Of the 220 foreign players entered in this weekend’s IPL auctions, there are some surprising names who were not retained by their existing franchises. All of them can expect to be in big demand and to sell for more than their base price.
David Warner
Warner has been synonymous with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The first overseas player and the fastest to reach 5,000 runs in the IPL, he has won the Orange Cap thrice. In 2016, he led SRH to their only title.
Things did not go well last year, and Kane Williamson replaced him as captain, but the decision by SRH to release him still caused raised eyebrows. For a man who has scored 5,449 IPL runs, including four centuries and 50 half centuries, his base price of Rs 1.5 crore looks a bargain.
Faf du Plessis
Now retired from international cricket, du Plessis is now devoted to playing just franchise tournaments. Apart from two seasons for Rising Pune Supergiants, in 2016 and 2017 when Chennai Super Kings were banned, he enjoyed continuous service with CSK, and has played 100 IPL matches scoring nearly 3,000 runs at a strike rate of 131.08.
Despite never scoring a century in the IPL, du Plessis has produced many valuable innings and is a reliable top-order batter. His 86 in the 2021 final helped tilt the match decisively in CSK’s favour.
With a base price of Rs 2 crores, CSK may want to buy him back, but can face intense competition from the other nine franchises.
Eoin Morgan
Morgan is England’s white-ball captain (despite the fact that he is actually Irish!) and led them to World Cup success in 2019 at Lord’s.
In 2020, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 5.25 crores. He went on to replace Dinesh Karthik as captain.
He suffered poor form with bat in 2021, but still led KKR to the final, where they lost to CSK.
A destructive batters in his own right, he will benefit any team that plays him high up the order, allowing him time to make an impact and not have to take needless risks at the death.
Again, his base price of Rs 1.5 crore looks a snip.