IPL 2021 is set to kickstart from April 9. There will be some players who would be smarting from their losses at being sold at just their base price and would look to make amends by punishing the bowlers or blowing away the batsmen. Here are few players who were sold at a base price in the auction, and would look to make a real difference in the tournament.
Sam Billings sold to Delhi Capitals at Rs 2 crore base price
Billings may not have been consistent with CSK in the two seasons he was part of previously. But the England batsman is known for his big-hitting and played a few useful cameos for CSK before.
He was bagged by Delhi at his base price of Rs 2 crore in the IPL 2021 auction and could give the top earners such as Glenn Maxwell a real run for the money in terms of putting the runs on the board, and playing a part in the success of the team.
Mohammed Azharudden sold to RCB at Rs 20 lakh base price
The Kerala player burst into the headlines when he cracked a 37-ball ton (137) in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy to become the first player from this South Indian state to score a ton in T20 format. The knock came against a strong Mumbai side and was studded with 9 fours and 11 sixes. RCB grabbed him at his base price of just Rs 20 lakh. If he proves that knock was not a flash in the pan, he could solve a lot of RCB worries, and prove he is worth a lot more than his base price.
Mustafizur Rahman sold to RR at Rs 1 crore base price
He was part of the SRH winning campaign in 2016. But he was released in 2017 and found a buyer in Mumbai Indians in 2018 IPL. But Rahman could not revisit the same performance he did for SRH in 2016. He was too released by MI. After being unsold for two seasons, he is back this season with Royals and would look to banish the old memories and start afresh and given batsmen a real run for their money once IPL 2021 kicks off.
Dawid Malan – Rs 1.5 crore base price - sold to Kings XI Punjab
The No 1 T20I batsman was snared by Kings XI Punjab or Punjab Kings at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore. And that’s a big fish netted by Punjab. Malan could solve Punjab’s middle-order woes, and be the finisher that Punjab missed in the last couple of seasons. They have a fiery top-order in Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, and Mayank Agarwal, but need the firepower of Malan to finish off games. It’s rather a surprise that franchises stayed away from going for the kill for Malan who has proved his skills in the shortest format of the game.
Ben Cutting – sold to KKR at Rs 75 lakh base price
Cutting was part of the winning SRH campaign in 2016. In fact, he was the player of the match in the final that SRH won against RCB. Cutting scored 15-ball 39 not out and took 2 wickets to help SRH earn their maiden IPL trophy. But he has lost his cutting since. He was released by SRH in 2017 before being lapped by MI for two seasons in 2018-2019. But the abundance of overseas riches saw Cutting relegated to the dressing room of Mumbai Indians. He has been lapped by KKR this season and could be the backup to Andre Russell if the West Indian suffers a lack of form or injury issues.
Cover Credits: skysports.com
