IPL 2022 - Five Overseas Batters Franchises could target in IPL 2022 Mega Auction
The Indian Premier League (IPL) will have ten teams in its 15th edition. There will be two new teams from this year. Lucknow Super Giants and Ahmedabad will be the two new teams. The other eight teams have released multiple players. According to the rules, IPL teams can retain three to four players to participate in the mega auction of the IPL 2022 season.
The mega auction is scheduled to be held on Saturday, February 12-13, 2022 in Bengaluru. The sources also say that this could be the last mega auction in the history of the Indian Premier League. So, all the ten franchises and team owners will look to buy quality players to form their respective teams.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) plans to host IPL 2022 from March 27, 2022 till the last week of May. These matches are being intended to be played in Mumbai and Pune to restrict travel in times when there is incidence of rising Covid cases in India. It is also learned that this edition could also be shifted to South Africa if the Covid cases spike in India two months later. All the matches will be played behind closed doors if IPL 2022 is held in India.
In IPL, there have been many batting greats who have played in the past. With just 11 days to go for the mega auction, here are five overseas batters who can be targeted by the 10 IPL franchises in this bidding war. Read More: IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill to play for Ahmedabad
David Warner (Base Price of INR 2 Crore)
The list of bidding wars starts with David Warner. The dashing opener from Australia was sidelined by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2021. Warner was removed from the captaincy role and the orange army did not retain him. Warner has scored the highest runs by an overseas player in IPL history. He has certainly been a consistent performer in the cash-rich league. But just one bad season allowed SRH to part ways with the Aussie opener.
David Warner was the man of the tournament in ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Warner guided Australia to win their first-ever World T20 title in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
IPL Career Summary of David Warner
Format | Mat | Inn | Runs | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
IPL | 150 | 150 | 5449 | 41.6 | 139.97 | 4 | 50 | 126 |
IPL'21 | 8 | 8 | 195 | 24.37 | 101.73 | 0 | 2 | 57 |
Jonny Bairstow (Base Price of INR 1.5 Crore)
England opener Jonny Bairstow has had a sublime opening partnership run with David Warner for SRH. Bairstow was also not retained as a player for SRH just like his opening partner Warner. Bairstow is also a terrific opener in the T20I format for England.
Bairstow can be targeted by many franchises this season because of his wicketkeeping skills. Jonny also has the safest pair of hands behind the stumps. He is the wicketkeeper batter to watch out for in the upcoming mega auction of IPL 2022. Bairstow can be a vital pick because he can bat in the middle order and maintain the balance of the team. In Test matches and fifty-overs cricket, Jonny bats down the order for England. He could do the same for his new IPL franchise too.
IPL Career Summary of Jonny Bairstow
Format | Mat | Inn | Runs | Ave | SR | 100s |