IPL 2018: Star South African pacer set to return

The IPL auction is just around the corner. The auction is set to take place on the 27th and 28th of this month in Bengaluru. The city has always been the preferred venue for the auction for all the teams and it is no different this time. Auctioneer Richard Madley will again be taking up the responsibilities of the auction. He is the face of IPL auction. Richard is a second generation auctioneer who hails from Wales. He is an integral part of all the IPL auctions that have taken place till date.

This year, 1122 players from all across the globe are set to go under Madley’s auction hammer. Since it is a mega-auction this year, there are some very big names that are up for grabs. The auction purse too is raised to a whopping 80 crores this year.

Steyn to be back; Jason Behrendorff hopes to make his debut

After being marred by various injuries, Dale Steyn recently made a comeback for the Proteas in the 1st Test against India. However, he injured his ankle on his comeback and will be out of action for close to six weeks. He looked very impressive in his comeback and it didn’t seem as if he was out of action for over a year.

Steyn is included in the players’ list for the auctions. Also, he set his base price to just 1 crore which is half-a-crore less than his base price in 2016. Back then, he was picked by the Gujarat Lions. But he could only manage to get one game under his belt. Although the franchises would be tempted to draft Steyn into their squads, they will be concerned with his injuries.

Jason Behrendorff will also be expecting his maiden IPL call-up. Jason has a good T20 record and there are high chances of him being picked. He drew limelight when he bowled a spell of 4-0-21-4 against India during Guwahati T20I last year. He picked some crucial Indian wickets in that match. Looking at the tendency of IPL franchises going behind these players for any price, Behrendorff is expected to draw a big amount in the auction.

List of players in the 1 crore bracket

Adam Zampa, Alex Hales, Andrew Tye, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Dwayne Smith, Jason Behrendorff, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Manish Pandey, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Imran Tahir, Mustafizur Rahman, Parthiv Patel, Piyush Chawla, Sam Billings, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shakib Al Hasan, Shane Watson, Tim Southee, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha.