All eyes on Shahzad as 5 Afghan players enter IPL auctions

UAE’s India-born batsman Chirag Suri also makes it to the auction pool

Published : Feb 16, 2017 18:31 IST , New Delhi

Mohammad Shahzad could pull off a surprise in the IPL auction
Mohammad Shahzad could pull off a surprise in the IPL auction
lightbox-info

Mohammad Shahzad could pull off a surprise in the IPL auction

In a historic first, the BCCI has decided to include five Afghanistan cricketers including hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Shahzad, whose pyrotechnics had grabbed eyeballs during the last edition of World T20 in India, in the IPL auction pool.

The others are, batsman Asghar Stanikzai, pacer Dawlat Zadran, all-rounder Mohammed Nabi and bowler Rashid Khan Arman. The sixth associate nation cricketer is India-born batsman Chirag Suri of United Arab Emirates.

India and Afghanistan share a wonderful relation and the step to include Afghan cricketers in IPL is a part of BCCI’s initiative to help them get a hang of top flight cricket, share dressing room with world famous players and integrate that in their system.

It can be safely assumed that atleast Shahzad with a base price of Rs 50 lakh or pacer Zadran with a Rs 30 lakh base price would not have been kept in the final auction pool without the consent of the eight franchises and BCCI’s wish.

The final auction pool is always created after pruning the initial list and asking the franchises to name the players they want to go under hammer. Shahzad is the most popular among Afghanistan cricketers with a strike-rate of 136 plus in 55 T20 Internationals in which he hit a century and 11 half-centuries.

Rashid Khan Arman, however, may find it difficult to get a team with a base price of Rs 50 lakh. Stanikzai’s base price is Rs 20 lakh, while Nabi has kept it at Rs 30 lakh.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment