Babar Azam Would Go For INR 15-20 Crore In IPL Auction, Says Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam will fetch a lucrative deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. The IPL 2022 is underway with four matches in the tournament have been completed.

Babar is currently regarded as one of the greatest batters in modern-day cricket who can perform consistently in all formats at the international level. Babar currently leads Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League and won them the title in PSL 2020 under his leadership.

Babar Azam is the leading run-scorer of PSL

Babar is the only player to score more than 2000 runs in PSL, the Karachi Kings skipper has amassed 2413 runs in 66 innings at a strike rate of 121.13 and an average of 42.33 with 23 fifty-plus scores.  The Pakistan skipper also holds the No.1 spot in the ICC rankings of ODI and T20I batters’ charts.

It would be great to see Babar Azam and Virat Kohli opening the innings together: Shoaib Akhtar

Although Pakistan players are barred from participating in IPL, Akhtar, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural season, is confident that the Pakistan skipper could be the most expensive purchase if he goes under the hammer in the IPL auction.

The former Pakistan player also wished to see Babar open the innings along with former Royal Challengers (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli.

“It would be great to see Babar Azam and Virat Kohli opening the innings together in the IPL one day. What an exciting moment that would be. In the auction, Babar would go for 15-20 crore INR and could be the most expensive Pakistan player,” Akhtar told Sportskeeda. 

In IPL 2008, 11 Pakistan players were sold to eight franchise teams with former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi being the most expensive player amongst them. Afridi was sold to now-defunct team Deccan Chargers for the amount of INR 2.71 crore.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood was the only player to have played in IPL after the inaugural season. Mahmood played for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) after attaining a British passport in 2011. Mahmood played for Punjab in 2012 & 2013 and played just one game for KKR in IPL 2015.

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