3 South Africa players who might go unsold at IPL 2022 Auction

South Africa have provided the Indian Premier League (IPL) with some of its biggest of stars, arguably the greatest of whom, AB de Villiers, recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Other legends such as Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and and Dale Steyn have time and again set the IPL alight with their performances, as have the likes of Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada.

South Africa performed well in the 2021 T20 World Cup and their players could be in demand at the IPL 2022 Auction.

The auction is set to happen next month, with eight existing franchises having already announced their retention. The two new franchises from Lucknow and Ahmedabad will get three picks each from the remaining player pool and then the rest will go into auction.

Needless to say, there will be a healthy population of players from South Africa at the auction, including Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen and Tabraiz Shamsi among others.

However, not all Proteas players will end up with a team in the IPL auction.

On that note, here are three South African players who are likely to go unsold at the IPL 2022 Auction:

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#1 Temba Bavuma

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma is not likely to spark a bidding war in the IPL auction.

Although Temba Bavuma led South Africa at the 2021 T20 World Cup, he is unlikely to be on the radar of the IPL teams.

Bavuma averages 27.83 in T20Is at a strike rate of 123.09. Overall in T20s, he averages 30.94, with his strike rate being marginally better at 125.37. As his relatively low strike rate indicates, Bavuma mainly plays as an anchor.

But the IPL teams already have several players who perform that role, that too with better numbers.

With several Indian players also more than capable of doing the job, it is unlikely that IPL franchises would use up one of their four overseas slots on Bavuma.

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#2 Keshav Maharaj

Keshav Maharaj has played just eight T20Is for South Africa.

31-year-old Keshav Maharaj is South Africa's premier spinner in Tests, but he was given a long run at the T20 World Cup.

In eight T20Is, he has picked up six wickets, with best figures of 2/24. He has shown that he can be economical, giving away just 5.82 runs an over in his short T20I career so far.

Maharaj has played 120 T20s overall, boasting an economy rate of 6.56.

However, there is no shortage of left-arm spinners in India. And with the likes of New Zealand's Mitchell Santner not getting much game time, it is unlikely that teams will go for Maharaj at the IPL Auction 2022.

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#3 Reeza Hendricks

Reeza Hendricks does not have an explosive strike rate.

Opener Reeza Hendricks has played 40 T20Is so far, scoring 1049 runs, including seven half-centuries.

But his strike rate of 121.55 shows that he struggles to accelerate or provide explosive starts. Overall, he has played 151 T20s and has a strike rate of 123.55.

There is no dearth of quality openers for IPL teams to choose from, including his compatriot Quinton de Kock, who strikes at 130.93 in the tournament.

Moreover, most of the openers have better numbers and score at a faster rate than Hendricks.

The right-hander went unsold in the previous auction, and it seems likely that will be the case this time around as well.