IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra picks five overseas players to watch out for in the auction

All eyes are on the upcoming auction for this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The much-awaited event is scheduled to take place on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai. A total of 292 players will go under the hammer during the auction. Initially, 1,144 had registered their names for the auction after the eight franchises registered their shortlist of players.

Ahead of the auction, the experts and the fans have started giving their predictions about the event and former India opener Aakash Chopra has also joined the bandwagon. The former cricketer-turned-commentator has revealed the names of five overseas players who could draw a lot of attention in the auction.

A total of 125 overseas players will be up for grabs in the auction. Along with them, 164 players from India and three from Associate Nations are also a part of the event. A day before the auction, Chopra shared a video on his Facebook page where he named the foreign players who could be at the center of the bidding war at the auction.

Aakash Chopra’s five overseas players to watch out for:

Aakash Chopra started by saying that Glenn Maxwell is likely to cause a bidding war in the auction despite failing to do well in the IPL in recent years. He predicted that Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers will be fighting it out for the Australian. Chopra opined that Maxwell’s performance against India last year will help him get a lucrative deal.

“Even if it is a mini-auction it is always ‘max’ for Glenn Maxwell. I feel he will earn good money this time as well. I feel there will be an auction war between Chennai Super Kings and RCB and Glenn Maxwell will gain from that. The way he scored the runs at the right time against India in the limited over-series, he will be sold big this time as well. It is possible that Kings XI Punjab might also jump into it,” said Aakash Chopra.

Speaking further, Chopra said that the franchises will show a lot of interest in Shakib Al Hasan. The Bangladesh superstar had missed IPL 2020 due to the one-year ban imposed on him by the ICC for his failure to report corrupt approaches. Chopra predicted that Shakib might go to Kings XI Punjab while RCB will sign up Maxwell.

“I feel the teams will have a lot of interest in Shakib Al Hasan because he brings two skills. I feel he will go to Punjab while Maxwell will go to RCB. They need a middle-order player and they have only two spinners, both leg-spinners. So, Shakib Al Hasan will give them the perfect combination in such a scenario,” observed Aakash Chopra.

His other three overseas players to watch out for are Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson and Nathan-Coulter Nile. Chopra stated that out of Malan, Aaron Finch and Jason Roy, one will get a lucrative deal. He also backed South African all-rounder Chris Morris to attract big bids in the auction.

“I feel Dawid Malan might go to KKR. The Chennai Super Kings, RCB and KKR are likely to fight for Malan, Jason Roy and Aaron Finch. It will depend on when your name comes in the auction. So, I feel one out of those three will get big money,” he said.

“There will be a lot of bids for Jhye Richardson because a lot of teams need fast bowlers. Mumbai, Kings XI Punjab and RCB need fast bowlers. So, there will be a lot of interest in Jhye Richardson. Then I am talking about Nathan Coulter-Nile/Chris Morris. These are the four-five players on whom the maximum bids might be placed. Kings XI Punjab, CSK, RCB will be the main bidders and it is possible two each might go to RCB and KXIP,” concluded Chopra..