2017 IPL auction: 5 potential surprise buys in the auction

#1 Mohammad Nabi

Nabi was the leading wicket taker in the 2016 ICC World T20

Nabi is yet another Afghan International the teams will look to spend their money on. He brings balance to the team as he is equally good with both bat and ball. The 32-year-old all-rounder is capable of scoring quick runs with the bat as he has scored 704 runs at an average of 17.6 in T20Is.

He can be a useful number 7 for the teams that do not have a good depth in the batting department. Nabi is a wicket-taking bowler who has 138 wickets in 118 matches in the format.

The rate at which he picks up a wicket puts him at the top among other bowlers as he strikes once in every 17.8 deliveries and averages just above 20 runs for a wicket. He also has an economy of 6.88, something that is impressive for an off-spinner in the T20 format.

Nabi was the leading wicket taker in the 2016 ICC World T20 (including the qualifiers) and is currently ranked thirteenth and fourth in the ICC T20I rankings for bowlers and all-rounders respectively. With most of the teams looking for an all-rounder or a spinner, chances of Nabi getting picked by a franchise in the 2017 IPL auction looks high.