IPL Auction 2022: 5 Asian Players Who Can Cause A Bidding War

Only a few days are left for the highly-anticipated IPL 2022 Mega Auctions to begin. For those of you who don’t know, the two-day extravaganza is slated to be held on 12^th and 13^th February 2022. As many as 590 players will be going under the hammer for a period of two days.

Earlier, the eight existing franchises announced their list of retained players. Each existing team was allowed to retain a maximum of four players. Besides, the newly appointed teams,

Lucknow and Ahmedabad were allowed to pick three players from the pre-auction draft. KL Rahul will be leading the Lucknow franchise, while Hardik Pandya has been roped in as the skipper of the Ahmedabad team.

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Out of the 590 players who have been shortlisted for the auctions, 228 are capped players, while 355 are uncapped. Add to that, seven players are from associate nations. The players are divided into different price brackets. INR 2 crore has been set as the highest base price.

Along with international stars, a lot of Asian talents would also be going under the hammer. Several world-class Asian players will be up for grabs and are likely to cause a bidding war. In this article, we take a look at five of them:

IPL Auction 2022: 5 Asian Players Who Can Cause A Bidding War

1. Wanindu Hasaranga

One of the rising stars in world cricket, Wanindu Hasaranga will be a player to watch out for at the Mega-Auctions. The Sri Lankan all-rounder has been making headlines for the last couple of years. He exhibited impactful performances in the T20 series against India last year. He was nothing of outstanding in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

He finished the tournament as the highest wicket-taker, claiming 16 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 9.75. Hasaranga made valuable contributions with the bat as well, showcasing his multi skillsets. He will surely be in high demand at the auctions and is likely to cause a bidding war.

2. Shakib Al Hasan

The former Bangladesh skipper has been participating in IPL since 2011. Barring 2020, he has been part of the IPL for every season since his debut in 2011. Shakib Al Hasan plied his trade for KKR last year. The Bangladesh cricketer picked 4 wickets and scored 47 runs. He was far from his best and, thus, wasn’t retained by the franchise for the next edition of the tournament.

Nevertheless, Shakib Al Hasan will find himself at the auctions. There aren’t a lot of cricketers who bats in the middle-order and also provide four valuable overs of left-arm spin in the shortest format. Shakib Al Hasan comes under that rare breed of cricketers and, thus, he will be likely in demand at the mega-auctions.

3. Charith Asalanka

Charith Asalanka grabbed headlines during India’s ODI series against Sri Lanka. He showed intent and played outstanding knocks while batting in the middle-overs. Asalanka finished the series as the highest run-getter. The Southpaw translated that form in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

He looked the best batsman in the team and, arguably, made the biggest impact with the bat. His approach towards batting in the shortest format was there to see. Asalanka isn’t someone who would take time to get settled. He has the potential to rip apart any bowling unit on the given day. A lot of franchises are likely to bid for him and he might even cause a bidding war at the auctions.

4. Ishan Kishan

A talented young Indian opener, Ishan Kishan is bound to cause a bidding war at the auctions. He wasn’t retained by Mumbai Indians for the next edition of the tournament as Suryakumar Yadav was given the nod ahead of him. Kishan made a significant impact with the bat in IPL 2020 while playing for Mumbai Indians.

He was the team’s highest run-getter that season, amassing 516 runs in 14 matches at 57.33. Surprisingly, neither of the two new teams picked the star opener, which means that he will be available at the auctions. It will be interesting to see which franchise manages to acquire his services in the end.

5. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has been included among the 10 marquee players set for the IPL 2022 Mega Auctions. Iyer led Delhi Capitals for two consecutive seasons in 2019 and 2020 but the franchise chose not to retain him for next year. Some reports suggested that he would lead the newly-included Ahmedabad franchise in IPL 2022 but Hardik Pandya was given the nod ahead of him.

Shreyas Iyer has set his intention quite clear that he is looking for leadership roles. There are a few franchisees who are looking for a captain to lead their team in the upcoming edition and, thus, they are likely to bid heavily for him. Shreyas Iyer should cause a bidding war at the auctions.