian squad on their Australia tour. True, batting in the shortest format of the game demands a different set of skills to Tests, but Vihari’s strike rate of 111.12 in T20s shows he is capable scoring at a faster clip.
India selected Vihari ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav for the Perth Test as a replacement for the injured spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, putting faith in his all-round capabilities. At the base of ₹ 50 lakh, he could be a good buy.
Axar Patel
The bowling all-rounder was released by Kings XI Punjab after a poor campaign for the side as they lost eight of their 14 matches to finish seventh in the standings. Patel’s below par performances—80 runs and three wickets in nine matches—played a role in his team’s dismal displays. However, it would be premature to judge the 24-year-old on the basis of one campaign. He was consistently among the best players for the Punjab side in the three seasons from 2015 to 2018.
Patel has played 38 ODIs for India but hasn’t been in the reckoning for the national team this year. Getting back into Virat Kohli’s plans ahead of the 2019 World Cup will be an added incentive for the Gujarat player, prompting better displays. His base price of ₹ 1 crore is not quite big enough for his talents.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.
