Mentor of Kings XI Punjab says Ben Stokes can fetch more money than Virat Kohli during the auction. Image Courtesy: Getty Images
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Former swashbuckling India opener popularly known as the Nawab of Najafgarh, Virender Sehwag gave an insight on the IPL teams and the sort of players they are trying to buy or get through RTM ahead of the 2018 IPL Auctions.
It might be noted that Sehwag is the current director and mentor of the Kings XI Punjab and will play a big part on what sort of players they will look to buy in the auctions. He also answered several questions and gave an insight on which player he thinks will end up being the highest paid cricketer of the season. He also gave the reason for the retention of left-arm spinner Axar Patel.
When Sehwag was asked whom he feels can fetch more money than Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli, who was retained for Rs 17 crores? Sehwag said there are at least two to three players who can buy a bigger contract than Kohli. During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Sehwag said,
“Yes absolutely, there are 2-3 players who can fetch more. In an auction, when a team wants a specific player, and there are a couple of other teams too, a bid that starts for two crores can end up going even 20 crores.”
Ben Stokes has already been cleared for the IPL 2018. Photo Credit: IPL.
“We saw last time, Mumbai Indians didn’t have the money to buy Ben Stokes, so he went for 14 crores. This time, everyone has the money for Ben Stokes. So maybe, he can cross Virat Kohli’s number,” he added.
Speaking on the reason of retaining Axar Patel Sehwag said,
“I think an Indian player’s value is more in the IPL. When we recruited Axar Patel three years back, he was an uncapped player. He came to Punjab for ₹30 lacs and since then, has played for India. If he would have been part of the auction, he could have definitely fetched ₹8-10 crores. He is a useful player like Ravindra Jadeja. Axar is in this category.”
“He is a bowling all-rounder, which is necessary, and he can bowl four overs. He has batted extremely well in a few matches last season. He is a big hitter. For the past two years, we have been trying to improve his batting. Then, he can become the perfect all-rounder.”
As per the rules set by the Governing Council for the Indian Premier League, Punjab is left with three more retentions, and Sehwag said they would definitely use the RTM cards.
Image Courtesy: Web
“I still have 3 RTMs remaining and I will make use of them. I think creating a team around 4 core players is a better strategy than creating a team solely around one single player,” he said.
