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England's Alex Hales retired from international cricket on Friday, narrowing his focus to taking part in various T20 leagues around the world as a freelancer.
The development might finally bring the right-handed opener back to the IPL after six years. Hales last played in the IPL in 2018. He didn't feature in the 2022 season due to bubble fatigue and withdrew from the 2023 edition without any official explanation but it looked like a decision made to manage his workload.
The explosive 2022 T20 World Cup winner brings a lot to the table. Having played across leagues in Pakistan, West Indies, Australia, and England, among others, the 34-year-old is among the most experienced and adaptable batters going around. He has over 11000 runs in T20s at a strike rate of 147 with five tons and 74 fifties along the way.
This strike rate goes up to 152.33 in the powerplay and he has scored over 5400 runs in just the first six overs of T20s. He's excellent against pace, and when on tune, is a pain to stop. These are qualities that make him perfect for the IPL, where most teams generally struggle to get their openers going in the powerplay.
Here are three teams where, if available, Hales will fit in beautifully for IPL 2024:
#3 Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have had their eyes on Hales for a long time. They signed him for ₹1.5 crore in 2022 and ₹2 crore the following year, creating excitement among fans only for it to be deflated later.
If they have not gotten frustrated yet, they can go for him again in IPL 2024 and look to reunite him with Jason Roy. Both were a big part of England's white-ball revolution from 2015-2019 and could do the same here.
Knight Riders tried a lot of opening options in IPL 2023 but the one with the most promise was of Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Although the latter didn't do much wrong, Hales will be an upgrade in maturity and innings-building.
The team will need to sign an Indian wicketkeeper as well because Gurbaz played that role for most of the previous season.
However, that is a position the franchise hasn't been able to fill since Dinesh Karthik left and often creates problems in team balance. This would be the right time to hit two birds with one stone.
#2 Punjab Kings
The Knight Riders had the fourth-worst powerplay run rate in IPL 2023 and Hales can change that. The three teams behind them would still most likely stick with their openers for another year at least (like Delhi Capitals with Prithvi Shaw and David Warner) or don't have enough overseas slots to fit Hales.
The team which did slightly better than Knight Riders in the stat was Punjab Kings but Hales can take them a notch higher. Their opener and captain Shikhar Dhawan had a good season where he scored 373 runs at an average of 41.44 and a strike rate of 142.91. But his powerplay strike rate was a touch lower at 137.
The franchise will have a tough decision to make whether or not they want to stick with Dhawan. He'll be 38 by the time the next season starts and would go there without much T20 cricket behind him. His captaincy was criticized a lot as well and Sam Curran, who stood in for him for a few games, was seen as the better leader.
If they decide to release Dhawan, the Kings could form a brilliant opening partnership between young Prabh Simran Singh, who had a breakout season in 2023 (powerplay strike rate of 142) and recently got his India call-up, and Hales.
Kagiso Rabada and Liam Livingstone could take the remaining two spots. Karnataka pacer Vidwath Kaverappa, who's had a brilliant 2023 domestic season, could replace Nathan Ellis in the bowling lineup to free up the extra overseas spot.
#1 Gujarat Titans
Like Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans going for Hales will depend on a few factors.
The first is who will he replace? Like Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha also had an excellent 2022 season but would be 39 ahead of the 2023 season with negligible T20 form to rely on. Hales will be 35 and would come to India after playing at least a few dozen T20 games in the previous six months.
The second is whether they still consider Kane Williamson a part of their plans. The New Zealand international was seen as a stability provider at number three but missed most of the season due to injury. In his absence, Sai Sudharsan made the position his own with a few brilliant knocks, including the top score in the final.
The third factor is Sai Kishore. The spinner has been consistently good in domestic cricket for a few years now but the Titans didn't see him good enough to partner Rashid Khan and instead used another overseas slot to play Noor Ahmad.
If the Titans feel Saha isn't good enough to lead their batting for a third consecutive season, they should trust Sudharsan and Kishore to do the job and free up the overseas spot for Hales. The Ahmedabad will suit him and his partnership with Gill could do wonders for the IPL 2023 runners-up in 2024.
