IPL 2018: 5 players who made their mark in the Bangladesh Premier League

#2 Evin Lewis

Destructive opener Evin Lewis is slated to be the next Chris Gayle

He has been endorsed to be the next Chris Gayle, and is slated to cause a bidding war in the upcoming auction. Evin Lewis surely made his case in the Bangladesh Premier League. He hit 396 runs across 12 games at a healthy strike rate of 159.03, smashing 27 sixes in the process.

He was the second highest run-scorer in the league, second to only Gayle, who overtook Lewis in the final game of the tournament with an audacious century. Lewis hit three fifties, including a crucial 31-ball 75 in a big run chase.

At 25, Evin Lewis is still young and franchisees would be yearning to sign him as he could be around for many years to come.

Lewis has troubled India a lot with his only two international T20 centuries both coming against the Indians. His maiden century came in 2016 when he plundered the Indian bowlers to hit a 100 runs in 49 balls, and help the West Indies post a mammoth 245 runs on the board. India, owing to KL Rahul's maiden century, almost pulled off one of the greatest T20 chases in history only to lose by a single run.

More recently, in July 2017, the two teams faced off again, with India batting first this time. India posted 190 on the board, and looked good for the win until Lewis came out to bat. He was not out at 125 runs in 62 balls, and helped chase down the big total with 9 balls to spare. He created history with this innings, becoming the first player ever to score two T20 centuries against the same team.

T20's greatest batsman, Chris Gayle, was cheekily asked if there would be any batsman who could reach his T20 prowess. Gayle's reply was "Evin Lewis, watch out for him". Hope you're listening, IPL!