September 26, 2024
Brendon Taylor and SikandarRaza shortlisted for IPL auction
FORMER Zimbabwe national captain Brendan Taylor and star all-rounder Sikandar Raza have been named among the 346 players around the world shortlisted to go under the hammer at the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) to be held on December 18 in Jaipur.
Initially five Zimbabwe national cricket team players had positioned themselves to win places at next year’s IPL by registering for the player auction, ahead of the 2019 edition of the lucrative tournament.
The duo of Taylor and Raza were joined by batsmen Malcolm Waller and Solomon Mire and leg spinner Graeme Cremer.
However, according to reports from India yesterday only Taylor and Raza made the final shortlist after the organisers trimmed the list of aspiring players from 1 003 to 346 players.
Raza (32) has been in brilliant form in all formats of the game, starring with both bat and ball as he continues to establish himself as one of Zimbabwe’s top players in international cricket.
His performance has seen him feature in other T20 tournaments such as the Bangladesh Premier League, the Afghanistan Premier League and the Pakistan Super League.
Raza looks to the IPL as the next stage to showcase his talent to the global audience and will be hoping to attract bidders during the player auction.
Taylor (32), on the other hand, will also be equally confident of being signed for next year’s IPL after enjoying a remarkable return to international cricket following his rich vein of form during Zimbabwe’s recent tour of Bangladesh.
The former national team captain, who is statistically one of the finest players Zimbabwe has ever produced the past decade, is not new to the IPL after he was signed by Sunrise Hyderabad four years ago.
This saw him becoming only the third Zimbabwean to be signed up for the prestigious star-studded league after retired legends Tatenda Taibu (Chennai Super Kings) and Raymond Price (Mumbai Indians).
Taylor, however, ended up not playing a single match for Sunrise Hyderabad as the tournament coincided with his wedding to Kelly Anne Readings.
“I didn’t think I would get an IPL deal so I thought April was safe. I am going to have to ask very nicely for two days off so I can come back and get married, otherwise maybe I won’t have a fiancée to marry anymore. And the honeymoon can wait. I really didn’t think I’d get anywhere near the IPL,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo.
He recently equalled the record of the most international centuries by a Zimbabwean, joining the legendary Andy Flower on 16 tons.
The list of players shortlisted for auction includes as many as 226 players from India including veteran players such as Ashoke Dinda, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha.
Following India, the next big representation of players on the list is from South Africa with superstar Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Colin Ingram, JJ Smuts and Robbie Frylinck, among a total of 26 players who will undergo the hammer at the auction.
South African representation is closely followed by the Australia. A total of 23 Australian players feature on the list.
Players like Shaun Marsh and James Faulkner, who have previously had outstanding tournaments over the years, see their names float on the list as well.
A good number of English players, a total of 18 players, are also a part of the players shortlisted for the auction.
Interestingly, the players from the associate nations have also got their names listed in the list.
Irish cricketer Paul Stirling finds a place on the list, and so does Dutch cricketer Stephen Myburgh. Previously, only one Dutch cricketer has played the IPL – Ryan ten Doeschate.
There are eight players from Afghanistan on the list, with a solitary name from USA — Mohammad Khan.
Commenting on the IPL auction Hindustantimes, said it was that time of the year when cricketers feel like students, deeply anxious about an upcoming exam that will impact their future.
“The IPL annual action is round the corner and, having filed their papers, cricketers await results with prayers on their lips,” they said.
“The IPL auction is cricket’s award night where careers are made or dashed — those who luck out laugh to the bank in celebration, the spurned shed tears of sorrow. The auction is riveting theatre produced by the dance of cricket’s sensex that determines the worth of players,” said Hindustantimes.
The franchises are gearing up for a tough battle at the event. There is going to be a likely bidding war in order to get their favoured players.
The strategies had been chalked out since the day the teams retained their core group of players but the jigsaw will be complete once the remaining players are picked up in the auction. They have been allotted a sum in their kitty and they will need to spend this money judiciously. A bidding war often inflates the player sum, which is always a worry for franchises.
A maximum of only 70 players can be bought by the eight franchises, with only 20 slots available for overseas players.
The auction will have a set of internationally capped players going under the hammer first, filtered by specialist categories, followed by uncapped players.
