The recently-concluded IPL auction for the 2021 season generated headlines in the cricket fraternity, with Chris Morris, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, and Krishnappa Gowtham being the five most expensive buys.
Of South African players, seasoned all-rounder, Chris Morris, and young Warriors fast bowler, Marco Jansen, were picked up by the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, respectively.
South African all-rounder, Chris Morris, became the most expensive purchase in IPL history at 16.25 crores (US$2.2 million). Having played 70 IPL games for four IPL franchises, Morris has scored 551 runs at a strike rate of 157, and snared 80 wickets at an economy rate of 7.81.
Despite a history of injuries, IPL franchises have shown interest in Morris, perceiving him to be an x-factor player, who can contribute with the bat, ball, and in the field. Due to an injury, Morris played nine of 14 games for RCB in the last season but was recognized for consistently providing the team with breakthroughs with the ball. While the jury may still be divided on the value that Morris’ skills bring to a T20 team, there is no doubt that his all-round abilities are widely sought after in the IPL.
Young South African fast bowler, Marco Jansen, who plays for the Warriors, was picked at the auction by the Mumbai Indians for his base price of 20 lakhs (US$27,500). Interestingly, Jansen was a net bowler when the India A team played in South Africa. Former Indian legend, Rahul Dravid, who was coaching India A at the time, was impressed with Jansen and encouraged him to continue working hard on his game.
Similarly, Jansen was a net bowler during India’s tour of South Africa in 2017-18. Indian captain, Virat Kohli, and coach, Ravi Shastri, were also excited by the skill Jansen was exhibiting against top-quality Indian batsmen in their practice sessions. The Mumbai Indians, who have developed an international talent scouting infrastructure, had their eyes on Jansen for the last two years.
Before the auction, Quinton de Kock, in a chat with Akash Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians, strongly recommended Jansen. Upon buying Jansen in the auction, Mumbai Indian’s Director of Cricket, Zaheer Khan, said the team was fortunate to have got Jansen at his base price.
While Morris and Jansen’s participation in this edition of the IPL will bring cheer to South African cricket fans, it is disappointing that key names such as Rassie van der Dussen, Andile Pheklukwayo, and Dwaine Pretorius were not picked in the auction. By no means is their absence from the IPL an indication of their quality as cricketers, given that each team can have no more than eight overseas players.
Throughout IPL 2020, Cricket Fanatics Magazine extensively discussed players who could potentially win IPL contracts and succeed in the tournament. Having seen this auction unfold, along with the way Marco Jansen’s progress was monitored by the Mumbai Indians for over two years, the most important question to be asked is – how can South African players appear on the radar of IPL franchises?
The answer, in my view, is in having more South Africans in support staff teams of IPL franchises. Apart from Jonty Rhodes, Eric Simmons, and Paddy Upton, most support staff management hail from Australia and New Zealand, which also explains why so many Australians and Kiwis get significant IPL contracts.
Therefore, pushing South African coaches to secure positions with IPL teams will go a long way in helping South African players get more IPL exposure. Perhaps, we, at Cricket Fanatics Magazine, can kickstart this conversation.
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter Nile (5 crore), Adam Milne (3.2 crore), Piyush Chawla (2.4 crore), James Neesham (50 lakh), Yudhvir Charak (20 lakh), Marco Jansen (20 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (20 lakh)
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Tom Curran (5.25 crore), Steven Smith (2.2 crore), Sam Billings (2 crore), Umesh Yadav (1 crore), Ripal Patel (20 lakh), Vishnu Vinod (20 lakh), Lukman Meriwala (20 lakh), M Siddharth (20 lakh)
Chennai Super Kings squad: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R. Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, K Gowtham (9.25 crore), Moeen Ali (7 crore), Cheteshwar Pujara (50 lakh), K Bhagath Varma (20 lakh), C Hari Nishaanth (20 lakh), M Harisankar Reddy (20 lakh)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Shakib Al Hasan (3.2 crore), Harbhajan Singh (2 crore), Ben Cutting (75 lakh), Karun Nair (50 lakh), Pawan Negi (50 lakh), Sheldon Jackson (20 lakh), Venkatesh Iyer (20 lakh), Vaibhav Arora (20 lakh)
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Jhye Richardson (14 crore), Riley Meredith (8 crore), Shahrukh Khan (5.25 crore), Moises Henriques (4.2 crore), Dawid Malan (1.5 crore), Fabian Allen (75 lakh), Jalaj Saxena (30 lakh), Saurabh Kumar (20 lakh), Utkarsh Singh (20 lakh)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Kedar Jadhav (2 crore), Mujeeb ur Rahman (1.5 crore), J Suchith (30 lakh)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pavan Deshpande, Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson (15 crore), Glenn Maxwell (14.25 crore), Dan Christian (4.8 crore), Sachin Baby (20 lakh), Rajat Patidar (20 lakh), Mohammed Azharuddeen (20 lakh), Suyash Prabhudesai (20 lakh), KS Bharat (20 lakh)
Photo: Steve Haag/BackpagePix
