HESSON’S HOT PICK FOR IPL AUCTION
Coach Mike Hesson knows his Black Caps better than anyone but remains gun-shy predicting who or how many will strike gold at the Indian Premier League auction.
‘‘We enjoy it when players get picked up but we never understand how or why. Some players are lucky and some aren’t,’’ Hesson said.
‘‘You have people ranked No 1 in the world and aren’t picked up. It’s fickle.’’
The f-word and the l-word fickle and lottery - were bandied about regularly in recent days by Hesson and some of the 24 New Zealanders who are among the 578 hopefuls in the auction starting in Bangalore around 4.30pm (NZT) on Saturday.
The Black Caps will be a day out from their Twenty20 decider and, going by recent years, will follow the action online on their phones or laptops in small groups at their Tauranga base. They may even be playing Pakistan on Sunday night when some go under the hammer on day two of the mega auction.
Two years ago the Black Caps were playing Australia in a Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-dayer in Wellington when Martin Guptill - in the form of his life - missed out at the auction while Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh fetched over $1 million. A wag in the crowd told him as he waited to bat.
Guptill was sold last year, to Kings XI Punjab for his reserve of $107,000, and was one of 11 New Zealanders in the 2017 IPL. Trent Boult fetched $1.07 million to Kolkata Knight Riders to top the New Zealand contingent, and on recent form should be reaping big money again.
But there were unlucky ones, too.
Said Hesson: ‘‘I got it wrong last year. I thought [Ish] Sodhi and [Mitchell] Santner would be two of the first picked up. I know India have got some very good spinners but those two are exceptional. I think they will get picked up. I’ll be very surprised if they don’t.’’
Sodhi, the world’s top-ranked Twenty20 international bowler, certainly warrants selection but he’s in a super-competitive group headed by Afghani sensation Rashid Khan and fellow legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, one of five Indians in the bracket.
‘‘Last year was my first time in the auction so I was a little bit more nervy and excited,’’ Sodhi said.
‘‘As you grow you realise it’s completely out of your control.’’
Santner features in a later allrounder group, like Sodhi still awaiting his first IPL deal in a country where they both excelled at the 2016 World T20.
Colin Munro missed out last year but played in 2016, and is now the world’s top-ranked T20 batsman.
His three T20 international centuries include one in India last year which may prove his most valuable innings in front of potential suitors.
‘‘There’s been plenty of players in the past who have been in the top five in Twenty20 batters, or who have done really well before the tournament and have still not got picked up,’’ Munro said.
‘‘Most of the teams in the IPL have a few guys they want to look at and try and get, but it’s an auction, it’s a lottery. It’s like buying a house in Auckland really, you’ve got to have a few bids.’’
As Boult discovered a year ago, and when he sold for around $815,000 in 2015, bidding wars can see things escalate quickly.
Munro and allrounder Colin de Grandhomme look the most likely Black Caps for that to happen, while Boult and Tim Southee are always sought after along with Mitchell McClenaghan, one of the better performed New Zealanders of recent years at Mumbai.
Power-hitting allrounders and fast bowlers are prized possessions which means Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson are strong bets to be picked up again, while Ben Wheeler could be the bolter. The left-armer bowls a heavy ball, has looked composed in international cricket and showed hitting power in the domestic Super Smash which helps.
As his Stags and Black Caps team-mate Seth Rance said: ‘‘I’ve got absolutely no expectations.’’
Much like the lottery, that’s how you’ve got to think.