IPL 2018 Auction: Five uncapped Indian players who can be most expensive buys

IPL has been a platform for domestic players to perform well and get selected on the national side.

Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant are some players who have made it to the national side after performing well in the IPL.

Teams always look for domestic players who can easily graduate from the domestic to international level, as IPL is no less than an international level tournament.

Strong performances in the IPL can get these players in the reckoning for the Indian team too.

We will look at five uncapped Indian players who can earn big bucks at the auction.

#5 Vijay Shankar

Role - All-rounder

State - Tamil Nadu

IPL team in 2017 - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Vijay Shankar is one of the most consistent players in the domestic circuit. After making his debut for his home side Tamil Nadu in December 2012, Vijay Shankar has performed exceedingly well.

He is highly dependable and has been a regular feature in the India A side. His strong performances in Ranji trophy resulted in his selection for the Test series against Sri Lanka.

He will be on the radar of many IPL teams at the auction.

#4 Basil Thampi

Role - Bowler

State - Kerala

IPL team in 2017 - Gujarat Lions

Thampi Basil and his deadly yorkers

The 24-year-old Kerala speedster impressed everyone with his accurate yorkers in IPL 2017.

Playing for Gujarat Lions, he bowled excellently in death overs and was seen as one of the finds of the tournament.

He was selected for the recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka. Teams will be queuing up to get this right arm medium pacer on their side at the auction.

#3 Deepak Hooda

Role - All-rounder

State - Baroda

IPL team in 2017 - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Will we see Hooda playing for the Royals again?

Deepak Hooda made a brilliant start to his IPL career playing for Rajasthan Royals in 2015.

Due to his exploits in 2015, Hooda was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a hefty sum of 4.2 crores at the 2016 auction.

Unfortunately, Hooda wasn't able to live up to the price tag, but he has a chance to redeem himself.

The all-rounder was given an extra responsibility of captaining Baroda this year, and he has done well.

He is known for his big hitting ability in the death overs and also provides the option of off-spin bowling to the team. He is surely going to set the stage on fire at the auction.

#2 Nitish Rana

Role - Batsman

State- Delhi

IPL team in 2017 - Mumbai Indians

Calm and composed Nitish Rana

It is always tough to get a place in the playing XI of Mumbai Indians, but Nitish Rana did it consistently in IPL 2017.

A lot of people were surprised when Rana was included in the playing XI, but the young Delhi batsman justified his selection with some eye-catching batsmanship.

The left-handed batsman seems to have the right temperament to play against the best in the world, and he will look to continue it this year too.

It is going to be interesting to see at what price he will be finally bought at in 2018.

#1 Krunal Pandya

Role - All-rounder

State - Baroda

IPL team in 2017 - Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians might use their RTM card to get back Krunal

Mumbai Indians raised a few eyebrows when they paid Rs 2 crores for Krunal Pandya at the 2016 auction.

Krunal hadn't played much domestic cricket then and was a completely unknown commodity.

But in the next two years, Krunal not only proved the worth of the money put on him but also made a case for himself to join his brother, Hardik, on the national side.

He is on his way to become one of the costliest players at this auction.

A good IPL season for Krunal Pandya might get him closer to his dream of playing for the national side.