IPL teams who could buy the five available Afghanistan cricketers

#2 Rising Pune Supergiants - Mohammad Shahzad

The burley batsman is another who can hit it long

Rising Pune Supergiants have off-loaded Kevin Pietersen, Albie Morkel and George Bailey, and are in dire need of a heavy hitter at the top of the order. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis are not exactly players who can take the game away in the powerplay overs with lofted shots.

This is where someone like Mohammad Shahzad could be a perfect fit at the top. A burly batsman, Shahzad is a bully of the cricket ball and possesses great temperament and experience.

He has 1656 runs for Afghanistan in T20Is in 55 matches at an average of 31.84. The Afghan batsman also has a century to his name along with eleven fifties and boasts of a strike rate of 136.63. Shahzad is also a wicket-keeper but Pune may not need that skill from him with Dhoni skippering the side.