Twenty20 is often perceived as a batsman’s game but come Wednesday, pacers are set to have a field day during the Player Auction ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s 13th edition.
No doubt that the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Shimron Hetmeyer and Alex Carey are set to attract the highest bids during the mini-auction with 332 players hoping to go under the hammer for a maximum of 73 available slots, but the pace bowlers could match the big-hitters — if not outdo them — in the price war among the eight franchisees.
The need of the hour
One of the main reasons for the pacers being in prominence is the fact that at least six of the eight franchisees are in need of at least one reliable fast bowler to bolster its squad.
As a result, Australian duo of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be on the radar of multiple franchisees. Similarly, England’ Chris Woakes and the West Indies duo of Kesrick Williams and Sheldon Cottrell are also set for a fat cheque along with Jaydev Unadkat, who will be hoping to emerge as the highest earning Indian cricket for the third consecutive IPL auction.
Possible tussle
Even the likes of Dale Steyn, Mohit Sharma and Tim Southee — who are past their prime —could well see a tussle among franchisees to get them on their roster, along with promising domestic pacers including Ishan Porel of Bengal, Tushar Deshpande of Mumbai and Kartik Tyagi of Uttar Pradesh.
Despite it being a mini-auction, Wednesday will give a glimpse into the mindset of the rejigged support staff of five franchisees. Barring Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, all the others have a new head coach.
It will be interesting to see how the new support staff approaches the auction.
The task will be made even more difficult considering the uncertainties surrounding the 2021 IPL.
The future
As of now, the league could see an addition of one team next year, which will effectively mean the dynamics of a full auction could well be even more complicated than previous years.
Besides the big-ticket overseas players, it will be interesting to see the amount of interest Indian cricketers generate.
While the under-19 triumvirate of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Priyam Garg and Ravi Bishoni is set to witness a bidding war, it will be interesting to see the response Robin Uthappa and Piyush Chawla attract after a prolonged stint with Kolkata Knight Riders.
One more shot
Cheteshwar Pujara and Manoj Tiwary will also be hoping to attract a bid after going unsold during the last auction. Both the seasoned batsmen feature among the top 85 names who will be called at the start of the auction.
It will be followed by an accelerated auction, which will mean only the players that are shortlisted by franchisees during a break being called out.
