With the transfer window for the 2019 Indian Premier League shut, a total of 130 players have been allotted to the eight franchises. However there’s another lot of players – both young and experienced – who have been released by their franchises and will be up for grabs at the auction scheduled to be held in December.
One important factor that all franchises will keep in mind while forming their squads, is that the 2019 World Cup that begins just 11 days after the league’s final on 19 May. Australia have already announced that select cricketers will not be available for the beginning, and last two weeks of the IPL. And the English cricket board, too, have reportedly set a similar clause, and wants its players to focus on the quadrennial event.
Keeping that in mind, the franchises will not be too keen on picking players from those two countries. However, that still leaves us with a few big foreign names who will be up for grabs, and are likely to attract a bidding war.
JP Duminy
Another top foreign player released by three-time champions Mumbai Indians is Jean-Paul Duminy. But it’s quite clear that the reason is his shoulder injury, that has kept him out of international cricket since October. The 34-year-old, who was released by Islamabad United ahead of the 2019 Pakistan Super League, couldn’t make much of a mark last IPL season – scoring just 36 runs in 6 matches.
The South African batting-allrounder however, brings with him a heap of experience having scored 6,000 runs and picked 73 wickets in 246 T20s. Plus, before he aggravated his injury, Duminy had scored two half-centuries in five T20 International innings this year.
With the next IPL season still a while away, Duminy could find a few takers in franchises looking for an experienced all-round option. Or who knows, Mumbai might even use their Right to Match (RTM) option for him.
Carlos Brathwaite
West Indies’ T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad just a season after they bagged him in the auction for Rs 2 crore. Form hasn’t been on the 30-year-old’s side off late; This year he has picked up 7 wickets in 9 T20Is, and scored 50 runs in the 5 innings he batted in.
However, in the 2018 Caribbean Premier League, he took 10 wickets in 10 matches and scored 104 runs in 7 innings. Additionally, Brathwaite too is an cricketer, and has been a part of West Indies’ T20 side since 2011.
And let’s not forget, he is the cricketer who smashed four successive sixes in the last over to beat England in the 2016 World T20 final. He also returned with 3/23 in that match. Also the fact that he is an all-rounder (a prized commodity in the IPL) adds to his value.
Brendon McCullum
Royal Challengers Bangalore had fought hard for Brendon McCullum at the 2018 IPL auction, but chose to let go of him for the upcoming season. Last season, the Kiwi opener scored a total of 127 runs in 6 innings at an average of for the Virat Kohli-led franchise.
At 37, age might not be on his side, but Baz still has the ability to handle any bowling attack. And since retiring from international cricket in February 2016, he has been focussing on the shortest format of the game, playing T20 leagues around the world.
In the maiden season of the Afghanistan Premier League this year, he scored 158 runs in 8 innings including a half-century. And finished as the fifth-highest run-scorer in the Caribbean Premier League in September. He scored 343 runs in 13 innings including 3 half-centuries for his team Trinbago Knight Riders, who went on to lift the trophy for the second successive time.
Corey Anderson
Another player who has been released by Royal Challengers Bangalore is all-rounder Corey Anderson. Like McCullum, the New Zealander cricketer had a pretty disastrous 2018 season, scoring just 17 runs and picking 3 wickets at an average of 38.33 in matches.
After a 16-month break in his international cricket career, the 27-year-old batting allrounder made a comeback during New Zealand’s T20 series against Pakistan in October, where he scored an unbeaten 44. In the run-up to the series, he also returned with 2/34 and scored 38 runs for New Zealand A against Pakistan A in Abu Dhabi, and also performed well with the bat for Somerset in the England T20 Blast.
Anyone looking for an aggressive all-rounder, could invest in the Kiwi batsmen who has scored 2390 runs and picked 32 wickets in 31 T20 games.
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