IPL Auction 2022: From Kagiso Rabada to Pat Cummins, five overseas bowlers who could attract big bids – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction is just around the corner, and there’s a lot of buzz around where the big names will end up.

The mega auction provides an opportunity for teams to build from scratch and start afresh. Even the two new teams – Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans — will be looking to make the most of it, with both sides having already signed three players each.

T20 may be a batter’s game, but bowlers too have had massive success. West Indies’ Dwyane Bravo is a two-time Purple Cap holder in IPL and holds the record for most wickets in a season (32 wickets in 2013). Bhuvneshwar Kumar, also, has won the Purple Cap twice during his IPL career.

Wickets at regular intervals in a T20 game make scoring difficult and hence there’ll be a lot of teams in the hunt for premium foreign bowlers like Pat Cummins or Kagiso Rabada. We take a look at five overseas bowlers who could go for big money at the IPL 2022 auction:

Kagiso Rabada (South Africa; Base price: Rs 2 crore)

It’s no surprise that a pacer of Kagiso Rabada’s caliber finds himself in the Rs 2 crore base price list. Since being acquired by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2017, the Proteas pacer’s bowling has only gotten more lethal. Rabada scalped six wickets from as many matches in his first season.

Kagiso Rabada of Delhi Capitals. Image: Sportzpics for IPL

In January 2018, Rabada was bought again by the Delhi franchise, but missed out on the entire 2018 season owing to a back injury.

Despite his injury setback, he was retained by the Delhi Capitals for the 2019 season, where had to pull out midway through the IPL with another back niggle. This was less than a month before the ODI World Cup in England, and he returned home to South Africa following the injury.

However, that was not before Rabada scalped 25 wickets from 12 matches, missing out on the Purple Cap by a wicket to his countryman Imran Tahir, who played for Chennai Super Kings.

The 26-year-old’s best was yet to come.  In the 2020 IPL season, Rabada took 30 wickets from 17 games. Rabada turned up again for the Capitals in 2021, where he scalped 15 wickets from as many games, but was later released this time ahead of the 2022 season.

Over the years, Rabada has shown the world how much of a threat he can be, not just on paper, but on the pitch as well.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if DC once again battle for the speedster at the auction, but there will be a few other teams who will be looking for a player of Rabada’s talent, so it’s not going to be easy.

Pat Cummins (Australia; Base price: Rs 2 crore)

Australia’s Pat Cummins is one of the fiercest fast bowlers in the world at the moment. He was recently appointed as Australia’s new Test skipper, leading them to an Ashes win.

Cummins was the most expensive buy at the IPL 2020 auctions, going for a whopping Rs 15.5 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

In his first season at KKR in 2020, he snapped up 12 wickets from the 14 games he played in. In the following season, he went on to scalp nine wickets from seven games before deciding to opt-out of the UAE leg which was played after a COVID-19-enforced break.

The likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings might opt to bid for Cummins, who is a potential threat in the powerplay overs.

RCB, in fact, have already retained Mohammed Siraj, so, if a team like RCB go searching for a worthy pacer who can partner Siraj, Cummins might emerge as a potential favourite.

Trent Boult (New Zealand, base price: Rs 2 crore)

Trent Boult took 38 wickets in the last two seasons of IPL, playing for Mumbai Indians, and has been one of the best bowlers in the tournament over this period.

File image of former Mumbai Indians pacer Trent Boult. Sportzpics

At MI, Boult formed a lethal pace-bowling partnership with Jasprit Bumrah. In fact, in the 2020 season, only two wickets separated Boult from his MI teammate Bumrah. While Bumrah was the second-highest wicket-taker with 27 scalps, Boult finished third with 25 scalps.

MI had no option but to release Boult from the team given the rules of the mega auction. But given his bowling prowess at the death overs, MI might go all guns blazing for the New Zealander in the auction. However, that task may not be that easy with several franchises searching for a pacer who can lead the bowling attack.

Boult is one of those pacers, with 62 wickets from 44 T20Is, so things might get just a bit more competitive at the auction.

Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand; Base price: Rs 2 crore)

New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson may have had limited chances at KKR over the last two seasons, but still boasts impressive numbers with 13 wickets from eight matches in the 2021 season.

While Ferguson largely warmed the bench during the first leg of IPL 2021, coinciding with the availability of Pat Cummins, he made most of the chances during the UAE leg, when the Aussie announced that he would be unavailable.

Ferguson, a right-arm quick, can be a threat on his day, with his raw pace and good bouncers and has been a major weapon in limited-overs cricket.

The 30-year-old registered his best figures of 3/18 in IPL 2021 against Rajasthan Royals, as his raw pace did wonders on that day.

Ferguson has had his fair share of injury problems, and just hours before New Zealand’s T20 World Cup campaign opener against Pakistan last year, he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury.

However, he came back strongly in the recent Super Smash T20 tournament back in New Zealand, scalping 17 wickets from 19 games to end up as the tournament’s second-leading wicket-taker.

Franchises could be tempted to go for a player of Ferguson’s reputation. Who knows, KKR might even acquire him back, or even a team like PBKS could be interested, given the bowler’s ability to rattle the opposition.

Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh; Base price: Rs 2 crore)

Mustafizur Rahman, or The Fizz, as he’s often called, has had a few impactful seasons in the IPL. He was part of SRH’s title-winning side in 2016.

In his maiden IPL season that year, the 26-year-old scalped 17 wickets from 16 games at an economy of 6.90. In 2021, plying trade for Rajasthan Royals, he scalped 14 wickets from as many games.

Mustafizur is known for his slow leg cutters, a weapon that he used very effectively against India in 2015. He’s even effective in the death overs. In T20 cricket at death overs, Mustafizur has scalped 72 wickets from 83 matches, since 2019.

In the IPL, meanwhile, in the same phase, he has only taken four wickets from 12 matches, but still, given his aggressiveness in the shortest format of the game, he’ll surely be a bowler in demand.

Mustafizur is currently the leading wicket-taker at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2022, with 15 scalps from just seven matches including a five-wicket haul, so his current form should hold him in good stead in the auction.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.