Munro adds to IPL value

Colin Munro is within touching distance of his very own version of Catch a Million. In just over three weeks’ time he should become New Zealand’s latest seven-figure cricketer.

Timing is everything for the Black Caps blaster, and not only when firing endless white Kookaburras into the crowd off his chunky piece of willow.

January is the month to shine for prospective Indian Premier League millionaires, as Trent Boult and Corey Anderson will attest. A year ago Boult fetched NZ$1.04 million from Kolkata Knight Riders at the annual player auction.

Now Munro will be front and centre of the New Zealand contingent when the IPL owners and coaches circle and place their bids on January 27.

Munro put his name up in lights with a 54-ball T20 century against India in Rajkot in November, which had the Times of India predicting he would be highly sought after at the IPL auction. His ability to clear the rope from ball one, along with tidy medium pace bowling and sharp fielding make him a compelling prospect. Munro’s latest run gorge was topped by a whirlwind 104 off 53 balls including 10 sixes against West Indies on Wednesday, as he became the first man to hit three T20 international tons.

‘‘He’s exceptional. He hits bad bowling but he also hits good bowling, in areas of the park that are very hard to defend. It’s certainly nice when you get a two-pronged attack with Martin [Guptill] performing as well as he did. They’re a pretty formidable unit,’’ said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson.

Both openers, who cracked 136 off 11.3 overs against the hapless West Indies bowlers at Bay Oval, have tasted IPL disappointment before and know not to count their millions before the bidding starts.

Munro missed out a year ago despite some impressive hitting form, but has gone up another level and shone in the Caribbean Premier League mid-year. In 2016 Guptill was staggeringly overlooked despite being in the form of his life, but last year was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for $104,000.

Franchises are this week deciding which players they will retain and which ones go back into the auction. Teams can only retain a maximum of two overseas players.

‘‘I’d expect both of them [Munro and Guptill to get IPL contracts], and a few of our spin bowlers as well,’’ Hesson said, after his side’s sweep of West Indies in all three formats.

‘‘We’re ranked No 1 in the world in T20 cricket and we’ve got a lot of players that are performing very well and doing a number of different roles. I’ll be very surprised if the IPL sides aren’t taking a really close look at a number of our players.

‘‘In terms of the Black Caps development the more experience guys get overseas the better. Sure if they get a little bit of a payday that’s nice as well, but the priority for us is experience in a hotbed of competition like that.’’

Last year Black Caps fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry were both picked up at auction, and allrounder Colin de Grandhomme was drafted into Kolkata Knight Riders as an injury replacement for Andre Russell. Ferguson and de Grandhomme both performed well and will likely be back.

But spin duo Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner both missed out despite being two of the stars of the World Twenty20 in India in 2016.