IPL Auction 2020: 3 players who could use T10 League to impress franchises

The 2020 IPL auction will take place on 19th December, 2019 at Kolkata. Before entering the event, each franchise will analyse their squads and release some underperformers to make room for potential recruits to give them the edge.

As a tournament that happens just one month before the Indian Premier League auction, the T10 League will grab the attention of most franchises. Therefore, the players who perform well at the competition have plenty of chances to land an IPL contract.

Naturally, it is tough to master the T10 format because of its fast-paced nature, which means that those who dazzle in it possess exceptional abilities. Before the start of an IPL season, the franchises tend not to overlook gifted performers.

In the 2019 IPL auction, Nicholas Pooran, the top scorer (324 runs) of the previous T10 League, received an IPL contract from Kings XI Punjab. Similarly, Jonny Bairstow, who held the season's highest strike rate (330.76), found a place in the Sunrisers Hyderabad team after the hammer fell.

Based on their form coming into the T10 League, here are three such players who could get the attention of the IPL teams if they perform well.

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#3 Mohammad Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad.

Afghanistan's right-handed opening wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has played 118 T20 matches and scored 3457 runs. Deccan Gladiators is the home for Shahzad in the 2019 T10 League.

In the 2018 season, Shahzad played for Rajputs under the captaincy of IPL legend Brendon McCullum and made a significant contribution while chasing a target of 95. Shahzad scored a 16-ball 74 against the Sindhis, which helped the team win the match in four overs.

Courtesy of the pre-mentioned batting performance, Shahzad broke the record for the highest score in T10s ever and the competition's quickest half-century from just 12 deliveries. Despite these feats, Shahzad failed to find a buyer in the 2019 IPL auction.

However, there is a second chance for the man from Afghanistan to impress the IPL teams. If he produces similar performances in this year's T10 League, there could be an IPL contract for him. Shahzad will ask a reasonable base price, which is a further advantage for him.

#2 Paras Khadka

Paras Khadka.

Nepal's former captain Paras Khadka is an all-rounder and hard-hitting batsman with a multitude of hidden potential. In the T20 format, Khadka has scored 1224 runs in 46 innings. He will play for Team Abu Dhabi in the 2019 T10 League.

Being Nepal's first-ever centurion in ODIs and T20Is, Khadka has a lot of expectations on him to raise the standards of Nepal cricket team. Team Abu Dhabi will also be hoping on him to deliver for them in this year's T10 League.

Khadka holds the record for being the first captain to score a T20I century while chasing, which is something even the likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith haven't yet achieved. The right-hander achieved this feat in a match against Singapore.

During that match, Khadka scored 106 runs from 52 balls and helped Nepal to chase down a target of 152 in 16 overs. It was a feat that also made him the fourth-fastest T20I centurion in Asia. Replicating such performance in T10 League could go a long way in helping Khadka gain an IPL contract.

#1 Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan.

England bowler Chris Jordan has 178 wickets in 167 T20 matches. He will be playing for the Qalandars in the 2019 T10 League. During the 2018 edition, Jordan, playing for Punjabi Legends, registered the season's third-best bowling figure of 4-6 against Maratha Arabians.

Owing to his current form, Jordan could be razor-sharp with the accuracy of his deliveries in the 2019 T10 League. Recently, in England's tour of New Zealand this year, the pacer rendered some eye-catching performances, which demonstrated his deftness.

In the series finale, it was Jordan's 12 runs from the last three balls that took the match to super over. Jordan also bowled in the super over and kept New Zealand away from successfully chasing England's target.

As an experienced player with both hard-hitting and wicket-taking capabilities, Jordan could exploit the T10 format to capture the attention of the IPL franchises quite easily. Jordan's prior experience in IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore and SRH could also add to his IPL possibilities.