Will IPL 2024 auction witness a ₹20 crore buy? Five overseas players who could spark a bidding war in Dubai

With a day left in hand for the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for the 2024 season, scheduled to take place on December 19 in Dubai, all 10 franchises have probably even narrowed down on their lists submitted by the scouts.

A number of players were released earlier last month when the retention list was announced, leaving as many as 77 vacant spots up for grabs among as many as 333 players at the mini-auction. But only 30 of them will be filled by overseas players. Teams could take cues from the recently-completed ODI World Cup tournament and some of the bilateral series played in India.

1) Gerald Coetzee: The 23-year-old will be a hot property after his exploits in India in the World Cup, where he picked 20 wickets in eight innings at 19.80. He was also sensation for Joburg Super Kings in the inaugural season of SA20 where he picked 17 wickets – all while wearing his trademark headband. The hit-the-deck bowler can bowl with both the old and the new ball, but has been more effective in the middle overs where he has picked 6 wickets in nine innings across this year in T20 cricket at 5.6 runs per over.

2) Mitchell Starc: With an eye on the T20 World Cup preparation, the Aussie will be back for the first time in IPL since 2015, and stands among the top contenders to compel a franchise to push their limit as far as 20 crore to rope him in. And it is more so for what he brings to the table – a tall, left-arm pacer, who can dominate the proceedings across the three bowling phases – factors which a number of teams will be interested to have in their squad. Overall, he has played just 27 IPL matches with 34 wickets at an economy of 7.17.

3) Travis Head: Now who would not want Australia’s World Cup final hero in their franchise? He is a top-order aggressive batter, who plays left-handed and has shown the ability of playing in Indian conditions, implying a perfect recipe that a T20 side should be looking for. Not to forget, he is also a handy right-arm offbreak bowler.

4) Rachin Ravindra: The New Zealand batter emerged as a breakout star in the ODI World Cup last month with his impressive left-handed batting ability. He in fact became the first man of his age to score three centuries in a World Cup en route to his tally of 578 runs in 10 innings. Not to forget, he brings variety to the line-up as well with his left-arm spin bowling ability.

5) Wanindu Hasaranga: A wrist-spinner with the ability to smack a few boundaries as well – who wouldn’t be looking to acquire this Sri Lankan spinner. In 2022, he was almost on the verge of claiming the Purple Cap after picking 26 wickets in 16 matches at 16.54. More recently, he was the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup qualifying tournament with 22 scalps in just seven games. While he failed to make the World Cup team owing to an injury, his overall T20 strike rate of 143.08, definitely makes him a player to watch out for at the Dubai auction.