3 Teams that can pick Kedar Jadhav in IPL 2021 Auction

The IPL auction for the 14th season is set to take place on the 18th of February in Chennai, and teams are busy planning for the same. When the retention lists were released, CSK’s list surprised quite a few. The Chennai-based franchise was expected to let go of a lot of players but they released no more than 6 players.

One of the 6 players to be left out was Kedar Jadhav, and it didn’t surprise many. The batting all-rounder was picked up by CSK in the 2018 auction for a whopping INR 7.8 crore. The injury ruled him out of the 2018 edition after the first game of the season.

The following two editions were quite poor for him as he couldn’t even manage to score at a strike rate in excess of 100. He scored just 62 runs in 8 games at a strike rate of 93.93, before he was dropped from the XI during IPL 2020. However, he showed some signs of finding form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he scored 193 runs in 5 games at a strike rate of 133.1.

Jadhav is one of the most experienced Indian batsmen at present, and he could be of use for teams that are in need of middle-order batsmen.

Here we bring you three teams who can pick Kedar Jadhav in IPL 2021 auction:

3. Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH has retained 22 players ahead of the mini-auction and look like one of the most settled units in the league along with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals. They have most bases covered and won’t have a whole lot to do on the 18th of February. With just 3 slots left and INR 10.75 crore in the purse, they could potentially make one or two big buys to make the team look even better

One area which they would want to address is their middle-order. While the likes of Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, and Virat Singh are highly talented, they don’t have a whole lot of experience. Vijay Shankar is the only experienced Indian middle-order batsman, and they could potentially go for Kedar Jadhav.

The Maharashtra-born batsman could provide SRH with some experience in their middle order and could be a useful option as the sixth bowler as well on occasions.

2. Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB had a pretty good campaign last season as they managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. However, they still released 10 players and will go into the auction with a purse of INR 35.2 crore.

The Royal Challengers released Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, and Moeen Ali, and need some middle-order batsmen to take up those spots. Jadhav could be a useful option for the Virat Kohli-led team.

He previously played for RCB and had a fruitful campaign with them in 2017. Jadhav scored 267 runs in 13 games at a strike rate of 143.54 in 2017. With the small boundaries and flat pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, he could enjoy his team in RCB if picked.

1. Kings XI Punjab

KXIP have had a poor time in the IPL over the last few seasons as they have failed to qualify for the playoffs since 2014. However, they have a chance to change that as they have a whopping INR 53.20 crore to strengthen the core of their team.

By letting Glenn Maxwell and James Neesham go, KXIP have freed up a couple of slots that need to be filled in their middle-order. The Punjab-based team could potentially go for an overseas player and an Indian batsman to fill the vacant slots.

Kedar Jadhav could turn out to be a decent option for them and would provide healthy competition for the Indian batting slots. Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, and Deepak Hooda weren’t at their best last season, and Jadhav would be a very handy back up in case they fail to fire in the next season.