A total of 991 cricketers including 714 Indians have registered for the IPL 2023 Players’ Auction to be held in Kochi on December 23. Unlike the previous season’s mega-auction in February, the BCCI will conduct a mini-auction for the forthcoming season.
Among the 14 overseas countries, Australia with 57 players have the most in the auction pool, followed by South Africa (52). West Indies (33), England (31), New Zealand (27), Sri Lanka (23), Afghanistan (14) Ireland (8), Netherlands (7), Bangladesh (6), UAE (6), Zimbabwe (6), Namibia (5) and Scotland (2) are the other countries.
In contrast to players from other countries who might need to leave just as the tournament is approaching its conclusion in order to go on international duty, players from Cricket West Indies avoid scheduling any international cricket to coincide with the IPL, ensuring that their players will be available for the entire competition.
Let’s have a look at the 3 players from West Indies Bowlers who might go high value in the IPL 2023 mega auction.
01 Odean Smith
26 years old Jamaican Smith is one of the rising stars of the West Indies team With his tearaway pace bowling and batting exploits down the order, West Indies allrounder Odean Smith is hoping to land a handsome deal from one of the franchises during the upcoming IPL mega auction.
Smith was bought by Punjab Kings last year for Rs 6 crore and Smith played six matches for Punjab that year. There he took six wickets at an average of 29.67. In the match against the mighty Mumbai Indians franchise, he managed to take 04 wickets.
In total, Smith has taken 70 wickets in 66 T20 matches. In the concluded CPL 2022, the Jamaican managed to take 11 wickets in 11 matches. However, Punjab Kings did not retain Smith for 2023 and he will go under the hammer this year too, where it can be assumed that he will command a higher price.
02. Romario Shepard
Prior to the 15th season of the league, Sunrisers Hyderabad set a record by spending INR 7.75 crores to acquire West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd. The 28-year-old only had the opportunity to play in three games last season since the administration decided not to deploy the player with their team.
He scored 58 runs, took three wickets, and had a strike rate of 141.46. He was released before the upcoming auction because of his 10.89 adverse economic rates. Shepherd might cost a premium price during the IPL 2023 auction, though, as he is the player who has the power to change the outcome of the match on his own.
Smith took 14 wickets in 11 matches in the last CPL 2022 at an average of 18.28. Shepard was also believed to fetch a high value at the mega auction.
03. Akeal Hosein
The 29-year-old West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein will be vying for a maiden IPL contract. He has played 89 T20s and scalped 70 wickets. He has been brilliant with the economy rate at 6.49 and comes with an experience of playing CPL & PSL.
He will be one of those Windies players who will be keen to impress ahead of the IPL Auction. The Trinidadian has made a name for himself primarily as a bowler, who can also hit it a long way with the bat.
The 29-year-old relies on his bag of tricks to keep the batters on their toes. He’s got a sharp in-swinger with the new ball, to compliment other variations like the carrom ball, knuckle ball, and the more conventional arm-ball.
Hossain managed to take 09 wickets in 06 matches in this year’s CPL 2022 with an economy of 6.25. In addition, in the Abu Dhabi T10 2022, known as the fast-paced event in cricket, he picked up 10 wickets with economy and averages of 6.20 and 9.30 respectively.