ESPNcricinfo takes a closer look at the skillsets of some of the first-timers at the IPL player auction
Gaurav Sundararaman16-Feb-20172:42
Five players to watch out for at the IPL auction
Colin de GrandhommeAllrounder, New Zealand De Grandhomme’s career strike rate of 170.54 is the best among all batsmen with a minimum of 500 T20 runs. In T20Is, he has a strike rate of 136.36 from seven innings. He is in sensational recent form, having scored 139 runs in four innings, at an average of 46.33 and a strike rate of 220.63 in the Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition. He has scored at a 150-plus strike rate in each of the last five Super Smash seasons. His medium-pace has fetched him 38 T20 wickets at 29.42. He has a career economy rate of 9.22. Base price: INR 30 lakhPotential Role: At No 6 or 7, as a batsman who can hit from ball one. He has a career balls-per-boundary rate of 4.25.Teams that should target him: Rising Pune Supergiants, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers BangaloreBen Stokes’ T20 strike rate since January 2015 is 147.20, up from a career figure of 134.03•Getty ImagesBen StokesAllrounder, England Stokes’ career T20 strike rate is 134.03, and he has become more destructive in recent years – since January 2015, his strike rate is 147.20 In that same period, he has a balls-per-boundary rate of 5.01 and has hit 70 off 46 balls while batting in overs 16-20, with a strike rate of 152.17 and a balls-per-boundary rate of 3.5. He has taken 32 T20 wickets at 36.40, and has a career economy rate of 8.60.Base price: INR 2 crorePotential role: A finisher at No. 6 or 7, and a seamer who can be used at any stage of an inningsTeams that should target him: Kolkata Knight Riders, Rising Pune Supergiants, Mumbai Indians, Delhi DaredevilsMohammad Nabi was the top wicket-taker at the 2016 World T20•Associated PressMohammad NabiAllrounder, Afghanistan Since January 2015, Nabi has a strike rate of 178 in overs 16-20, and has hit a six or four every four balls. He is one of ten players in the last two years to score more than 600 T20 runs and take over 60 wickets. Since January 2015, he has a batting strike rate of 142.96 from 44 innings, and with the ball has an economy rate of 6.91 and a strike rate of 17.1. His career economy rate is 6.88. Of the ten T20 bowlers who have sent down the most deliveries in the last two years, Nabi has the third-best economy rate behind Sunil Narine and Shahid Afridi He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2016 World T20Base price – INR 30 lakhPotential role: A middle-order batsman who can send down four tight overs of offspinTeams that should target him: Rising Pune Supergiants, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders,Sunrisers HyderabadTymal Mills boasts an impressive slog-overs economy rate•Associated PressTymal MillsFast bowler, England Among all bowlers who have sent down a minimum of 30 overs in the slog (overs 16-20) in the last two years, Mills’ economy rate (7.28) is the second-best behind Mustafizur Rahman. Mills has a dot-ball percentage of 43 in the slog overs and concedes a boundary once every eight balls His career economy rate is 7.47 and his strike rate is 17.7 His Powerplay economy rate is an impressive 7.61 as wellBase price: INR 50 lakhPotential role: A left-arm quick capable of bowling in the Powerplays and the slog oversTeams that should target him: Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab, Gujarat LionsKesrick Williams bowled impressively on his T20I debut, finishing with figures of 4-0-15-2 against Pakistan•Getty ImagesKesrick WilliamsFast bowler, West Indies In the last two years, he has a slog-overs economy rate of 8.0 Overall, he has 27 T20 wickets in at 19.33 and a career economy rate of 7.25 In the Powerplay, his economy rate is an even more impressive 6.41, and he has taken five Powerplay wickets across 14 inningsBase price: INR 30 lakhPotential role: An economical fast bowler to send down the pressure oversTeams that should target him: Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Gujarat LionsKagiso Rabada’s Powerplay economy rate is even better than his overall economy rate•AFPKagiso RabadaFast bowler, South Africa Rabada has a career T20 economy rate of 7.49 from 30 matches In the slog overs, he has an economy rate of 8.94 In Powerplays, he concedes 7.31 runs per over, and has taken 16 wickets at an average of 28.81 in overs 1-6Base price: INR 1 crorePotential role: A wicket-taker with pace to rattle batsmenTeams that should target him: Rising Pune Supergiants, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI PunjabOver 67% of Nicholas Pooran’s T20 runs last year came in boundaries•CPL/SportsfileNicholas PooranWicketkeeper-batsman, West Indies Has a career strike rate of 143.29 In 2016, he scored his runs at a strike rate of 149.09 while hitting a four or a six every 4.95 balls. Over 67% of his runs came in boundaries Against spin in the last one year, he has averaged 25 and scored at a strike rate of 159, while his corresponding numbers against pace are 17 and 140. Base price: INR 30 lakhPotential role: Utility player who can bat at various positions and keep wicketsTeams that should target him: Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai IndiansEvin Lewis scored over 72% of his runs in boundaries last year•CPL/SportsfileEvin LewisOpening batsman, West Indies Has a career strike rate of 134.71 and averages 30.66 with two hundreds in 51 innings In 2016, his strike rate shot up to 155.73, and over 72% of his runs came in boundaries. His dot-ball percentage, however, was 45% He likes facing the quicks – in the last two years he has averaged 41 against them while scoring at a strike rate of 137. He can be more explosive against spinners – strike rate of 144 – but only averages 22 against them. Base price: INR 50 lakhPotential role: Back-up openerTeams that should target him: Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight RidersJason Roy can be severe against fast bowling, but can be susceptible to spin•Getty ImagesJason RoyOpening batsman, England Has a career T20 strike rate of 143.88 and an average of 28.29, with four centuries In the last two years, he has a Powerplay strike rate of 149 and has hit a boundary every 4.12 balls in overs 1-6. He is particularly free-scoring against the quicks, with a strike rate of 157 and an average of 37 against them He can be tied down by a spinner operating with the new ball, though: in the last two years, his Powerplay strike rate against spin is 116 He is particularly suspect against legspin: he has scored 143 runs against legspinners in 112 balls, and has been out seven timesBase price: INR 1 crorePotential role: First-choice openerTeams that should target him: Mumbai Indians, Rising Pune Supergiants, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers HyderabadMohammad Shahzad can be hard to stop if he gets going at the top of the order•International Cricket CouncilMohammad ShahzadWicketkeeper-batsman, Afghanistan Since January 2015, he has averaged 35.94 and scored at a strike rate of 135.19, both improvements from his career figures of 32.44 and 128.34 In Powerplays, he has scored 845 runs off 635 balls, at a strike rate of 133.07Base price: INR 50 lakhPotential role: Back-up wicketkeeper/openerTeams that should target him: Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight RidersDomestic playersT Natarajan – left-arm fast bowler 10 wickets at 7.33 in the TNPL Took four wickets at 8.29 in the recently concluded Inter-State T20 TournamentTeams that should target him: Rising Pune Supergiants, Kolkata Knight Riders, Gujarat Lions, Delhi DaredevilsVishnu Vinod – wicketkeeper-batsman 307 runs at 34.11 and a strike rate of 138.91 in T20 Fifth-highest run-getter in the Inter-State T20s with 199 at 49.75 and a strike rate of 164.46 Hit 14 sixes in the tournament, more than any other batsmanTeams that should target him: Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers HyderabadAnkit Bawne – Middle-order batsman 431 runs at 33.15 and a strike rate of 127.51 in T20 Second-highest run-getter in the Inter-State T20s with 235 at 78.33 and a strike rate of 129.83Teams that should target him: Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Gujarat LionsPrithvi Shaw – Opening batsman Scored a century on Ranji Trophy debut at the age of 17 In his most recent game, he scored 105 off 89 balls for India against England in an Under-19 ODITeams that should target him: Kings XI Punjab, Delhi DaredevilsTanmay Agarwal – Opening batsman Top run-getter in the Inter-State T20s with 250 at 50.00 and a strike rate of 162.33 Hit a boundary every 4.16 balls during the tournamentTeams that should target him: Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI PunjabMohammed Siraj – Fast bowler Nine wickets in the Inter-State T20s at 13.88 and an economy rate of 6.57 Was the third-highest wicket-taker in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy with 41 at an average of 18.92Teams that should target him: Rising Pune Supergiants, Gujarat Lions, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders