The extravaganza of the IPL auction is set to hit India by storm on Saturday and Sunday and we can't wait to know how the various franchises shape up. While opening batsmen, captaincy options and express pace bowlers have all been discussed about at length, one primary category of bowlers – possibly the ones who make the most impact these days – has gone rather under the radar.
Wrist spinners are gold in limited-overs cricket these days with captains preferring to attack with them against flamboyant batsmen prepared to play their shots no matter what the situation. Several of these, who have mastered the deceitful art of wrist spin, have been high on demand in various leagues and it is no different here at the IPL.
Here’s a look at seven of them who could start a bidding war in the IPL Auction 2018 cometh 27-28 January.
1. Adam Zampa
Sly as a fox and with immense variations, Adam Zampa has silently made an impact in Australia's limited-overs cricket with his leg-spin and googly. What sets him apart from other leggies is his impressive economy rate of 5.92 in T20Is. With 16 wickets in 12 games for Australia in the shortest format of the game, Zampa knows his way against top quality batsmen.
Zampa had an impressive debut season at Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 where his 6/19 turned out to be one of the spells of the season. Although his economy rate shot up last season, Zampa has shown good form in recent times in Australian colours and could be a major catch at the auctions.
Teams that could be interested in him:
Chennai Super Kings - MS Dhoni has seen him from close quarters at Pune and this could favour a move to Chennai for the leggie.
Delhi Daredevils - With Ricky Ponting in the think-tank, Delhi will look to beef up a bit on Australians and Zampa might be on their radar.
Rajasthan Royals - Steven Smith knows Zampa as well as anybody and he could influence the leg-spinner's move to the franchise.
2. Ish Sodhi
The Black Caps leg-spinner is a major attraction primarily because of the manner in which he bamboozled Indian batsmen in their own backyard when the Kiwis toured India last year. Tall in frame and with skiddish leg-breaks, Sodhi is more of a wicket-taker than somebody who contains and is an explosive package to have in the side.
He took the Big Bash League by storm in 2016 taking nine wickets in three matches for Adelaide Strikers as an injury replacement for Chris Jordan. He was also quite impressive in the World T20 that year in India.
Teams that could be interested in him:
Kings XI Punjab - The Mohali track has bounce in it and this could make Sodhi’s height even more useful.
Mumbai Indians - The Rohit Sharma- led franchise will be on the lookout for wrist spinners and Sodhi could be a good catch.
Kolkata Knight Riders - With Piyush Chawla not quite making an impact with the ball, Knight Riders might be eyeing Sodhi as a possible replacement.
3. Kuldeep Yadav
The wily chinaman spinner has been in the news for all the right reasons with his sensational wicket-taking ability. Yadav is a tricky customer with his quick arm action and skiddish deliveries. With recent form favouring him, quite a few franchises will have him in their shopping list.
Last season he picked up 12 wickets in 12 matches but his economy rate shot up, something which he has taken care of as evidenced by his T20 record this year for India. He also produced a hat-trick in an ODI against Australia at Eden Gardens.
Teams that could be interested in him
Kolkata Knight Riders - The Kolkata-based franchise might look to secure his services via RTM.
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Kohli would want to buy both Chahal and Kuldeep as the pair found immense success this year for India in limited-overs cricket.
Mumbai Indians - Kuldeep was first picked up by the Mumbai Indians in 2012 but did not get a game. He is known to have befuddled Tendulkar at the nets with his wrong'uns.
4. Amit Mishra
Experienced and a silent contributor, Amit Mishra is still in his prime days and is a pretty handy leg-spinner to have in the side. He didn't quite impress in the Delhi Daredevils outfit in the past few seasons but the destructive force that he can be is well known.
A cunning bowler with shrewd variations and good flight, Mishra is an old school leg-spinner who has adapted to the demands of T20 cricket. His overall IPL record of 134 wickets in 126 games at 24.33 and an economy of 7.41 is quite impressive.
Teams that could be interested in him:
Sunrisers Hyderabad - The Hyderabad based franchise know quite a bit about Mishra having been associated with him for close to four years (at Deccan Chargers and then Sunrisers from 2011-14). He picked up a hat-trick in the 2013 season for them.
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Mishra had success at international level when Gary Kirsten was India’s coach and the South African might want to refresh his association with the leggie at Royal Challengers Bangalore.
5. Imran Tahir
An outrageously talented spinner, Imran Tahir is South Africa's number 1 spinner in limited-overs cricket and has time and again proved to be a wicket-taking option while being quite economical. He hasn't quite found similar success in the IPL which is rather surprising given his T20 record across the globe but it could also be due to the fact that teams have failed to use him to the fullest.
He has a whopping 217 wickets in 187 T20 games and is a veteran with immense experience of various conditions. With a slew of tricks up his sleeve, Tahir just needs the right captain to make the IPL his own.
Teams that could be interested in him
Chennai Super Kings - With 18 wickets in 12 games for Rising Pune Supergiant last season, Tahir could be in Dhoni's checklist.
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Tahir could be eyed, so that he can bowl alongside Chahal at Bangalore.
6. Yuzvendra Chahal
With 23 wickets in 11 matches in T20Is in 2017, Yuzvendra Chahal topped the wicket charts for the year by quite a distance. With India opting to remove Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin from their limited-overs outfit, Chahal hogged headlines as their premier spinner last year and it was quite a surprise that RCB opted not to retain him for this season.
Chahal's impressive variations and ability to entice big hitters with his widish leg-breaks, tempting them to slog, more often than not works in his favour.
Team that could be interested in him:
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Virat Kohli will be quite keen to resume his bond with Chahal and any other franchise eyeing him will know that they could lose to RCB eventually.
7. Rashid Khan
The dynamic Afghanistan leg-spinner took the IPL by storm last year after his Rs 4 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad turned into something much more valuable. A tricky customer with a slew of variations, Rashid Khan is currently the highest wicket-taker in the Big Bash League this season with 17 in 10 games at an average of 13 and economy under 6.
Short in stature but a thinking bowler, Rashid knows his way around most batsmen and it turned out to be a major surprise when Sunrisers Hyderabad opted not to retain him for this season despite his heroics in 2017. They have the option of the Right-to-Match card, though, and could very well resume their association with the Afghan spinner.
Teams that could be interested in him
Sunrisers Hyderabad - The Hyderabad based franchise is likely to pull out the RTM card for Rashid Khan but might have to dish out more than seven crores to secure his services which they could have avoided had they retained him.
Delhi Daredevils - Ricky Ponting must have seen a lot of Rashid at the Big Bash League and Delhi are known to spend lavishly on players they eye. Combine these two and Sunrisers might just be put in two minds to pull the RTM out on Rashid if he goes for over 10 crores which is a realistic possibility.
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