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It's time for another edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) to get underway as the 2023 season kicks off on Thursday, December 7, with last year's runners-up Brisbane Heat facing Melbourne Stars at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The tournament will see each team play 10 round-robin matches this time as opposed to 14 last year. The top four teams will proceed to the next stage, with five teams earning that right over the last few seasons.
It's worth noting that several star performers in the Big Bash League have bolted their way to IPL deals over the years. With the player auction for the IPL taking place on December 19, franchises will certainly keep a watch on BBL 2023, with seven matches to be played in the first week before the tournament breaks for the duration of the first Australia-Pakistan Test.
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Whether that will be enough for some of these exciting Australian players to bag an IPL deal remains to be seen. But a strong showing certainly ought to weigh heavily in the minds of the franchises.
On that note, let's take a look at five players who can bag an IPL 2024 contract with a good start in BBL 2023.
#1 Jhye Richardson (Perth Scorchers)
From a bumper deal with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of IPL 2021, Jhye Richardson was picked up at his base price of ₹1.5 crore when the Mumbai Indians (MI) made a shrewd purchase at the IPL 2023 auction.
A skiddy bowler who is comfortable bowling with the new ball and at the death, Richardson has been the key wicket-taking force behind the Perth Scorchers' dominance in the BBL over the last few years.
However, a promising career has been stalled by injuries aplenty as he was ruled out of the IPL earlier this year and missed the bus to the World Cup as well.
Having been released back into the IPL 2024 auction pool, Richardson will be keen to remind the franchises what he has to offer given that a number of them still need a good fast bowler.
Touted for big things, this potential world-class talent made a comeback from injury in the domestic One-Day Cup in October before bagging four wickets in the first innings of Western Australia's Sheffield Shield clash against Queensland towards the end of November.
The Scorchers play two matches in the first week of BBL 2023. A strong showing of fitness and skill there will certainly aid Richardson's cause of adding to his three IPL appearances.
#2 Ashton Turner (Perth Scorchers)
Perth Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner has been a prolific run-scorer in the BBL. This is even though he remains on the fringes of the national setup having failed to catapult himself post that magnificent unbeaten 84 in an ODI against India in Mohali in 2019.
A tidy right-arm off-spinner, a gun fielder, a finisher with the bat who can take down spin at will too, and a leader - Turner is everything you want in a T20 package. It was very surprising that he wasn't a part of Australia's recent T20I series against India even as reinforcements were called in by the visitors.
Turner's ability to hit pace and spin well and rise to the big occasion set him apart - a fact reiterated by half-centuries in the final of the BBL in 2021-22 and 2022-23. In the last two seasons, he has compiled 738 runs in the tournament at an average of 36.90 and a strike rate of 154.71 with six fifties to his credit.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, teams will be looking to plug an evident hole in the middle-order - read Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). After a forgettable first stint in the IPL with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2019, Turner is a much-improved player today and will add value aplenty.
Should he start well in the Scorchers' opening two encounters of BBL 2023, it surely ought to increase his stock ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
#3 Billy Stanlake (Hobart Hurricanes)
After more than two years on the sidelines due to a persistent back injury, the lanky Billy Stanlake is back in action. He made heads turn with his velocity in BBL 2016 and was duly handed an IPL deal by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) even as he was fast-tracked into the Australian setup.
He turned out for Tasmania in the One-Day Cup and played five matches, bagging seven wickets even as his economy rate was on the higher side. The good thing though is that he's back playing again and will turn out for the Hobart Hurricanes in BBL 2023 having missed the last two seasons.
Stanlake has a lot of excellent attributes that define him as a potent weapon - his menacing pace headlines the lot but his height and a mean yorker complement it to perfection.
The Hurricanes play a solitary game in the opening week of BBL 2023. If Stanlake starts in the XI and makes a splash though, the possibility of a team taking a punt on him for IPL 2024 cannot be ruled out.
#4 Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder)
For someone who isn't averse to playing in the IPL but has been let go of by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the package that Daniel Sams offers always makes him an enticing choice. A left-arm seamer who can turn games around with the bat and is a gun fielder sure ought to as well.
Sams' bowling strike rate of 14.9 in the BBL is an indicator of his ability to make things happen with the ball even if his death bowling hasn't been reassuring enough. His strike rate of 142.49 with the bat in the tournament's history defines his effortless ability to clear the long boundary ropes in Australia.
Having played for DC, RCB, and MI, Sams will be on the radar of a few teams given that there aren't too many experienced fast-bowling all-round options to tap into at the IPL 2024 auction.
His T20 form in 2023 shouldn't slip under the radar either, with Sams having scored 596 runs at an average of just under 24 and a strike rate of 163.73 apart from picking up 44 wickets from 31 matches at 21.81 apiece.
He showed excellent form at the T20 Blast and The Hundred. The Thunder play just one match in the opening week of BBL 2023 but an impactful performance there could see Sams bolt his way into a deal at the IPL 2024 auction.
#5 Patrick Dooley (Hobart Hurricanes)
With a bowling action that resembles a windmill, Patrick Dooley grabbed headlines during the early part of the Big Bash last season. The left-arm wrist-spinner emerged as one of the finds of the tournament with 19 wickets in 10 outings at an economy rate of 6.56 and a strike rate of 11.60.
A List-A debut for Queensland followed shortly after and he's set to lead the Hobart Hurricanes' bowling unit again in BBL 2023, with wrist-spinner Peter Hatzoglou partnering him through the middle-overs.
Dooley's whippy action, coupled with the fact that there aren't too many left-arm wrist spinners out there, presents his case as a mystery bowler. With a few teams at the IPL 2024 Auction having a spot open for an overseas spinner, they could have an eye on the 26-year-old tweaker as a long-term investment.
It would be a gamble at this stage of Dooley's career. But it is certainly worth a shot, especially if he turns in a good performance in the Hurricanes' lone game of the first week of BBL 2023.
Which of these players in BBL 2023 do you think should fetch an IPL contract? Have your say in the comments section below!
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