IPL 2020 auction: 3 Released all-rounders who could be in demand

With the complete list of players released and retained out, all the eight IPL franchises’ next step would be preparing towards the auction that will be held in Kolkata on December 19. The list of released and retained players was actually a mixed bag, with some obvious names not being picked again by the franchises while there were a few surprises as well.

Having a balanced squad is always the biggest challenge for a franchise in any IPL, which is why the auction matters a lot. The fact that only Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have done well consistently in the league over the years proves that majority of the sides have not got the balance most of the times.

Possessing at least one quality all-rounder should be a pre-requisite of all teams. A number of multi-faceted cricketers were released at the end of the trading window. We look at three who could get good bargains at the IPL 2020 auction.

Also see – Ranji points table

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#1 Colin de Grandhomme

Colin De Grandhomme

The New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme was among the many players released by Royal Challengers Bangalore. He had a fairly mediocre IPL 2019 with 46 runs in four matches. In fact, he has had an underwhelming IPL career overall with just 303 runs in 25 matches at an average of 18.93 and six wickets at an average of 53.16. However, just like his Kiwi teammate Martin Guptill, De Grandhomme has been underutilised in IPL.

De Grandhomme possesses all the shots in the book to be a superstar at this level. The ease with which he can clear the boundaries is one of the hallmarks of his game. De Grandhomme is a highly experienced T20 cricketer having scored 3,294 runs in 194 matches at a strike rate of 162.34 with 12 fifties. If only some franchise can place faith in his ability, there is no reason why he cannot deliver.

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#2 Chris Morris

Chris Morris

The experienced South African all-rounder Chris Morris was released by Delhi Capitals. Although Morris did reasonably well with the ball, claiming 13 wickets in nine games at a strike rate of 15.23, he managed only 32 runs with the bat.

While 2019 was disappointing, Morris has an impressive record in IPL overall. In 61 matches, he has scored 517 runs at a strike rate of 157.62, and has also picked up 69 wickets, striking at 18.60.

Morris, who is known for bowling his heart out for South Africa, has a very good record as a bowling all-rounder in the T20 format. In 185 games, he has 1,516 runs at a strike rate of 149.65, and 231 wickets at a strike rate of 16.9. He was purchased by CSK for Rs 3.3 crore in 2013, and could get decent bids in 2020 as well.

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#3 Sam Curran

Sam Curran

The man who was the thorn in India’s flesh when the team visited England in 2018, Sam Curran was not retained by Kings XI Punjab. Following his superb efforts against India, Curran was purchased for a hefty Rs 7.2 crores by KXIP. He had a good IPL campaign with 95 runs from nine games at a strike rate of 172.72 and 10 wickets at a strike rate of 19.80. The numbers weren’t good enough for the franchise to retain him though.

Curran is still young and has already shown in his career that he is one to watch out for, and can be relied upon in crunch situations. In 69 T20s, he has 838 runs at a strike rate of 130.93 and 63 wickets at a strike rate of 21. There is no reason why franchises shouldn't bid for him again.