Team-wise one star bowler who may have to leave his team if the mega auction happens ahead of IPL 2021

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been an entertaining one for the fans who waited a long time for the return of cricket. As usual, there were some tremendous performances from the Indian youngsters and some disappointing ones from the players who came into this season with lots of expectations on them. After the conclusion of the ongoing IPL, all the franchises will be looking forward to making some changes to their squad and make it a balanced one. And if a mega auction happens ahead of the next season all the franchises will try to rebuild a fresh squad to lift the trophy. As of now, there’s no concrete news about the auction ahead of the next season but if a mega auction takes place almost all the franchises would look to strengthen their squad. In that process, they may have to drop some star players from the squad in accordance to the rules of the auction. Here’s the IPL list of players for the 2021 edition: 1. Trent Boult- Mumbai Indians Trent Boult. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Trent Boult was traded to the Mumbai Indians franchise by his former team Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2020. Teaming up with the Indian paceman Jasprit Bumrah, Boult has been going through all the batting lineups of the opponents and has played a vital role in the franchise’s success this season. In 11 matches he played in this season so far, Boult picked 16 wickets at an average of 22.31 and an economy of 8.23 and is sharing the fifth position in the list of leading wicket-takers this season with RCB leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. However if a mega auction happens ahead of the next season he might be released from the squad as the franchise will rely upon their Indian bowler Bumrah and if Lasith Malinga returns to the squad, the Mumbai based team might not opt for him. 2. Shardul Thakur- Chennai Super Kings MS Dhoni and Shardul Thakur. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Shardul Thakur came into the public limelight after an impressive season with the Rising Pune Supergiants in the 10th edition of the tournament. Due to his impressive display of bowling, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for INR 2.6 crore ahead of IPL 2018. Playing for the Chennai based franchise, Shardul picked 33 wickets in 31 games at an economy of 9.12 and is contributing to the franchise in a regular manner with his variations with the ball. In the current season, he has picked 9 wickets in 8 matches but leaked runs at a high-rate when the team required an economical spell from him. The Chennai based franchise has had the worst IPL season in their history as they were knocked out of the league before the playoffs for the first time. As the squad is filled up with players who are close to their career end, CSK have begun to plan for the future and in the process, they are supposed to drop some star players to make their squad balanced. 3. Anrich Nortje- Delhi Capitals Anrich Nortje. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The South African pacer came into this IPL as a replacement to the English all-rounder Chris Woakes for the Delhi Capitals. This was his maiden IPL season as he missed the previous edition due to an injury when picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Pairing up with his national team-mate Kagiso Rabada, Nortje is producing raw pace on the UAE pitches and is troubling the batsman with his variations. In 10 matches he played in this season so far, Nortje picked up 14 wickets at an economy of 7.65 and played a crucial role in the team’s success with the ball this season. In case of a mega auction, the Delhi based franchise will retain their captain Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and their star-pacer Kagiso Rabada. They might or might not use the RTM card on Nortje as they can use it for Shikar Dhawan and Prithwi Shaw and the time will tell us about this. 4. Pat Cummins- Kolkata Knight Riders Pat Cummins. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The Australian pacer Pat Cummins was the most expensive buy of the IPL 2020 auction at INR 15.5 crore. The Kolkata based franchise bought him for this price but he failed to perform for them to his ability especially with the ball in his hand. Cummins has taken 6 wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 7.82. While he has done well to control the flow of runs in the power play overs, he hasn’t got a lot of wickets. He has been good with the bat, scoring 131 runs at a strike-rate of 127.18. The Kolkata franchise has a pretty ordinary season so far with just 6 wins in their 5 games standing in the fifth position of the points table. The Knights may not regret leaving him out considering his price tag and the other foreign options in case of a mega auction. 5. Sandeep Sharma- Sunrisers Hyderabad Sandeep Sharma. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Sandeep Sharma rose to prominence during the 2012 Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup. Later he was picked up by the Punjab franchise ahead of IPL 2013 and in IPL 2014 he bowled his heart out and took his team to the final with his tremendous bowling performance. He was later bought by the Hyderabad franchise and asked to share the new ball with Bhuvenshwar Kumar. He picked up 30 wickets playing for the franchise and had reached the 100 wicket milestone recently playing against the Kings XI Punjab. In 8 matches he played in this season so far he picked 6 wickets and became the go-to bowler for the captain in the absence of their experienced pacer Bhuvenshwar Kumar. In case of a mega auction, SRH would certainly retain David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan. Apart from these players, they would also look to try and get back Kane Williamson and Bhuvenshwar Kumar using the RTMs. 6. Tom Curran- Rajasthan Royals Tom Curran. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The England all-rounder was bought by the Jaipur based franchise for INR 1 crore in the auction ahead of the IPL 2020. The 25-year-old made his IPL debut in 2018 after being picked by Kolkata Knight Riders, he did not feature in the IPL 2019. He got his chance in the playing XI of the Royals as their star all-rounder Ben Stokes came late to the tournament due to personal issues. In 5 matches he played in IPL 2020, Tom picked just 3 wickets with the ball and leaked runs at a rate of 11.44 per over. He also scored 83 runs which also includes a half-century in a losing cause. Rajasthan have not had a decent season, winning only five of the concluded 12 games. Apart from skipper Smith, Rajasthan would hold their star pacer Jofra Archer and wicket-keeping batsman Jos Buttler. Ben Stokes, who scored a century against Mumbai can be retained using the RTM card. 7. Murugan Ashwin- Kings XI Punjab Murugan Ashwin. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The Tamil Nadu leg spinner was bought by the Kings XI Punjab team ahead of the 2019 IPL auction. They traded their former captain and spinner Ravi Ashwin ahead of IPL 2020 but kept faith on Murugan Ashwin as he is capable of picking wickets and can control the run rate in the shortest format. In 17 matches he played for the Punjab franchise he picked up 14 wickets but bowled economically at an economy less than 7.5. Overall in his IPL career, he picked 24 wickets in 29 matches at an economy of 7.78 playing for 3 different franchises. Kings XI would certainly be looking to retain their captain, KL Rahul and their opening batsman Mayank Agarwal. Nicholas Pooran is also one special talent they would not want to release ahead of the auction. KXIP might use their RTM card on Shami and Gayle in the auction. 8. Isuru Udana- Royal Challengers Bangalore Isuru Udana of Royal Challengers Bangalore. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Isuru Udana is currently playing his maiden IPL this season for RCB franchise. He is known for his death bowling skills and also developed himself as a useful lower-order batsman. Udana is a complete T20 package and that is the reason why RCB picked him in the auction for INR 50 lakhs. In 8 matches he played in this season so far, Udana picked 7 wickets at an average of 34 and an economy of 9.91. Although he was expensive in the power play overs, he was right into the target in the death overs and controlling the flow of runs in the final overs with his accurate yorkers and slower deliveries. If at all a mega auction happens ahead of next season, RCB will definitely retain their skipper Virat Kohli and their star batsman AB de Villiers and their leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. They might use their RTM power on Washington Sundar and their young sensation Devdutt Padikkal. ~Written by Uday Gurugubelli

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Team-wise one star bowler who may have to leave his team if the mega auction happens ahead of IPL 2021

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4. Pat Cummins- Kolkata Knight Riders

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