The swashbuckling New Zealand batsman Colin Munro will be a red-hot property in the auction of India Premier League for its 2018 edition, which will take place on January 27-28 in Bengaluru. He has been in sensational form in limited-over cricket since 2017.

The New Zealand cricketer — who this month topped the rankings as the world’s best Twenty20 batsman and was the first to score three international T20 centuries — will discover whether his transition to play as a limited-overs opener convinces a franchise to hire his services, presumably for an unruly sum of cash.

He has previously been signed to the Mumbai Indians, but has only played four IPL matches for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016.

That contract was worth $67,000; a distance from the $2.6 million contracts of Australians David Warner and Steve Smith, and Indian star Virat Kohli’s $3.6m IPL deal which are already locked in for 2018.

Apart from him, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and ace pacer Trent Boult will represent their nation in the auction pool.