Boult, Anderson eye returns to lucrative IPL
It’s some cricketing rollercoaster, this Indian Premier League. Just ask Trent Boult and Corey Anderson who hit great heights then got dumped off, as they buckle in for another ride with 17 other New Zealanders tonight.
Boult set the highest reserve price of the 19 current or former Black Caps at 15 million rupees ($312,000) and on his outstanding recent spells looks the most likely to strike it big at the player auction.
Anderson, too, should attract interest while gun World Twenty20 spin duo Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, power hitting allrounder Colin de Grandhomme and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson all look highest in the queue to snare their first IPL deals. Just 29 overseas spots remain across the eight franchises, with 125 players vying for those at auction.
Really, it’s a lottery and few can predict with any confidence what will happen. A year ago Tim Southee and Colin Munro were the only New Zealanders snapped up. We’ve seen run-of-the-mill cricketers fetch huge prices while the likes of Martin Guptill went unsold last year amid the best white ball form of his life. Guptill was later signed by Mumbai Indians as an injury replacement, played three matches (57 runs at a strike rate of 104) and was released in December.
Boult (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Anderson (Mumbai) and Munro (Kolkata Knight Riders) were also among the 63 players released. The eight franchises retained 140 players including five New Zealanders: Kane Williamson (Sunrisers), Brendon Mccullum (Gujarat Lions), Southee and Mitchell Mcclenaghan (Mumbai) and Adam Milne (Bangalore).
Anderson and Boult well know the life-changing qualities of the auction.
In 2014 Anderson clubbed a 36-ball ODI century against West Indies on January 1, then a month
later was purchased for R45 million ($934,000) by Mumbai. In his first two seasons he played 16 matches (and scored 379 runs at a strike rate of 136) but injury sidelined him last year.
‘‘The toughest thing to wrap my head around was, all of a sudden someone has put a value on you. You’re now getting rated against other players with monetary
value,’’ Anderson said in January. ’’That’s hard when you’re not performing or don’t get enough runs, you get scrutinised pretty quickly over there for those things like not living up to your value. It’s part and parcel of the pressure you face in international cricket, but in the IPL because there’s a figure on your head it tends to get looked at more.’’
Anderson blazed 94 off 41 balls against Bangladesh in January and on past performance in India he’ll be looked at, but as an allrounder his lack of recent bowling might be a worry. He’s playing solely as a batsman for New Zealand in T20 but may well be bowling when the IPL starts on April 5.
Current form for the Black Caps, or in Sodhi’s case dazzling spells for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash, is the best currency.
‘‘Anything you can do for New Zealand is magnified on the bigger stage. I’ve always looked at the IPL as just a bonus of the product of international cricket. It’s great to be a part of, I had a decent run with Mumbai and I loved it. If something like that can happen again it would be fantastic but I’m not holding my breath,’’ Anderson said.
Boult sold for R38 million ($789,000) in 2015 during his golden run up to the World Cup. In his second season he played just one game for eventual champions Hyderabad, and was also released.
His timing is again impeccable with a six-wicket ODI haul against Australia and a brilliant spell in the T20 defeat to South Africa in Auckland.
The star of that match, South Africa’s Imran Tahir, is also in the auction in the same spin bowling group as Sodhi. Both attacking legspinners are sure to attract attention. Among Boult’s fast bowling rivals at auction are Australian duo Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson, and South Africa’s rising star Kagiso Rabada, while Ferguson’s sheer pace and x-factor might appeal to franchises.
With a lot of the big stars locked down we may not see massive prices, with Indian reports suggesting overseas allrounders and fast bowlers will be sought after.
Guptill’s hamstring injury won’t help his chances while Ross Taylor will hope past performances and reputation count in his bid to return to the IPL after opting for England last year.