The rift between two close neighbours, India and Pakistan is widely known and that has indeed affected their cricketing relationship, who no longer play a bilateral series between them and the only occasion where they go against each other is at the ICC tournaments. The political turmoil between them has taken such an ugly turn that players from one country aren’t allowed to participate in the T20 league of the other. Pakistani fans miss their players being at the helm in the World’s Grandest League.
The Pakistani players featured only during the inaugural season of the IPL and since then, doors have been permanently closed for their entry. With the auction for the upcoming season of IPL getting closer, we aren’t spared by the thought of Pakistani players appearing in the league and leaving their impact. In the below piece, we look at 5 such Pakistani cricketers, who could earn big at the auction ahead of IPL 2021, if allowed to participate:
1. Imad Wasim
In recent times, there would hardly be any league around the world that doesn’t feature Wasim in it. Given his all-round abilities, Wasim is hot property when it comes to playing in different T20 leagues across the globe.
The left-arm orthodox bowler as all know can open the bowling innings for a side and can even operate during the middle overs. He doesn’t spin the ball much but finds a way to contain the batsmen by pitching the ball in the right areas and getting it to curl back in into the right-handers.
His batting heroics coming lower down the order are well documented and can change the course of the match in a matter of few overs. There is no doubt why Wasim can attract an exorbitant bid at the IPL auction.
The southpaw has struck 302 runs from 49 T20Is at an average of 13.73 and strike rate of 145.89 and picked 47 wickets at an average of 22.77 and economy rate of 6.22.
2. Shaheen Afridi
With the dearth of left-arm seamers in Indian domestic circuit, Afridi is sure to earn a hefty contract for playing in the IPL in near future. Apart from the left-arm angle, Afridi possesses express pace and can get the ball to move both ways, creating trouble for the batsmen early on.
The bowler has also worked on his batting skills to remain in the national reckoning for a longer time to come ahead. Being a left-hander, he can tong the ball long and handsome over the long-on and midwicket regions, marking some crucial lower-order contributions.
The speedster has picked 22 wickets from 18 T20Is at an average of 23.77 and economy rate of 7.79 and has a strike rate of 142.86 with the bat in hand.
3. Mohammad Hafeez
‘The Professor’ of international cricket – called by Pakistani fans, Hafeez has defied all the limitations that come with growing age and carved a remarkable career for himself. Now into his early 40s, Hafeez is one of the fittest and cleanest strikers of the cricket ball going around.
When the youngsters around him struggle, Hafeez owing to his vast experience stands tall for his side and slams memorable knocks to bail his side out of trouble and propel them towards safety.
His presence of mind and irreplaceable experience should see him get plenty of bids at the auction table and the prospect of an intense bidding war cannot be ruled out. The great batsman has hammered 2323 runs from 99 T20Is at an average of 27.99 and strike rate of 121.31 with 99 being his best score.
4. Fakhar Zaman
Another quality left-handed pakistani batsman, who opens the innings for his country, Zaman has already grabbed a lot of eyeballs in his short international career.
A free-flowing batsman, who scores runs for fun and has a predisposition towards garnering runs square of the wicket on the off-side, Zaman has to be high on the priority list of players franchises would like to buy at the auction.
His part-time left-arm orthodox bowling and sharp reflexes in the field are added benefits and it will be a huge honour for any T20 side to avail his esteemed services. The attacking batsman has smashed 838 runs from 40 T20Is at an average of 22.05 and strike rate of 134.08.
5. Babar Azam
The current skipper of the Pakistan side across all the formats, Azam is one of the few batsmen you would pay a large sum to watch live. The batsman has got the class, elegance, enigma and flair of batters belonging to yesteryears and cricketing experts believe he can break the biggest of records in world cricket.
As said, Azam is least bothered about the power aspect of the game and bats in a similar fashion in all the 3 formats. His exquisite timing and placement provides him with the upper hand over his other batting rivals, who are doing well for their respective countries.
Given his great credentials and a current rich vein of form in world cricket, Azam may well turn out to be the most opulent buy in the history of IPL. The supreme batsman has blasted 1681 runs from 44 T20Is at an average of 50.94 and strike rate of 130.01.
